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in  tte  Citp  of  ^etn  ^orfe 


LIBRARY 


GIVEN   BY 


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SYMBOLISM: 


EXPOSITION 


OF     THE 


DOCTRINAL   DIFFERENCES   BETWEEN 
CATHOLICS   AND   PROTESTANTS, 

AS    EVIDENCED    BY    THEIR   SYMBOLICAL    WRITINGS, 


JOHN  ADAM  MOEHLER,  D.D. 

liEAN    OF    WURZBURG,   ANL   LATC    P?.0*'BSSOR  OF   THEOLOG"   AT  IW    UNIVERSITY   OF   MVIJIC'K, 


WITH    A    MEMOIR   OF  THE    AUTHOR, 


•J  RECEDED    BY    AN   HISTORICAL    SKETCH    OF   THE   STATE   OF   PROTESTANTISM   AND   CATHOLICISlfl 
IN  GERMANY   FOR    THE   LAST   HUNDRED   YEARS. 


BY 

JAMES    BURTON   ROBERTSON,    Esq., 

TRANSLATOR   OF   SCHLEGSL'S   PHILOSOPHY   OF    HISTORY. 


TWO  VOLUMES  OF  THK  LONDON  EDITION  IN  ONB. 


NEW-YORK  : 
PUBLISHED   BY   EDWARD   DUNIGAN, 

NO.     151     FU  LT  O  N  -  STR  E  E  T  , 

1  844. 


Gift 

Dr.  JAMES  PEC4 

June  7.  »9I3 


H.     LDDWIO,    PRINTKR, 
T»,  Vesoj-stieet,  New-Yort 


^36 


TO   THE 

RIGHT  REV.  THOMAS  GRIFFITHS,  D.D 

BISHOP    OF   OLENA,    AND  VICAR    APOSTOLIC    OF   THE 
LONDON    DISTRICT, 

THIS    TRANSLATION    IS   M03T    RESPECTPCLLY   DEDICATER, 

AS   A   TESTIMONY    OF    PROPOUND    RESPECT, 

BY   HI8    lordship's    MOST   HUMBLE    AND    DEVOTED    SERVANT, 

THE  TRANSLATOR. 


INTRODUCTORY    NOTICE 


THE     TRANSLATOR. 


Some  yearsago  I  presented  the  public  with  a  translation  of  Frederick 
Schlegel's  Philosophy  of  History,  which  may  be  termed  a  sort  of  "  Dis- 
course on  Universal  History,"  adapted  to  the  actual  state  and  wants 
of  Catholic  Science.  I  now  venture  to  bring  forward  a  translation  of 
a  work  that  has  been  called  by  a  French  critic  a  necessary  supplement 
to  Bossuet's  '■  History  of  the  Variations  of  the  Protestant  Churches" — 
a  work  well  suited  also  to  the  present  necessities  of  the  Catholic 
Church,  and  fitted  for  the  existing  state  of  controversy  between  the  two 
great  religious  parties  in  Europe. 

The  kind  reception  which  my  former  task  experienced  from  the  Brit- 
ish public,  at  a  time  when  all  Catholic  productions  were  still  viewed 
with  peculiar  distrust  and  aversion,  encourages  me  to  hope  that  now, 
when  so  happy  and  so  remarkable  a  change  has  come  over  the  Protes- 
tant  mind  of  England,  the  same  indulgence  will  not  be  refused  to  my 
present  effort.  The  work,  indeed,  whereof  a  translation  is  now  offered 
to  the  public,  enters  far  more  deeply  into  the  discussion  of  those  great 
questions,  which  divide  the  minds  and  the  hearts  of  our  countrymen. 
The  moral  wound  that  for  three  centuries  hath  disfigured  the  aspect, 
crippled  or  misapplied  the  energy,  and  exhausted  the  vital  forces  of  our 
country,  is  here  probed  with  a  firm  and  dexterous,  though  most  gentle 
hand.  Yet  Dr.  Moehler's  book  is  more  historical,  explanatory,  and  ana- 
lytical, than  really  polemical.  And  the  spirit  of  eminent  charity,  whicli 
breathes  through  his  pages — the  mild  accents  wherewith  error  is  re- 
buked— the  aversion  from  all  exaggeration,  that  will  never  push  beyond 
their  legitimate  bearing  the  words  of  an  adversary — the  exquisite  sense 
of  justice,  that  never  fails  to  award  to  merit,  wherever  it  is  found,  its 
due  recognition ;  that  is  ever  ready  to  make  allowance  for  human 
frailly  ;  that  amid  the  greatest  aberrations  of  the  human  mind,  points 
with  pleasure  to  the  truths  which  tempered  them,  as  well  as  to  the 
truths  which  they  abused  ;  that  even  in  the  most  hideous  caricatures 
of  fanaticism  loves  to  seek  out  some  trait  of  the  Divine  original,  which 


vi  INTRODUCTORY  NOTICE 

that  fanaticism  strove  to  realize  or  restore  ; — all  these  qualities,  I  trust, 
will  not  fail  to  obtain  from  the  author,  even  from  the  most  prejudiced 
Protestant,  an  impartial  and  attentive  hearing. 

A  distinguished  English  Protestant  writer  once  characterized  Bos- 
suet's  "  Histor}'  of  the  Variations,"  as  a  book  "  where  a  Catholic  might 
study  his  religion,  and  a  Protestant  learn  logic."  The  same  remark 
applies  in  an  equal,  perhaps  more  eminent,  degree,  to  Moehler's  Sym- 
bolism ;  yet  with  this  difference,  that  the  latter  is  a  work,  where  a  Pro- 
testant, too,  may  study  his  religion  The  Protestant  of  every  denomi- 
nation may  here  see  the  tenets  of  his  own  religious  community  on  the 
controverted  points  stated  and  explained  according  to  the  most  solemn 
and  unexceptionable  of  all  authorities — the  public  formularies  of  that 
religious  community  itself.  The  declarations  of  such  formularies  are 
placed  in  juxta-position  with  those  of  the  Catholic  Church.  By  this 
means,  the  better  understanding  of  the  doctrines  of  either  Church  is 
promoted  ;  mutual  misconceptions  are  obviated ;  the  points  of  agree- 
ment, as  well  as  the  points  of  divergence,  are  more  prominently  brought 
out ;  the  means  for  the  reconciliation  of  religious  parties  are  at  once 
laid  open  and  facilitated ;  and  as  a  clearer  knowledge  of  error  leads  of 
necessity  to  a  better  appreciation  of  truth,  the  return  to  the  true  Church 
is  thus  at  once  rendered  more  easy  and  moje  certain. 

This  work,  in  its  apologetical  parts,  noticing  but  cursorily  or  inci- 
dentally the  historical  and  traditionary  proofs  of  the  Catholic  faith,  and 
confining  itself  in  general  to  an  a  priori  vindication  of  our  tenets,  I  re- 
commend the  Protestant  reader,  who  happens  to  be  totally  unacquainted 
with  writings  of  Catholic  controversy,  to  consult,  prior  to  the  perusal 
of  the  Symbolis?n,  one  or  more  of  the  approved  books  of  Catholic  evi- 
dences ;  where  the  external,  as  well  as  intrinsic,  arguments  in  favour  of 
our  Church  arc  more  fully  and  elaborately  entered  into.  Among  these, 
I  may  particularly  recommend  three  excellent  works,  which,  though 
differing  in  their  plan,  will  furnish  the  Protestant  with  the  proofs  re- 
quired. I  mean  the  Right  Rev.  Dr.  Milner's  solid  and  instructive  book, 
The  End  of  Religious  Controversy ;  Dr.  Kirk's  learned  work,  The 
Failh  of  Cailiolics  ;  and  the  ingenious,  learned,  and  eloquent  Lectures 
on  the  Principal  Doctrines  and  Practices  of  the  Catholic  Church,  by  my 
illustrious  friend,  the  Right  Rev.  Dr.  Wiseman.  If,  besides  one  or 
other  of  these  works,  the  Protestant  reader  has  leisure  to  consult  the 
history  by  Bossuet,  above  referred  to,  he  will  then  derive  from  the  pe- 
rusal of  the  Symholi^m  more  spiritual  advantage  and  intellectual  profit ; 
and  will  find  but  few  passages  that  will  present  a  difficulty.  In  the 
course  of  perusal  it  will  be  well  for  him  frequently  to  refer  to  the  decrees 
of  the  Council  of  Trent. 


BY  THE  TRANSLATOR.  vii 

The  word  "  Symbolism,"  or,  as  the  Germans  say,  "  Symbolik,"  has, 
it  is  proper  to  observe,  a  two-fold  signification.  Sometimes  it  means 
the  science,  that  has  for  its  object  to  explain  the  symbol,  or  outward 
signs  used  in  the  religions  of  antiquity  ;  and  in  this  sense  it  is  em- 
ployed by  Creuzer,  as  the  title  to  his  celebrated  work  on  that  subject. 
At  other  times,  the  word  is  used  by  German  divines.  Catholic  and  Pro- 
testant, to  signify  the  science  of  comparative  inquiry  into  the  Confes- 
sions, or  Symbolical  writings,  of  the  difierent  Christian  Churches ;  and 
this  is  the  sense  it  bears  in  the  title  to  the  book  here  translated. 

There  is  a  small,  but  learned  work,  entitled  Confessions  of  Faith,  by 
my  lamented  friend,  the  late  Mr.  Charles  Butler,  where  the  reader  will 
find  an  interesting  literary  history  of  the  formularies  of  the  different 
Christian  communities. 

It  Avas  my  wish  that  this  translation  should  have  appeared  two  years 
ago  ;  but  other  hterary  occupations  have,  contrary  to  my  hope,  retarded 
its  publication.  The  Protestant  mind,  however,  I  flatter  myself,  is  now 
better  prepared  for  the  reception  of  the  work,  than  at  the  period  referred 
to;  and  if,  in  the  great  moral  ferment  which  now  pervades  my  coun- 
try, it  should  be  the  means  of  allaying  and  reconciling,  in  any  degree, 
the  agitated  elements  of  religious  strife  ;  if  it  should  extricate  but  one 
spirit  from  the  difficulties,  the  distractions,  and  the  anguish  of  doubt, 
wherein  so  many  are  now  involved,  and  should  help  him  on  to  the  solu- 
tion of  that  great  problem,  whereon  all  depends,  I  shall  consider  my 
labour  to  be  more  than  sufficiently  recompensed.  May  He,  from  whom 
every  good  gift  descends,  shed  his  blessing  on  the  present  undertaking, 
and  enable  all  to  come  to  the  perusal  of  the  work  with  the  suitable  dis- 
positions ! 

WuRZBURG,  Bavaria, 
August,  1843. 


AUTHOR'S    PREFACE 


TO    THE    FIRST    EDITION, 


Every  book  has  a  two-fold  history  ;  a  history  before,  and  a  history 
after  its  publication.  The  first  can  be  described  only  by  the  author 
himself;  and  respecting  this,  the  public  imposes  on  him  the  duty  to 
make  no  mystery,  and,  accordingly,  to  relate  to  it  partly  the  outward 
occasions  that  induced  him  to  undertake  the  composition  of  his  work ; 
and  partly  to  assign  the  more  intrinsic  reasons,  by  which  he  was  deter- 
mined to  the  undertaking.  Hereupon  I  have  now  to  communicate  to 
the  indulgent  reader  the  following  remarks. 

The  present  work  has  arisen  out  of  a  course  of  lectures,  that  for 
several  years  I  have  delivered  on  the  doctrinal  differences  between 
Catholics  and  Protestants.  On  this  subject  it  has  been  the  custom,  for 
years,  in  all  the  Lutheran  and  Calvinistic  universities  of  Germany,  to 
deliver  lectures  to  the  students  of  theology ;  and  highly  approving  of 
this  custom,  I  resolved  to  transplant  it  to  the  Catholic  soil,  for  the  fol- 
lowing reasons.  Certainly  those,  who  are  called  to  take  the  lead  in 
theological  learning,  may  be  justly  expected  to  acquire  a  solid  and 
comprehensive  knowledge  of  the  tenets  of  the  religious  communities, 
that  for  so  long  a  time  have  stood  opposed  to  each  other  in  mutual 
rivalry,  and  still  endeavour  to  maintain  this  their  position.  Justly  are 
they  required  not  to  rest  satisfied  by  any  means  with  mere  general,  un- 
certain, obscure,  vague,  and  unconnected  notions  upon  the  great  vital 
question,  Avhich  has  not  only,  for  three  hundred  years,  continually 
agitated  the  religious  life  of  Europe,  but  has  in  part  so  deeply  and 
mightily  convulsed  it. 

If  the  very  notion  of  scientific  culture  makes  it  the  duty  of  the  theo- 
logian to  enter  with  the  utmost  possible  precision  and  depth  into  the 
nature  of  the  differences  that  divide  religious  parties  ;  if  it  imperiously 
requires  him  to  set  himself  in  a  condition  to  render  account  of,  and 
assign  the  grounds  for,  the  doctrinal  peculiarities  of  the  different  com- 
munions ;  so,  regard  for  his  own  personal  dignity  and  satisfaction  of 


X  PREFACE  TO  THE  FIRST  EDITION. 

mind,  presses  the  matter  on  him  ;  nay,  on  every  well-instructed  Chris- 
tian, with  a  still  more  imperious  claim.     For  what  is  less  consistent  with 
our  own  self-respect,  than  to  neglect  instituting  the  most  careful  and 
accurate  inquiry  into  the  grounds  and  foundation  of  our  own  religious 
belief;  and  convincing  ourselves  whether,  and  how  far,  we  stand  on  a 
firm  footing,  or  whether  we  have  not  placed  ourselves  on  some  treacher- 
ous covering,  that  conceals  beneath  it  an  enormous  abyss  1     How  is  it 
possible  to  enjoy  a  true  and  solid  peace  of  the  soul,  when  in  the  midst 
of  great  ecclesiastical  communities,  that  all  pretend  alike  to  the  posses- 
sion of  the  pure  and  unmutilated  truth,  we  stand  almost  without  reflec- 
tion, and  without  possessing  any  adequate  instruction  1    There  is,  in- 
deed, in  this  respect,  a  quiet,  such  as  they  possess,  in  relation  to  a  future 
life,  who  are  utterly  heedless  whether  there  be  such  a  state.     This  is  a 
quiet  that  casts  deep,  indelible  disgrace  on  any  being  endowed  with 
reason.     Every  man,  accordingly,  owes  it  to  himself,  to  acquire  the 
clearest  conception  of  the  doctrinal  peculiarities,  the  inward  power  and 
strength,  or  the  inward  weakness  and  untenableness  of  the  religious 
community,  whereof  he  acknowledges  himself  a  member  ;  a  conception 
which  entirely  depends  on  a  very  accurate  and  precise  knowledge  of 
the  opposite  system  of  belief.     There  can  even  be  no  solid  acquisition, 
nor  confident  use  of  the  arguments  for  any  communion,  unless  they  be 
conceived  in  relation  to  the  antagonist  system.     Nay,  a  solid  acquaint- 
ance with  any  confession,  must  necessarily  include  its  apology,  if  at 
least  that  confession  make  any  pretensions  to  truth.     For  every  edu- 
cated Christian  possesses  such  general   notions  of  religion  and  Chris- 
tianity— he  possesses  such  general  acquaintance  with  Holy  Writ — that 
so  soon  as  any  proposition  be  presented  to  him  in  its  true  light,  and  in 
its  general  bearings,  he  can  form  a  judgment  as  to  its  truth,  and  imme- 
diately discern  its  conformity  or   its  repugnance  to  the   fundamental 
doctrines  of  Christianity. 

We  are  also  at  a  loss  to  discover,  how  a  practical  theologian,  especi- 
ally in  countries  where  conflicting  communions  prevail,  can  adequately 
discharge  his  functions,  when  he  is  unable  to  characterize  the  distinc- 
tive doctrines  of  those  communions.  For  public  homilies,  indeed,  on  mat- 
ters of  religious  controversy,  the  cycle  of  Catholic  festivals,  conformably 
to  the  origin  and  the  nature  of  our  Church,  happily  gives  no  occasion.  All 
the  festivals  established  by  her  have  reference  only  to  facts  in  the  life  of 
Jesus  Christ,  and  to  those  truths,  whereon  all  our  faith  and  all  our  hopes 
depend  ;  as  well  as  to  the  commemoration  of  those  highly  meritorious 
servants  of  God,  who  hold  a  distinguished  place  in  the  history  of  the 
Church,  such,  in  particular,  as  were  instrumental  in  the  general  propa- 
gation and  consolidation  of  Christianity,  and  in  its  special  introduction 


PREFACE  TO  THE  FIRST  EDITION.  xi 

into  certain  countries.  For  the  office  of  preaching,  accordingly,  the 
Catholic  pastor,  with  the  exception  of  some  very  rare  and  peculiar 
cases,  can  make  no  immediate  use  of  his  knowledge  of  other  creeds. 
On  the  other  hand,  we. may  hope  that  his  discourses  on  the  doctrines  of 
the  Catholic  faith,  will  be  rendered  more  solid,  more  comprehensive, 
more  animated,  and  more  impressive,  when  those  doctrines  have  been 
studied  by  him,  in  their  opposition  to  the  antagonist  confessions  in  the 
strict  sense  of  that  word.  That  the  highest  class  of  catechumens 
should  receive  solid  instruction,  nay,  a  far  more  solid  one  than  has 
hitherto  been  given,  on  the  dogmas  controverted  between  Christians  ; 
nay,  that  in  this  instruction,  the  doctrinal  differences  should  be  ex- 
plicitly, and  as  fully  as  possible  attended  to,  is  a  matter  on  which  I 
entertain  not  the  slightest  doubt.  Whence  proceeds  the  deplorable 
helplessness  of  many  Catholics,  when,  in  their  intercourse  with  Protes- 
tants, the  concerns  of  religious  faith  come  under  discussion  1  Whence 
the  indifference  of  so  many  among  them  towards  their  own  religion  1 
From  what  other  cause,  but  from  their  almost  total  ignorance  of  the 
doctrinal  peculiarities  of  their  Church,  in  respect  to  other  religious 
communities  1  Whence  comes  it,  that  whole  Catholic  parishes  are  so 
easily  seduced  by  the  false  mysticism  of  their  curates,  when  these  hap- 
pen to  be  secretly  averse  to  the  doctrines  of  the  Church  ?  AVhence 
even  the  fact,  that  many  curates  are  so  open  to  the  pietistic  errors,  but 
because  both,  priest  and  congregation,  have  never  received  the  adequate, 
nay,  any  instruction  at  all,  respecting  the  doctrinal  differences  between 
the  Churches  ?  How  much  are  Catholics  put  to  shame  by  the  very 
great  activity  which  Protestants  display  in  this  matter  !  It  is  of  course 
to  be  understood,  that  instruction  on  these  points  of  controversy  must  be 
imparted  with  the  utmost  charity,  conciliation,  and  mildness,  with  a  sin- 
cere  love  of  truth,  and  without  any  exaggeration,  and  witli  constantly 
impressing  on  the  minds  of  men,  that  however  we  be  bound  to  reject 
errors  (for  the  pure  doctrine  of  Jesus  Christ,  and  the  Gospel  truth,  is  the 
most  sacred  property  of  man),  yet  are  we  required  by  our  Church  to 
embrace  all  men  with  love,  for  Christ's  sake,  and  to  evince  in  their  re- 
gard all  the  abundance  of  Christian  virtues.  Lastly,  it  is  clear,  that 
opportune  and  inopportune  questions,  consultations,  and  conferences,  on 
the  doctrines  controverted  between  the  Churches,  will  never  fail  to  oc- 
cur ;  but,  most  assuredly,  the  appropriate  reply,  the  wished-for  counsel, 
and  the  instructive  refutation,  will  be  wanting,  in  case  the  pastor  be  not 
solidly  grounded  in  a  knowledge  of  the  respective  formularies  of  the 
Christian  communities. 

But  if  what  I  have  said  justifies  the  delivery  of  academic  courses,  on 
the  doctrinal  peculiarities  of  the  different  communions,  yet  it  proves  not 


xii  PREFACE  TO  THE  FIRST  EDITION. 

the  necessity  of  their  publication,  at  least  as  regards  their  essential  sub- 
stance.  On  this  subject  I  will  take  the  liberty  of  making  the  following 
remarks.  In  the  Protestant  Church,  for  many  years,  a  series  of  manu- 
als, on  Symbolism,  have  been  published.  The  elder  Plank,  Marheineke 
(in  two  works,  a  larger  and  a  smaller),  Winer,  Clausen,  and  others,  have 
tried  their  eflbrts  in  this  department.  The  Catholics,  indeed,  on  their 
part,  have  put  forth  a  great  multitude  of  apologetic  and  such  like  works, 
having  for  their  object  to  correct  the  misrepresentation  of  our  doctrines 
as  set  forth  by  non-Catholics.  But  any  book  containing  a  scientific 
discussion  of  all  the  doctrinal  peculiarities  of  the  Protestant  Churches, 
has  not  fallen  within  my  knowledge.  Accordingly,  in  communicating 
to  the  public  the  substance  of  my  lectures,  I  conceived  I  should  fill  up 
a  very  perceptible  void  in  Catholic  literature. 

During  my  researches  into  the  authorities  required  by  the  subject  of 
my  lectures,  I  thought  I  had  further  occasion  to  observe,  that  the  terri- 
tory I  had  begun  to  explore,  had  not  by  any  means  received  a  suffi- 
ciently careful  cultivation,  and  that  it  was  yet  capable  of  offering  much 
useful  and  desirable  produce.  This  holds  good  even  when  we  regard 
the  matter  from  the  mere  historical  point  of  view.  But  it  cannot  fail 
to  occur,  that  by  bringing  to  light  data  not  sufficiently  used,  because 
they  were  not  thoroughly  understood,  or  had  been  consigned  again  to 
oblivion  :  the  higher  scientific  judgment,  on  the  mutual  relations  of  the 
Christian  communities,  will  be  rendered  more  mature  and  circumspect. 
Whether  my  inquiries,  in  either  respect,  have  been  attended  with  any 
success,  it  is  for  competent  judges  to  decide.  Thus  much,  at  least,  I 
believe  I  may  assert,  that  my  labours  will  offer  to  Catholic  theologians 
especially,  many  a  hint,  that  their  industry  would  not  be  unrepaid,  if  in 
this  department  they  were  to  devote  themselves  to  solid  researches.  For 
several  decades,  the  most  splendid  talents  spend  their  leisure,  nay,  give 
up  their  Hves,  to  inquiries  into  the  primitive  religions  and  mythologies, 
so  remote  from  us  both  as  to  space  and  time  ;  but  the  efforts  to  make 
us  better  acquainted  with  ourselves,  have  evidently  been  more  rare  and 
less  pcrseverant,  in  proportion  as  this  problem  is  a  matter  of  nearer  con- 
cern than  the  former.  There  are  not,  indeed,  wanting  a  countless 
multitude  of  writings,  that  dilate  in  prohx  dissertations  on  the  relations 
between  the  different  Churches.  But  alas  !  their  authors  too  often 
possess  scarcely  the  most  superficial  knowledge  of  the  real  state  of 
facts  ;  and  hereby  it  not  unfrequently  comes  to  pass,  that  treatises, 
which  would  even  perhaps  merit  the  epithet  of  ingenious,  tend  only  to 
render  the  age  more  superficial,  and  to  cause  the  most  important  ques- 
tions that  can  engage  the  human  mind  and  heart,  to  be  most  frivolously 
overlooked.       Such  sort  of  writings  are  entitled   "  Considerations  ;" 


PREFACE  TO  THE  FIRST  EDITION.  xiit 

while,  in  truth,   nothing   (objective)  was  at  all  considered ;  but  mere 
phantoms  of  the  brain  that  passed  before  the  writer. 

Pacitic  objects,  also,  induced  me  to  commit  this  work  to  the  press ; 
and  these  objects  I  conceived  I  should  be  able  to  attain,  by  giving  the 
most  precise  and  the  most  unreserved  description  of  the  doctrinal  differ- 
ences. I  did  not,  indeed,  dream  of  any  peace  between  the  Churches, 
deserving  the  name  of  a  true  reunion,  as  being  about  to  be  established 
in  the  present  time.  For  such  a  peace  cannot  be  looked  for  in  an  age, 
which  is  so  deeply  degraded,  that  even  the  guides  of  the  people  have 
oftentimes  so  utterly  lost  sight  of  the  very  essence  of  faith,  that  thej 
define  it  as  the  adoption  of  what  appears  to  them  probable,  or  most 
probable  ;  whereas  its  nature  consists  in  embracing,  with  undoubting 
certainty,  the  revealed  truth,  which  can  be  only  one.  As  many  meji 
now  believe,  the  heathens  also  believed  ;  for  they  were  by  no  means 
devoid  of  opinions  respecting  divine  things.  When  in  so  many  quar- 
ters there  is  no  faith,  a  reunion  of  faith  is  inconceivable.  Hence,  only 
an  union  in  unbelief  could  be  attained  ;  that  is  to  say,  such  a  one 
wherein  the  right  is  mutually  conceded  to  think  what  one  will,  and 
wherein  there  is  therefore  a  mutual  tacit  understanding,  that  the  ques- 
tion regards  mere  human  opinions,  and  that  it  is  a  matter  left  undecided, 
whether  in  Christianity  God  have  really  revealed  Himself  or  not.  For 
with  the  belief  in  Christ,  as  a  true  envoy  of  the  Father  of  light,  it  is 
by  no  means  consistent,  that  those  who  have  been  taught  by  him,  should 
be  unable  to  define  in  what  his  revelations  on  divine  things  consist,  and 
what,  on  the  other  hand,  is  in  contradiction  to  his  word  and  his  ordi* 
nances.  All  things,  not  this  or  that  in  particular,  appear,  accordingly, 
opposed  to  a  religious  union.  A  real  removal,  therefore,  of  the  differ-  y\ 
ences  existmg  between  the  Christian  communities,  appears  to  me  to  be 
still  remote.  But  in  the  age  in  which  we  live,  I  flattered  myself  that  I 
might  do  something  towards  bringing  about  a  religious  peace,  by  re- 
vealing a  true  knowledge  of  the  great  dispute ;  in  so  far  as  by  this 
knowledge,  men  must  come  to  perceive,  that  that  contest  sprang  out  of 
the  most  earnest  endeavours  of  both  parties  to  uphold  the  truth, — the 
pure  and  genuine  Christianity  in  all  its  integrity.  I  have  made  it  there- 
fore  my  duty,  to  define,  with  the  utmost  possible  precision,  the  points 
of  religious  difference  ;  and,  nowhere,  and  at  no  time,  to  cloak  and  dis- 
guise them.  The  opinion  sometimes  entertained,  that  the  differences 
are  not  of  importance,  and  affect  not  the  vitals  of  Christianity,  can 
conduce  only  to  mutual  contempt :  for  opponents,  who  are  conscious  of 
not  having  adequate  grounds  for  opposing  each  other,  and  yet  do  so, 
must  despise  one  another.  And,  certainly,  it  is  this  vague  feeling,  of 
being  an  adversary  of  this  stamp,  that  has  in  modern  times  given  rise 


Xiv  PREFACE  TO  THE  FIRST  EDITION. 

to  violent  sallies  on  the  part  of  many  Protestants  against  Catholics,  and 
vice  versa  ;  for  many,  by  a  sort  of  self-deception,  think  by  these  sallies 
to  stifle  the  inward  reproaches  of  their  conscience,  and  mistake  the 
forced  irritation  against  an  opposite  communion,  for  a  true  pain  on  ac- 
count of  the  rejection  of  truth  on  the  part  of  its  adherents.  Even  the 
cirjumstanee  is  not  rare,  that  an  ignorance  of  the  true  points  of  differ- 
ence leads  to  the  invention  of  false  ones.  And  this  certainly  keeps  up 
a  hostile,  uncharitable,  spirit  of  opposition  between  parties,  far  more  than 
a  just  and  accurate  knowledge  of  the  distinctive  doctrines  could  do ; 
for  nothing  wounds  and  embitters  more  than  unfounded  charges.  From 
the  same  cause  it  so  frequently  happens,  that  men  on  both  sides  charge 
each  other  with  obduracy  of  will,  and  with  a  selfish  regard  to  mere 
personal  and  transitory  interests,  and  ascribe  to  these  alone  the  divisions 
in  religious  life.  Protestants  are  uncommonly  apt,  without  hesitation, 
:o  ascribe  to  what  they  denominate  hierarchical  arrogance  and  the  plan 
of  obscuration,  any  resistance  in  the  Catholic  Church  to  the  full  influx 
of  Protestant  light.  Many  Catholics,  on  the  other  hand,  are  of  opinion, 
that,  in  the  same  way,  as  at  the  commencement  of  the  Reformation, 
political  interests,  and  the  desire  to  exercise  over  the  Church  an  abso- 
lute domination,  Avere  the  sole  inducements  that  engaged  princes 
to  embrace  and  encourage  the  Protestant  doctrines  ;  and  domestic 
ease,  sensual  gratifications,  hollow  arrogance,  and  a  frivolous  love  of 
independence,  were  the  only  motives  that  brought  over  Churchmen  to 
the  new  opinions ;  so  this  is  for  the  most  part  the  case,  even  at  the 
present  day.  These  charges,  indeed,  of  pride,  arrogance,  and  the  rest, 
which  parties  bring  against  each  other,  cannot,  alas  !  be  entirely  dis- 
puted.  We  know,  moreover,  from  experience,  that  everywhere  there 
are  very  zealous  men,  who  in  their  conduct  towards  opposite  com- 
munions, are  not  actuated  by  quite  base  motives,  yet  have  immediately 
in  view  only  the  interests  of  a  party,  a  faction,  or  a  system,  and  not 
the  cause  of  Divine  truth,  especially  in  its  living  manifestation  in  Christ 
Jesus,  who  should  alone  be  the  object  of  our  love,  and  all  else,  only  in 
so  far  as  it  is  nearly  or  remotely  connected  with  that  love.  All  this, 
indeed,  is  unquestionably  true.  Yet  it  would  betoken  very  great  nar- 
rowness of  mind,  if  the  duration  of  the  mighty  religious  contest  were 
not  sought  for  in  deeper  causes  than  in  those  assigned.  Under  these 
circumstances,  I  conceived  it  were  no  small  gain,  if  I  should  succeed  in 
drawing  back  attention  entirely  to  the  matter  itself,  and  in  establishing 
the  conviction,  that  in  the  conflict  between  Catholicism  and  Protest- 
tantism,  moral  interests  are  defended  ;  a  conviction,  which,  as  it  implies 
in  the  adversaries  earnestness  and  sincerity,  must  lead  to  more  concili- 
atory results,  and  is  alone  calculated  to  advance  the  plan,  which,  in  the 
permission  of  so  fearful  a  strife,  Divine  Providence  had  in  view. 


PREFACE  TO  THE  FIRST  EDITION.  xv 

Lastly,  I  must  mention  also  a  phenomenon  of  the  age,  which,  if  I 
remember  right,  first  inspired  me  with  the  thought  of  committing  to  the 
press  my  treatises  on  the  distinctive  doctrines  of  the  Christian  com- 
munions. For  a  long  time  Lutheranism  seemed  to  have  entirely 
disappeared  from  Germany, — at  least  to  possess  no  voice  in  public 
opinion ;  in  fact,  it  was  scarcely  represented  in  literature  by  a  single 
theologian  of  any  name.  In  our  thoughtful  Germany,  the  gloomiei 
Calvinism  never  found  itself  really  at  home  ;  and  when  it  penetrated 
into  some  of  its  provinces,  it  was  almost  always  with  considerable  modi- 
fications. Its  real  home  has  always  been  a  part  of  Switzerland  and  of 
France  ;  next  Holland,  England,  and  Scotland. 

Through  the  great  revolution  in  public  affairs  during  our  times,  the 
old  orthodox  Protestantism  has  again  assumed  new  Ufe,  and  not  only 
finds  many  adherents  among  the  clergy  and  laity,  but  in  the  number  of 
its  partisans  can  reckon  very  able  theologians.  As  was  natural  to  be 
expected,  it  immediately  marked  out  its  position  relatively  to  the 
Catholic  Church,  and  assailed  the  latter  with  all  the  resources  it  could 
command.  The  more  this  party  visibly  increases,  and,  partly  by  ita 
junction  with  the  Pietistic  movement  that  had  previously  existed,  partly 
by  the  encouragement  of  one  of  the  most  influential  cabinets  in  Ger- 
many,* begins  again  to  constitute  a  power  ;  the  more  must  Catholics 
feel  the  necessity  of  taking  up  their  right  position  in  respect  to  it,  and 
of  clearly  discerning  the  true  nature  of  the  relation  wherein  they  stand 
towards  it.  This,  however,  is  not  so  easy,  as  we  might  at  the  first  view 
imagine.  For  when  from  Rationalism  and  Naturalism  we  must  turn 
our  thoughts  to  the  old  Protestantism  as  represented  in  the  symbolical 
books,  we  are  required  to  transport  ourselves  into  a  totally  different  re- 
ligious world.  For  while  for  the  last  fifty  years  Catholics  have  been 
called  upon  to  defend  only  the  Divine  elements  in  Christianity,  the 
point  of  combat  is  now  changed,  and  they  are  required  to  uphold  the 
human  element  in  the  Christian  religion.  We  must  now  marcn  pre- 
cisely from  one  extreme  to  the  other.  Yet  the  Catholic  has  this  advan^ 
tage,  that  his  religious  system  embraces  as  well  what  constitutes  an 
object  of  one-sided  or  exclusive  reverence  with  the  rationalist,  as  what 
the  orthodox  Protestant,  with  an  equally  one-sided  or  exclusive  vene- 
ration, adheres  to  in  Christianity.  In  fact,  these  two  contrarieties  are  ii 
the  Catholic  system  adjusted,  and  perfectly  reconciled.  The  Catholic 
faith  is  as  much  akin  to  one  principle,  as  to  the  other  ;  and  the  Catholic 
can  comprehend  the  two,  because  his  rehgious  system  constitutes  th< 
unity  of  both. 

*  Prussia  is  here  alluded  to. — Trans. 


XVi  PREFACE  TO  THE  SECOND  EDITION. 

The  Protestant  rationalists  are  indebted  to  Luther,  only  in  so  far  as 
he  acquired  for  them  the  right  to  profess  completely,  the  reverse  of 
what  he  himself,  and  the  religious  community  he  founded,  maintained. 
And  the  orthodox  Protestants  have  with  the  rationalists  no  tie  of  con- 
nexion, save  the  saddening  conviction,  that  Luther  established  a  Church, 
the  very  nature  whereof  must  compel  it  to  bear  such  adversaries  with 
patience  in  its  bosom,  and  not  even  to  possess  the  power  of  "  turning 
them  away."  The  Catholic,  on  the  other  hand,  has  with  either  party 
a  moral  affinity,  inherent  in  his  very  doctrines  :  he  stands  higher  than 
either,  and  therefore  overlooks  them  both.  He  has  alike  what  distin- 
guishes the  two,  and  is  therefore  free  from  their  one-sided  failings.  His 
religious  system  is  no  loose,  mechanical  patchwork  combination  of  the 
two  others,  for  it  was  anterior  to  either  ;  and  when  it  was  first  reveal- 
ed to  the  Church,  organically  united  the  truth,  which  in  the  other  two 
is  separated.  The  adverse  parties  seceded  from  the  Catholic  Church» 
breaking  up  and  dividing  its  doctrine— the  one  appropriating  the  human, 
the  other  the  divine  principle  in  Christianity ;  just  as  if  the  indivisible 
could  be  at  pleasure  divided  ! 

I  have  further  to  observe,  that  German  solidity,  or  German  pedantry, 
or  German  distrustfulness,  call  it  by  what  name  we  will,  appeared  to 
me  to  require  that  I  should  give  the  passages  I  quoted  at  full  length. 
The  reader  is  thus  enabled  to  form  his  own  judgment,  by  the  materials 
brought  before  him,  or  at  least  is  furnished  with  the  means  for  testing 
the  judgment  of  the  author.  I  was  bound  to  suppose,  that  to  by  far  the 
greater  number  of  my  readers  the  symbolical  books  of  the  Protestants, 
the  writings  of  Luther,  Zvvinglius,  and  Calvin,  were  inaccessible  ;  and 
if  I  were  unable  to  preserve  the  true  medium  between  an  excess  and  a 
deficiency  in  quotations,  I  preferred  to  offend  by  the  former.  He,  who 
is  unable  to  read  the  quotations,  which  are  for  the  most  part  thrown  into 
the  notes,  can  easily  pass  them  over.  On  the  other  hand,  it  cannot  be 
said,  that  he  who  would  feel  desirous  to  make  himself  acquainted  with 
the  passages  cited,  could  have  easily  collected  these  himself. 

TOBLVGEN,   1832. 


AUTHOR'S  PREFACE  TO  THE  SECOND  EDITION. 


From  the  attention  v.'ith  which  the  theological  public  have  been  pleased 
to  favour  this  work,  I  have  conceived  it  my  duty  to  endeavour,  as  much 
as  the  small  space  of  time  that  intervened  between  the  first  and  the 


PREFACE  TO  THE  THIRD  EDITION.  xvii 

sc-COlicl  edition,  allowed,  to  improve  and  even  to  enlarge  it.  In  the  first . 
part,  there  are  few  sections,  which,  whether  in  the  language,  or  whether 
by  additions  or  omissions  in  the  texts,  or  in  the  notes,  have  not  under- 
gone changes  advantageous,  as  I  trust,  to  the  work.  Under  the  article 
of  faith,  the  seventeenth  section  has  been  newly  inserted ;  and  the 
twenty-seventh  section,  which  contains  a  more  precise  definition  of  the 
iroal  distinctive  points  in  the  theological  systems  of  Luther  and  of  Zwin- 
glius,  was  not  found  in  the  first  edition.  The  article  on  the  Church 
has  undergone  considerable  changes  ;  the  addition  of  the  thirty-seventh 
section  appeared  to  me  peculiarly  calculated  to  render  more  clear  the 
theory  of  the  Catholic  Church. 

In  the  second  part,  the  article  on  the  Methodists  has  been  entirely  re- 
cast, as  I  have  now  been  able  to  procure  Dr.  Southey's  Life  of  Wesley. 
Clarkson's  Portraiture  of  Quakerism,  which,  in  despite  of  many  endea- 
vours,  I  had  been  unable  to  obtain  in  time  for  the  first  edition,  but  which 
has  since  come  to  hand,  has  been  less  useful  for  my  purpose  than  I  had 
expected. 

In  the  Introduction,  it  has  appeared  to  me  expedient  to  enter  into 
more  particulars  as  to  the  use,  which,  in  a  work  like  the  Symbolism,  is 
to  be  made  of  the  private  writings  of  the  Reformers.  I  have  deemed 
k  useful  also  to  point  out  there  the  important  distinction,  which,  in  all 
Symbolical  researches,  should  be  observed  between  the  use  of  the  pri- 
vate writings  of  the  Reformers,  and  that  of  the  works  of  Catholic 
^heolojjians* 


AUTHOR'S  PREFACE  TO  THE  THIRD  EDITION. 


The  information  of  my  publisher,  that  the  second  edition  is  out  of  print, 
Was  too  sudden  to  allow  me  to  bestow  on  this  third  edition  those  improve- 
ments which  I  would  fain  have  made,  and  whereof  it  stood  in  so  much 
need.  There  is  but  one  article  I  can  name,  which  has  undergone  an 
important  amelioration  ;  it  is  the  eighth  section,  on  original  sin ;  for  in 
the  former  editions,  there  were  some  historical  notices,  touching  the  Ca- 
tholic views  of  that  doctrine,  that  much  needed  correction. 

The  very  ponderous  criticism  on  my  Symbolism,  which  in  the  mean- 
while Professor  Baur  has  put  forth,  I  will  leave  unnoticed  in  the  present 
•work,  for  the  necessary  discussions  would  occupy  proportionally  too 
great  a  space,  to  find  insertion  either  in  the  notes  or  in  the  text.  I  have 
therefore  preferred  to  write  a  separate  reply,  which,  please  God,  will 
soon  be  sent  to  press. 


Xviii       PRlCFACfi  TO  THE  FOURTH  AKD  FIFTH  EDITIO^N^. 
AUTHOR'S  PREFACE  TO  THE  FOURTH  EDITION. 


After  the  publication  of  the  third  edition,  which  appeared  at  the  begin- 
ning of  the  year  1834,  I  saw  myself  compelled  to  compose  a  defence  of 
the  Symbolism.  It  has  already  appeared,  under  the  title,  New  Investi-' 
gations,  etc.  {Neue  U titer suchungen.)  In  this  work,  many  subjects 
havino-  reference  to  the  controversy,  and  which  in  the  Symbolism  had 
been  only  lightly,  or  not  at  all,  touched  upon,  were  more  fully  treated  ; 
while  not  a  few  articles  have  been  investigated  under  a  new  point  of 
view  others  more  precisely  defined,  and  several  more  fully  established. 
From  this  book  nothing  has  been  transferred  to  the  fourth  edition  of  the 
Symbolism.  I  held  it  to  be  my  duty  to  make  no  essential  alteration  in 
the  form,  under  which  the  present  work  was  originally  presented  to  the 
public,  and  under  which  it  has  been  favoured  with  their  indulgent  atten- 
tion. To  notice  in  the  body  of  the  work  the  various  v/ritings,  treatises^ 
and  reviews,  that  have  been  directed  against  it,  I  conceived  to  be  in 
every  tvay  unsuitable  ;  independently  even  of  the  fact,  that  I  was  un- 
willing to  see  the  pacific  tone  of  the  Symbolism  converted  into  an  angry 
and  warlike  tone.  Yet  some  things  have  been  amended  in  this  fourth 
edition  ;  others  have  been  added.  These  are  changes  which  could  be 
made  without  any  external  provocation,  and  without  any  alteration  of 
my  orignal  plan,  and  as  have  formerly  been  made  in  every  new  edi- 
tion. 

By  God's  providence  the  Symbolism  has  hitherto  produced  much  good 
fruit,  as  from  many  quarters  has  been  related  to  me,  partly  by  word  of 
mouth,  and  partly  by  writing.  Even  Protestant  periodicals,  as,  for  ex- 
ample, the  Evangelical  Church  Gazelle  {Evangelische  Kirchen  Zeitwig) 
of  October,  18a4,  do  not  in  their  peculiar  way  call  this  fact  in  question. 
May  it  be  still  further  attended  with  the  blessing  of  the  Saviour,  who 
from  the  beginning  hath  ever  chosen  weak  and  imperfect  things  for  the 
instruments  of  his  glorification  ! 


PREFACE  OF  THE  GERMAN  EDITOR  TO  THE 
FIFTH  EDITION. 

While  the  fifth  edition  of  this  work  was  in  the  press,  the  Catholic 
Church  of  Germany  had  the  afHiction  to  see  its  illustrious  author  snatch- 
ed away  from  her  by  an  untimely  death.  If  his  loss  for  Catholic  litera- 
ture be  an  event  so  deeply  to  be  deplored,  it  is  so  especially  in  refer- 


GERMAN  EDITOR'S  PREFACE  TO  THE  FIFTH  EDITION,     xix 

cnce  to  the  Symbolism.  The  lamented  author  had  intended  to  intro- 
duce many  amendments  into  this  new  edition,  and  so  to  render  it  more 
complete, — partly  by  transferring  into  it  several  things  from  his  work, 
entitled.  New  Investigations  of  Doctrinal  Differences,— partly  by  incor- 
porating with  it  the  results  of  new  researches.  As  regards  a  very  con- 
siderable part  of  the  work,  his  intention  he  has  happily  been  able  to 
carry  into  effect.  Many  articles  and  sections — as,  for  example,  that  on 
original  sin — -have  received  from  him  extension  or  greater  precision,  or 
have  been  entirely  recast.  The  like  he  had  designed  in  respect  to  the 
articles  on  the  doctrine  of  the  sacraments,  and  the  following  sections. 
Down  to  the  close  of  his  life,  this  concern  of  his  heart  ever  occupied 
him  ;  but  the  final  execution  of  his  design  was  not  permitted  by  Divine 
Providence. 

May  this  new  edition  produce  those  blessed  effects,  which  had  ever 
been  intended  by  the  author,  and  that  have,  doubtless,  gained  a  rich 
recompense  for  him  before  the  throne  of  God  I 

Munich,  21  June,  1838. 


CONTENTS   OF  THE   MEMOIR. 


Preliminary  remarks.  Lutheranism,  from  its  origin  down  to  the  middle  of 
the  eighteenth  century.  Rise  of  Rationalism.  Michaelis.  The  school  of 
Semler.  Morus  and  the  elder  Eichhorn,  and  others.  The  more  open  infidels 
Nicolai,  Bahrdt,  and  Basedow.  Deism  the  legitimate  offspring  of  the  Reform- 
ation. Reymarus  and  Lessing  assail  Christianity.  Glance  at  the  German 
literature  of  the  eighteenth  century,  in  its  relation  to  the  Christian  religion 
Anecdotes  of  Guthe's  extraordinary  admiration  for  the  Catholic  liturgy  and 
Catholic  art.  Glance  at  the  philosophy  of  Kant,  Jacobi,  and  Schelling,  in  re 
lation  to  Christianity.  Farther  advances  of  theological  Rationalism.  Weg- 
scheider,  Paulus,  and  others.  The  ethical  principles  of  Rationalism.  Its 
influence  on  life.  Partial  reaction  against  Rationalism  in  the  Protestant 
Church.  Reinhard,  Storr,  and  others.  The  party  called  *'  Old  Lutherans." 
Their  conflict  with  the  Prussian  government.  The  new  "  Evangelical  Church '' 
founded  by  the  late  king  of  Prussia.  It  promotes,  instead  of  remedying,  reli- 
gious indifference.  The  modern  Pietists.  Their  leading  divines.  Partial 
services  they  render  to  the  cause  of  Christianity.  Degeneracy  of  Pietism. 
Appalling  examples  of  religious  fanaticism.  The  last  stage  of  Rationalism. 
The  Mythic  divines,  or  Strauss  and  his  followers.  Conflicting  judgments  pro- 
nounced on  this  school  by  the  theological  faculties  of  the  Prussian  universi- 
ties. Hopes  of  religious  regeneration  in  Protestant  Germany.  Number  of 
conversions  to  the  Catholic  Church.  Transition  to  Catholic  Germany.  Its 
moral  condition,  from  the  treaty  of  Westphalia  down  to  the  middle  of  the 
eighteenth  century.  Intellectual  improvement  in  the  reign  of  the  empress 
Maria  Theresa.  Doctrines  of  Febronius,  and  their  influence.  Joseph  II.  and 
his  ecclesiastical  policy.  Consequences  of  that  policy  considered.  The  schis- 
matical  declaration  of  certain  prelates  at  Ems.  Rise  and  influence  of  the 
order  of  the  Illuminati.  French  revolution.  The  moral  and  political  causes 
that  facilitated  the  triumph  of  its  arms  and  its  principles  in  Europe  in  general, 
and  in  Germany  in  particular.  Its  moral  and  political  effects  in  the  Rhenish 
provinces.  Spoliation  of  the  Catholic  Church  in  Germany,  and  its  conse- 
quences. The  restoration  of  general  peace  in  1814.  Commencement  of  a  re- 
ligious regeneration  in  x\u3tria.  Religious  regeneration  in  Bavaria.  Oppres- 
sion of  the  Church  in  the  Prussian  dominions,  in  Wiirtemberg,  in  Baden,  and 


Mii  CONTENTS  OF  THE   MEMOIR. 

other  minor  states.  The  captivity  of  the  archbishop  of  Cologne.  The  gen- 
eral resuscitation  of  religious  life  in  Catholic  Germany.  The  anti-celibatists 
in  Wiirtemberg  and  Baden.  The  Hermesians  in  Prussia.  Glance  at  the  lit- 
erature and  philosophy  of  Catholic  Germany  in  the  present  century. 

Birih  of  Moehler.  His  education,  and  anecdotes  of  his  early  years.  His 
studies  at  the  university  of  Tubingen.  His  ordination.  He  ofBciates  as  cliap- 
lain  in  two  country  parishes.  Anecdotes  of  him  during  his  pastoral  ministry. 
His  return  to  Tubingen.  His  classical  studies.  His  appointment  to  the  place 
of  private  teacher  of  theology  in  that  university.  His  literary  journey  to  the 
most  celebrated  seats  of  learning  in  Germany.  His  acquaintance  with  the 
celebrated  Plank.  Remarkable  consequences  of  that  acquaintance.  His  re- 
turn to  Tubingen.  He  publishes  his  first  work,  "  Unity  of  the  Church."  Ex- 
cellences and  defects  in  that  work.  He  declines  the  offer  of  a  professorship 
at  Freyburg.  He  publishes  his  "  History  of  St.  Athanasius,  and  of  the  Church 
in  his  time."  Reflections  on  the  Arian  contest,  and  on  the  life  and  writings  of 
the  great  Athanasius.  ]\Ioehler  declines  the  offer  of  a  professorship  in  Prussia. 
He  is  appointed  professor  in  Tubingen,  and  lectures  on  the  doctrinal  differ- 
ences between  the  Catholic  and  Protestant  Churches.  Publication  of  the 
"  Symbolism."  Extraordinary  sensation  it  produced  throughout  Catholic  and 
Protestant  Germany.  Parallel  between  that  work  and  Bossuet's  "  Historj'  of 
the  Variations  gf  the  Protestant  Churches."  Dr.  Baur's  controversy  with 
Moehler.  The  latter  is  appointed  professor  of  divinity  at  Munich.  Beneficial 
influence  of  his  labours  at  Tubingen,  in  a  moral  as  well  as  intellectual  point  of 
view.  His  reception  at  Munich,  and  his  professional  activity  in  that  univer- 
sity. Account  of  his  miscellaneous  writings.  Of  his  work  entitled  "  Patrolo- 
gy."  !Moehler's  journey  to  Southern  Tyrol  for  the  re-establishment  of  his 
health.  His  return  to  Munich.  Relapse  of  illness.  The  Prussian  govern- 
ment offers  him  a  prebendal  stall  at  Cologne,  and  a  professorship  at  Bonn. 
He  declines  both.  He  is  knighted  by  the  king  of  Bavaria,  and  appointed  to 
the  deanery  of  Wiirzburg.  His  last  illness.  His  death.  Description  of  his 
person.  Account  of  his  eminent  piety  and  amiable  character.  Estimate  of 
his  genius.  His  influence  in  the  literary  and  theological  world.  His  most 
celebrated  theological  contemporaries.     Conclusion. 


MEMOIR  OF  DR.  MOEHLER. 


Many  of  the  facts  related  in  the  following  biographical  sketch,  rest 
on  the  authority  of  two  short  memoirs  of  the  illustrious  writer,  the  one 
by  Dr.  Ruhn,  professor  of  Catholic  theology  at  the  university  of  Tu- 
bingen, the  other  by  the  anonymous  author  of  the  interesting  intro- 
duction prefixed  to  the  fifth  German  edition  of  the  St/mboUsm.  For 
many  other  particulars,  I  have  been  indebted  to  the  kindness  of  Dr. 
Reithmayr,  professor  of  divinity  at  the  university  of  Munich,  as  well  as 
to  that  of  Dr.  Benkert,  dean  of  Wiirzburg,  and  of  Dr.  Dux,  rector  of 
the  ecclesiastical  seminary  in  the  same  city. 

The  following  memoir  is  preceded  by  an  historical  survey  of  the 
state  of  Protestantism  and  Catholicism  in  Germany  during  the  last 
hundred  years.  To  enable  the  English  reader  the  better  to  understand 
the  general  scope  and  tendency  of  the  work  I  have  translated,  as  well 
as  the  many  allusions  and  references  it  contains  to  the  great  changes 
that  in  modern  times  have  occurred  in  the  Protestant  theology  of  Ger- 
many, I  have  endeavoured,  according  to  my  humble  ability,  to  take  a 
rapid  historical  view  of  those  changes.  Though,  indeed,  only  the  elder 
Protestantism,  in  its  opposition  to  the  Catholic  Church,  is  analyzed  ia 
this  work,  and  the  Rationalism,  which  sprang  up  in  Germany  towards 
the  middle  of  the  eighteenth  century, — and  which  has  almost  entirely 
superseded  the  old  Lutheranism, — is,  for  the  reasons  assigned  by  the 
author  himself,  not  here  formally  investigated  ;  still,  as  frequent  com- 
parisons are  instituted  between  the  older  and  the  more  modern  S3"stems 
of  German  Protestantism,  some  degree  of  acquaintance  with  the  latter 
is  evidently  highly  useful  for  the  better  understanding  and  appreciation 
of  the  work  now  translated.  But  this  great  revolution  in  the  German 
Protestant  Church  can  be  comprehended  in  all  its  bearings,  and  esti- 
mated in  all  its  results,  only  through  a  comparison  with  the  state  of 
German  Catholicism  during  the  same  period.     Under  this  impression, 


24  MEMOIR  OF  DR.   MOEHLER. 

'  I  have  placed,  beside  the  representation  of  German  Protestantism,  a 
corresponding  picture  of  the  CathoUc  Church.  I  conceived,  too,  that 
by  such  an  historic  portraiture  of  the  latter,  the  moral  and  intellectual 
influence  of  the  illustrious  divine,  whose  biography  I  have  attempted 
to  trace,  would  be  better  discerned  and  more  fully  appreciated. 

In  drawing  up  this  preliminary  historic  sketch,  the  authorities  I  have 
consulted,  are,  on  the  Catholic  side,  Dr.  Dollinger's  continuation  of 
Ilortig's  Church  History,*  the  Compendium  of  Ecclesiastical  History,j 
by  Dr.  Alzog,  and  Gorres's  Historico-political  Journal  ;\  and  on  the 
Protestant  side,  the  Rev.  Mr.  Rose's  Lectures  on  the  State  of  Protestant- 
ism in  Germany,^  Professor  Tholuck's  essay,  entitled.  Historic  Sketch 
of  the  Revolution,  tchich,  since  the  year  1750,  has  occurred  in  German 
Theology,^  and  the  Manual  of  Church  History,^  by  Dr.  Hase. 

In  a  work  which  has  recently  appeared  in  Germany,  and  is  attributed 
to  the  pen  of  an  eminent  Protestant,  we  find  a  passage,  where  the  his- 
tory of  German  Protestantism,  from  the  commencement  of  the  Refor- 
mation, down  to  the  middle  of  the  eighteenth  century,  is  traced  in  a 
few  brief,  vigorous,  and  masterly  strokes.  This  passage  I  prefer  to  cite, 
rather  than  attempt  on  my  part  any  delineation  of  the  same  subject. 
"  The  first  fifty  years,"  says  this  writer,  "  that  followed  on  the  out- 
break of  the  Reformation,  witnessed  incessant  wranglings,  disputes, 
and  mutual  anathematiziugs,  between  the  several  Protestant  parties ; 
first  between  Luther  and  Zwinglius,  next  between  the  rigid  Lutherans 
and  the  Crypto-Calvinists,  and  so  on.  When,  after  long  intrigues,  and 
tedious  negotiations,  the  Chancellor  of  Tiibingen,  James  Andrea,  suc- 
ceeded, about  the  year  1586,  in  obtaining  acceptance  for  the  so-called 
Formulary  of  Concoi-d,  the  theological  strife  receded  from  the  arena  of 
public  life  into  the  school ;  and  for  the  whole  century  that  followed,  the 
Protestant  Church  Avas  distinguished  for  a  narrow-minded  polemical 
scholasticism,  and  a  self-willed,  contentious  theology.  The  Lutheran 
orthodoxy,  in  particular,  degenerated  more  and  more  into  a  dry,  spirit- 
less, mechanical  formalism,  without  religious  feeling,  warmth,  and  unc- 
tion. The  same  authors  of  the  new  faith,  that  had  with  so  much  vio- 
lence contested  the  Church's  prerogative  of  infallibility  and  her  tradi- 


*  Handbuch  der  Kirchengeschichte,  fortgesetzt  von  J.  DoUinger.  Landshut,  1828. 

+  Universal-Geschichte  der  Christlichen  Kirche.     Mainz,  1841. 

X  Historisch-politische  Blatter,  von  Phillips  und  Gorres. 

§  Cambridge,  1825. 

II  Abriss  einer  Geschiehte  der  Umwiilzung,  welche  seit  1750  auf  dem  Gcbic.tc  der 
Theologie  in  Deutschland  statt  gcfundcn.  Vermischte  Schriften  von  Dr.  Tholuck. 
Hamburg,  1839. 

If  Kirchengeschichte  von  Dr.  Karl  Hase,     Leipzig,  1841. 


MEMOIR  OF  DR.   MOEHLER.  25 

tion,  desired  now  to  claim  for  their  own  symbolical  books  a  divine 
origin,  and  an  exemption  from  error.  They,  whose  religious  commu- 
nity was  founded  in  the  principle  of  recognizing  Scripture  as  the  sole 
standard  of  faith,  now  disputed  its  right  to  be  the  exclusive  depository 
of  the  Divine  Word.  They,  who  had  refused  to  the  Catholic  Church 
infallibility,  now  pretended  to  an  absolute  and  immutable  possession 
of  revealed  truth. 

In  opposition  to  this  Protestant  orthodoxy,  that  had  fallen  away  from 
the  fundamental  principle  of  the  Reformation,  and  therefore  clung 
with  the  greater  obstinacy  to  the  letter  of  its  symbolical  books,  Spener 
insisted  upon  a  living  faith  rooted  in  the  regenerate  will,  and  undertook 
to  revivify  religion,  that  had  perished  in  the  stiff  forms  of  a  mechanical 
orthodoxy.  But  from  his  very  confined  views  on  philosophy  and 
speculative  theology,  from  his  aversion  to  all  settled  and  defined  re- 
ligious notions,  from  his  indifference  about  dogmas  in  general,  from  his 
deficiency  in  a  solid  ground-work  of  learning,  and  an  undue  propensity 
to  a  false  mysticism  (whereby  he  bears  a  remote  affinity  to  the  Qua- 
kers, and  other  sects)  ;  from  all  these  defects,  Spener  was  unable  to 
bring  about  the  completion  of  the  Reformation,  which  he  had  promised, 
although  on  several  leading  points  he  entertained  convictions,  which 
fitted  him  for  reforming  the  Lutheran  doctrines. 

The  Protestant  orthodoxy  having  succeeded,  by  anathemas  and  per- 
secution, in  reducing  to  temporary  silence  the  first  commotions  of  the 
yet  impotent  Rationalism,  sank  into  soft  repose  on  its  pillow.  But,  in 
the  midst  of  German  Protestantism,  an  alliance  had  been  formed, 
which  at  first  appeared  to  be  of  little  danger,  nay,  to  be  even  advan- 
tageous, but  which  soon  overthrew  the  whole  scaffolding  of  doctrine, 
that  the  old  Protestant  orthodoxy  had  raised  up,  and  precipitated  Pro- 
testant theology  into  that  course,  which  has  in  the  present  day  led  it 
entirely  to  subvert  all  the  dogmas  of  Christianity,  and  totally  to  change 
the  original  views  of  the  Reformers."* 

The  principle  of  rationalism  is  inherent  in  the  very  nature  of  Protes- 
tantism ;  it  manifested  itself  in  the  very  origin  of  the  Reformation,  and 
has  since,  to  a  greater  or  less  extent,  and  in  every  variety  of  form,  re- 
vealed its  existence  in  almost  every  Protestant  community.  In  the  less 
vigorous  constitution  of  Lutheranism,  it  had  fewer  obstacles  to  encounter 

*  Der  Protestantismus  in  seiner  Selbst  Auflosung.  von  einem  Protestanten.  (Pro- 
testantism in  its  Self-dissolutlon,  by  a  Protestant.)  SchafFhausen,  1843,  pp.  291-3, 
vol.  ii.  This  work,  which  now  excites  no  inconsiderable  sensation  in  Gennany,  was 
first  attributed  to  the  pen  of  the  illustrious  Hurter  ;  but  it  is  written  by  another  emi- 
nent Protestant,  who,  it  is  confidently  stated,  is  on  the  eve  of  embracing  the  CathoUc 
faith. 


26  MEMOIR  OF  DR.  MOEHLER. 

than  in  the  Calvinistic  Churches,  and  more  particularly  in  the  Anglican 
establishment.  It  entered  too,  undoubtedly,  into  the  designs  of  Pro- 
vidence, that  the  people,  which  had  been  the  first  to  welcome  the  so- 
called  Reformation,  should  be  also  the  first  to  pay  the  bitter  penalty  for 
apostacy  ;  that  the  land,  which  had  first  witnessed  the  rise  of  the  Pro- 
testant heresy,  should  be  likewise  the  first  to  behold  its  lingering,  pain- 
;ful,  and  humiliating  dissolution. 

But  the  several  causes,  which,  towards  the  middle  of  the  eighteenth 
century,  brought  about  this  great  moral  distemper  in  the  Protestant 
Churches  of  Germany,  as  well  as  the  forms,  which  the  malady  suc- 
cessively assumed,  I  will  now  endeavour  to  describe. 

It  was  in  the  department  of  biblical  exegesis,  that  this  movement  of 
rationalism  first  displayed  itself.  The  school  of  Michaelis,  with  its 
false,  over-fastidious,  worldly-minded  criticism,  treated  the  Scriptures 
with  levity  and  even  disrespect,  denied  the  inspiration  of  some  portions 
of  the  Bible,  and  debased  and  vulgarized  its  doctrines.  The  same  views 
were  carried  out  with  much  greater  boldness  and  consistency  by  Semler, 
who,  abusing  the  right  principle  that  in  the  interpretation  of  Scripture 
regard  should  be  had  to  the  language  wherein  it  is  written,  and  to  tlie 
history  of  the  times  at  which  it  was  composed,  degraded  the  dignity  of 
the  Bible,  *by  circumscribing  its  teaching  within  mere  local  and  tem- 
porary bounds,  diluted  its  doctrines,  and  attached  importance  to  those 
parts  only,  where  a  moral  tendency  was  clearly  visible.  From  this 
period  the  Lutheran  divines  became  divided  into  three  classes.  There 
were  first,  those  who  remained  true  to  the  symbolical  books;  secondly? 
those  who,  like  Nosselt  and  Morus,  insisted  more  particularly  on  the 
ethics  of  Christianity,  and  without  positively  rejecting  all  its  peculiar 
dogmas,  declared  them  to  be  of  no  essential  importance  ;  and  thirdly, 
those  who,  like  Reimarus  and  the  elder  Eichhorn,  systematically  pur- 
suing the  work  commenced  by  Semler,  not  only  assailed  the  inspiration 
of  the  Bible,  but  rejected  its  prophecies,  denied  most  of  the  miracles  it 
records,  and  refused  to  acknowledge  in  Christianity  aught  else  than  a 
mere  local  and  temporary  phenomenon.  Nay,  two  celebrated  theolo- 
gians of  Berlin,  Teller  and  Spalding,  did  not  hesitate  to  enter  into  a 
secret  confederacy  with  professed  infidels,  like  Nicolai,  Engel,  Sulzer, 
and  the  rest,  for  the  purpose  of  purifying,  as  they  professed,  the  doc- 
trines of  the  Christian  religion.  This  confederacy  was  entitled,  "  As- 
sociation for  the  diffusion  of  light  and  truth."  And  this  is  the  place  to 
say  a  few  words  respecting  "  the  popular  philosophers,"  as  they  were 
called,  who  openly  and  recklessly  attacked  that  revelation,  which  the 
theologians  I  have  described  were  insidiously  and  covertly  under- 
mining. 


MEMOIR  OF  DR.  MOEHLER.  27 

The  writings  of  the  English  Deists,  in  the  early  part  of  the  eighteenth 
century,  exercised  a  very  pernicious  influence  in  Protestant  Germany  ; 
and  later,  the  contemporaneous  literature  of  the  French  infidels,  so 
much  encouraged  by  Frederic  II.  excited  there  a  spirit  of  disastrous 
emulation.  A  society  was  formed  so  early  as  the  year  1735,  by  Knat- 
zen  and  Edelman,  for  the  diffusion  of  irreligious  pamphlets  and  writ- 
ings, in  which  not  only  all  Christianity  was  decried,  but  the  most  dar- 
ing atheism  unblushingly  avowed.  Nicolai,  whose  name  has  already 
occurred,  established,  about  the  year  1765,  at  Berlin,  a  literary  review, 
with  the  object  of  propagating  the  pernicious  doctrines  of  a  shallow  illu- 
minism  ;  and  in  that  infancy  of  German  literature,  when  this  perio- 
dical had  scarcely  a  rival  to  encounter,  the  influence  it  exerted  was  more 
extensive,  than  can  at  present  be  even  conceived.  Bahrdt  and  Base- 
dow, at  the  same  time,  in  cheap  and  popular  tracts,  scattered  among  the 
lower  classes  the  poison  of  infidelity  ;  and  they,  as  well  as  Nicholai, 
were  in  close  communication  with  Weisshaupt,  who,  in  Bavaria,  had 
founded  the  order  of  the  lUuminati,  for  the  purpose  of  undermining  the 
foundations  of  the  throne  and  the  altar.  I  may  here  observe,  that  in 
Catholic  countries  infidelity  assumes  a  very  different  aspect,  and  is 
forced  to  pursue  a  very  different  policy,  than  among  Protestant  nations. 
In  the  former  countries,  unbelief,  reprobated  by  the  Church,  driven  from 
her  communion,  finding  her  on  every  point  a  vigilant,  unassailable,  un- 
relaxing,  unrelenting  adversary,  is  compelled  to  hide  its  head  in  secret 
societies ;  or  if  it  brave  the  daylight,  it  then  wages  fierce,  immitigable 
warfare  with  Catholicity.  But  in  Protestant  states,  such  a  mode  of 
warfare,  on  the  part  of  infidelity,  is  neither  necessary  nor  expedient  for 
its  purpose.  As  it  springs  out  of  the  very  root  of  Protestantism ;  as  it 
is  but  a  natural  and  necessary  development  of  its  doctrines ;  as  it  differs 
from  the  latter  not  in  essence,  but  in  degree  only,  it  is  its  policy  (and 
we  see  it  practise  it  invariably,)  to  flatter  the  Protestant  Church,  to 
court  its  alliance,  to  mingle  with  its  teaching,  to  soften  down  its  own 
principles,  in  order  the  better  to  diffuse  them,  and  when  threatened  with 
exclusion,  to  appeal  to  Protestant  principles,  and  defy  condemnation. 

It  is  objected,  that  infidelity  abounds  as  much  in  Catholic  as  in  Pro- 
testant countries,  and  that  therefore  it  cannot  be  said,  that  Protestan- 
tism is  more  favourable  to  its  growth  than  the  rival  Church.  But  a  few 
remarks  will  suffice  to  show  the  futility  of  such  an  objection.  In  the 
first  place,  it  is  true  that  Voltaire,  like  Luther,  went  out  of  the  Catholic 
Church;  but  while  the  Coryphseus  of  French  infidelity  extolled  the 
Reformation,  eulogized  the  Reformers,  and  boasted  that  he  himself 
came  to  consummate  the  work  they  had  left  incomplete,  he  waged  the 
fiercest  hostility  against  the  Catholic  Church  and  her  ministers.     And 


28  MEMOIR  OF  DR.   MOEHLER. 

the  Deists  of  England  and  Protestant  Germany,  though  they  came  into 
less  immediate  colUsion  with   that   Church,  than  Voltaire  and  his  dis- 
ciples, well  knew  where  their  most  powerful  and  formidable  antagonist 
was  to  be  found.     Secondly,  if  Protestantism  were  not  more  favourable 
than  Catholicity  to  the  growth  of  unbelief,  how  doth  it  happen  that  in 
those  ages,  when  the   Catholic  Church  exerted  the   greatest  influence 
over  mind  and  manners,  over  pubhc  and  private  life — ages,  too,  be  it 
remembered,  often  distinguished  for  a  boldness,  an  acuteness,  and  a 
depth  of  metaphysical  inquiry,  that  have   never  been  surpassed — how 
doth  it  happen,  I  say,  that  in  those  ages,  infidelity  was  a  thing  so  rare, 
so  obscure,  so  insignificant  ?     How  doth  it  happen,  that  it  followed  so 
closely  in  the  wake  of  the  Reformation  ;  that  history  makes  mention 
of  a  sect  of  Deists  in  Switzerland,  at  the  close  of  the  sixteenth  century  ; 
that  in  Protestant  England,  during   the  seventeenth   and    eighteenth 
centuries,  Deism  assumed  an  attitude  of  such  boldness,  and  attained  to 
such  fearful  vigour  and  expansion,  that  at  the  commencement  of  the 
eighteenth  century,  the  Protestant  Bayle  first  introduced  it  into  Catho- 
lie  France  ;  that  Yoltahe  and   the  Encyclopedists  confessed  they  bor- 
rowed  the  weapons  for  their  anti- Christian  warfare  from  the  armoury  of 
the   English  Deists ;  and  that  Rousseau,  the   most  dangerous  of  the 
French  infidels,  was  a  Protestant  by  birth,  and  only  developed  the  prin- 
ciples  of  Protestantism,  and  more  than  once  declared,  that  if  the  divinity 
of  the  Christian   religion  could  be  demonstrated  to  him,  he  w  ould  not 
hesitate  to  embrace  the  Catholic  faith  1 

Thirdly,  it  will  not  be  (^enied,  that  Socinianism  leads  by  easy  grada- 
tions to  unbelief;  that  some  classes  of  Unitarians  are  distinguished 
from  Deists  only  by  their  belief  in  the  general  credibility  of  the  Bible  ;* 
and  that  therefore  any  Church,  which  will  show  itself  indulgent  towards 
Socinianism — any  Church  which  openly  or  covertly,  in  a  greater  or 
less  degree,  will  foster  its  tenets,  proves  itself  thereby  favourable  to  the 
propagation  of  Deism.  Now  Socinianism,  like  a  poisonous  plant,  cast 
off  from  the  Catholic  soil  of  Italy,  took  root  and  flourished  in  the  Pro- 
testant communities  of  Poland,  attained  during  the  eighteenth  century 
to  a  most  rank  luxuriance  in  the  Church  of  GeDeva,")"  and  at  the  same 


»  A  learned  prolate  of  the  Established  Church,  the  late  Bishop  Ileber,  character, 
ized  Unitarianism  as  "  a  system  which  leans  on  the  utmost  verge  of  Christianity,  and 
which  has  been  in  so  many  instances  a  stepping-stone  to  simple  Deism."  See 
Travels  of  an  Irish  Gentleman,  c.  xliv. 

t  Rousseau,  in  his  Lett'es  dc  la  Montague,  says  of  the  Genevese  of  his  time, 
"When  asked  if  Jesus  Christ  is  God,  they  do  not  dare  to  answer.  When  asked 
what  mysteries  they  admit,  they  still  do  not  dare  to  answer.     A  philosopher  casts  a 


MEMOIR  OP  DR.  MOEHLER.  29 

time    cast   a  blighting  shade    over   the    Episcopal    Establishment  of 
England. 

Fourthly?  if  any  doubt  remained  as  to  the  intimate  connexion  between 
Protestantism  and  infidelity,  it  would  be  dispelled  by  the  history  of  the 
German  Protestant  Churches  daring  the   last   hundred  years.     There 
we  see   men  holding  important  offices  in   the  Church — pastors  of  con- 
gregations, superintendents  of  consistories,  professors  of  theology — not 
only  reject  the   authority  of  the  symbolical  books,  and  disavow  almost 
all  those  Catholic  dogmas    which  the   Lutherans   and   Calvinists   had 
hitherto  retained,  but  openly  assail  the  Divine  inspiration  of  the  Scrip- 
tures, deny  the  integrity  and  authenticity  of  large  portions  of  the   Old 
and  the  New  Testament,  allegorize  the  prophecies,  and  disbelieve,  and 
sometimes   even  ridicule,  the    miracles  recorded  in  the  Bible.     These 
opinions,  professed  more  or  less  openly,  carried  out  to  a  greater  or  less 
extent,  were  once  held  by  an  immense  majority  of  Protestant  theologi- 
ans,  and  even  in  despite  of  a  partial  reaction,  are  still  held  by  the  greater 
part.     Yet  they  nevertheless  retain  their  functions  and  dignities  in  the 
Protestant  Church  ;  they  are  thus  enabled  to  propagate  their  doctrines 
with  impunity  ;  those  Protestants,  who  protest  against  their  opinions, 
still  communicate  with  them  in  sacris  :  and  when  any  attempt  has  been 
made  to  deprive  them  of  their  offices,  it  has  been  invariably  unsuccess» 
ful.     Against  their  orthodox   opponents,  they  invariably  appeal  to  the 
right  of  free  inquiry,  which  is  the  fundamental  principle  of  the  Refor- 
mation ;  and  on  Protestant  grounds,  the  position  they  take  up  is  per- 
fectly  impregnable.     For  if  the  interpretation   of  the   Bible  belong  to 
private  judgment,  the  previous  questions  as  to  its  authenticity,  integrity, 
and  inspiration,  without  the  settlement  whereof  the  right  of  interpreta- 
tion  becomes  nugatory,  must  be  submitted  to  the  decision  of  individual 
reason.     Thus  has  the  most  insidious  and  dangerous  form  of  infidelity 
grown  naturally,  immediately,  and  irresistibly,  out  of  the  very  root  of 
Protestantism.     The   vampire  of  rationalism,  while  it  cleaves  to  the 
bosom,  and   sucks  the  life-blood   of  the   German  Protestant  Church, 
mocks,  with   a  fiend-like  sneer,  her  impotent  efforts    to    throw  off  the 
monster — efforts  which  will  never  be  attended  with  success,  till  the  aid 
of  the  old  Mother  Church  be  called  in.     But  I  have  digressed  too  long, 
and  must  not  anticipate. 

While  obscure  writers,  like  Nicolai,  Barhdt,  and  Basedow,  were  car- 
rying on  with  the  most  reckless  violence,  and  with  weapons  of  a  most 


rapid  glance  at  them,  and  penetrates  them  at  once ;  he  sees  they  are  Arians  or  So- 
cinians."  A  similar  accomit  of  the  Genevese  is  given  by  the  Protestant  writer, 
Grenas. 


30  MEMOIR  O;^  DR.  MOEHLER. 

shameless  ribaldry,  the  warfare  against  Christianity,  which  the  Protest- 
nut  theologians  had  insidiously  commenced,  the  great  critic,  Lessing, 
the  founder  of  the  modern  German  literature,  lent  his  powerful  support 
to  the  anti-Christian  league.  While  librarian  at  Wolfenbuttel,  he 
edited  a  work  exposed  by  Reymarus,  consisting  of  various  irreligious 
essays,  entitled  Fragments  of  Wolfenhiittel,  and  which,  from  the  tone 
of  earnestness,  and  dialectic  acuteness  wherein  they  were  written,  ex- 
erted a  very  prejudicial  influence  over  public  opinion. 

The  vigorous  mind  of  Lessing  could  not  rest  satisfied  with  the  shal- 
low illuminism  of  the  eighteenth  century,  and  his  irreligious  produc- 
tions seemed  oftener  to  spring  out  of  a  desire  to  torment  the  orthodox 
Lutherans  of  his  day,  than  to  be  the  result  of  his  own  inmost  convic- 
tion. Sometimes  he  pushed  his  unbelief  even  to  the  Pantheism  of  Spi- 
noza ;  and  sometimes  again  he  took  up  the  Catholic  side,  and  with  that 
dialectic  art,  in  which  he  was  so  great  a  master,  proved  the  necessity 
of  tradition  for  the  right  interpretation  of  Scripture. 

The  name  of  Lessing  leads  me  naturally  to  speak  of  the  German 
literature  of  the  eighteenth  century,  in  its  relation  to  religion.  This 
literature,  considered  as  a  whole,  if  not  always  decidedl}^  hostile,  was  at 
least  perfectly  alien  from  the  spirit  of  Christianity.  As  the  Protestant 
theology  of  the  day  was  fast  reviving  the  doctrines  and  morality  of  pa- 
ganism :  so  this  literature,  consciously  or  unconsciously,  strove  to  awaken 
an  exclusive  enthusiasm  in  behalf  of  the  moral  and  social  institutions, 
the  manners,  the  customs,  the  feelings,  and  modes  of  thinking  of  the 
heathen  world.  We  all  know  what  injurious  effects  the  sudden  revival 
and  too  partial  cultivation  of  the  old  classical  literature  produced  in  the 
fifteenth  century  !  Yet  if  in  an  age,  when,  in  despite  of  the  growing  lax- 
ity and  corruption  of  manners,  the  tone  of  society  was  still  eminently  Ca- 
tholic, and  the  Church  yet  held  such  an  immense  sway  over  the  minds 
and  conduct  of  men,  an  ill-directed  classical  enthusiasm  was  attended 
with  such  mischief  and  danger ;  what  must  be  the  result,  at  a  time  when 
Christianity  was  almost  entirely  obliterated  from  the  minds  of  many 
when  the  Protestant  Church  of  the  day,  instead  of  checking,  eacour- 
aged  the  advances  of  heathenism  ;  and  when  the  new  Hellenic  enthu- 
siasts called  up  the  genius  of  paganism,  not  timidly,  but  openly  and 
boldly, — not  in  mere  translations  and  commentaries  as  boretofore,  but 
in  the  popular  poetry,  in  the  drama,  the  romance,  the  critical  essay, 
and  the  philosophic  dialogue  ?  And  when  the  evocators  were  endued 
with  that  power  of  seduction,  those  irresistible  magical  spells,  that  be- 
longed to  the  genius  of  a  Lessing,  a  Herder,  a  Schiller,  a  Schelling, 
and  a  Gothe  ? 

Thus  the  new  literature,  which  was  a  child  of  the  new  Protestant 


MEMOIR  OF  DR.  MOEHLER.  81 

theology,  tended  much  to  confirm  its   authority,  and  extend  its   in- 
fluence. 

Of  Herder,  Frederic  Schlegel,  in  his  history  of  Uterature,  says,  "  in 
his  earlier  life  he  had  pursued  a  better  path,  and  sought  to  find  in  the 
primitive  revelation  the  clue  to  all  traditions,  to  all  sagas,  to  all  philoso- 
phy and  mythology  ;  and  so  we  must  the  more  regret,  that  in  his  later 
years  he  should  have  abandoned  that  light,  and  at  last  have  totally 
sunk  down  into  the  fashionable  ways  of  a  mere  shallow  and  insipid  illu- 
minism."* 

Schiller  was  one  possessed  of  high  intellectual  endowments,  and 
noble  qualities  of  heart,  which,  in  a  more  genial  clime,  and  under 
kindlier  influences,  would  have,  doubtless,  produced  far  diflerent  fmits  : 
but,  as  it  is,  we  see  a  generous  plant,  whose  foliage  was  too  often  nip- 
ped and  blighted  by  the  icy  breath  of  a  rationalist  theology.  The  most 
pernicious  influence,  however,  over  the  public  mind,  was  exerted  by  the 
mighty  genius  of  Giithe.  His  cold,  worldly-minded  egotism — his  epi- 
curean aversion  to  all  energetic  patriotism  and  self-devoted  heroism — 
his  subtle,  disguised  sensuality — his  utter  indifference  for  all  religious 
belief — and,  on  the  other  hand,  his  false  idolatry  for  art,  and  his  heathen- 
ish enthusiasm,  arrayed  in  all  the  charms  of  the  most  seductive  poetry, 
were  most  fatal  to  the  cause  of  Christianity,  and  of  all  public  and  pri- 
vate virtue.  Yet  Gothe,  too,  had  ooxasional  glimpses  of  the  truth.  In 
his  autobiography  we  find  an  interesting  description  of  the  extraordi- 
nary love  for  the  Catholic  liturgy  and  ceremonial,  that  had  captivated 
his  heart  in  boyhood.  And  even  in  later  years  this  feeling  had  not 
entirely  died  away  ;  for  the  same  work  contains  some  splendid  pages 
on  the  seven  sacraments  of  the  Catholic  Church,  where  their  mutual 
connexion,  and  their  exquisite  adaptation  to  the  wants  of  the  human 
heart,  and  the  necessities  of  human  life,  are  set  forth  with  a  depth 
of  thought,  and  a  beauty  of  diction,  not  surpassed  by  any  Catholic 
divine,  f 


*  History  of  Literature  (in  German,)  vol.  ii.  p.  284.     Vienna,  1822. 

t  There  is  just  above  Bingen,  on  the  Rhine,  a  beautiful  little  Catholic  church 
dedicated  to  St.  Roch,  commanding  a  superb  view  of  the  river,  and  where  the  scene 
abounds  with  the  most  glorious  recollections  in  the  ecclesiastical  and  civil  history  of 
Germany.  To  this  church,  which  Gothe  several  times  visited,  he  presented  an  altar. 
piece ;  and  on  one  occasion  he  said,  "  Whenever  I  enter  this  church  I  always  wish  I 
Were  a  Catholic  priest."  This  great  poet  was  also  a  fervent  admirer  of  the  old 
German  Catholic  schools  of  painting,  of  the  fourteenth  and  fifteenth  centuries.  That 
emmcnt  convert,  Dr.  William  von  Schiitz,  relates  the  following  remarkable  observa- 
tion which  Gothe  once  made  to  him  on  this  subject.  On  contemplating  a  painting 
of  the  old  German  school,  Gothe  observed,  "  Down  to  the  period  of  the  Reformation, 


32  MEMOIR  OF  DR.  MOEHLER. 

But  if  the  polite  literature  of  this  period  was  so  propitious  to  the 
growth  and  spread  of  Rationahsm,  the  remark  applies  with  far  greater 
force  to  the  systems  of  philosophy  that  exerted  so  great  an  influence 
in  the  latter  half  of  the  eighteenth  century,  and  the  early  part  of  the 
present.  " The  new  philosophic  systems,"  says  Dr.  Dollinger,  "con- 
ceived, born,  and  bred  in  Protestantism,  aided  and  promoted  the  pro- 
gress of  Rationalism.  The  Kantian  philosophy  declares  the  religion 
of  reason  to  be  the  only  true  one.  The  ecclesiastical  faith,  that  is  to 
say,  faith  in  the  truths  of  a  positive  revelation,  is  there  opposed  to 
the  religious  faith  whose  purport  may  be  derived  from  every  man's 
own  reason.  Revealed  religion,  according  to  this  system,  can  and 
ought  to  be  nought  else,  but  a  mere  vehicle  for  the  easier  introducdon  of 
rational  religion  :  the  ecclesiastical  faith  will  by  degrees  become  ex* 
tinct,  and  give  place  to  a  pure  religion  of  reason,  alike  evident  to  all 
the  world.  In  conformity  \vith  these  principles,  a  new  rule  was  set  up 
for  the  interpretation  of  Scripture :  to  v/it,  that  nothing  was  to  be 
looked  for  in  the  Bible,  save  the  mere  religion  of  reason,  and  that  every 
thing  else  was  to  be  regarded  as  a  mere  veil,  or  as  an  accommodation 
to  the  popular  notion  of  the  time,  or  as  the  private  opinion  of  the  sacred 
writer.  All  these  theories  perfectly  harmonized  with  the  favourite  opin* 
ions  of  the  day  ;  and  hence  we  may  account  for  the  extraordinary  ap» 
probation  which  this  philosophic  system  received  on  the  part  of  so  many 
Protestant  theologians.  By  the  side  of  the  Kantian  philosophy,  the 
rival  system  of  Jacobi  found  its  partisans  among  the  Protestant  divines  ; 
and  this  philosophy  was  no  less  incompatible  with  the  Christian  religion 
than  that  of  Kant.  According  to  Jacobi,  religion,  like  all  philosophic 
science,  depends  on  a  natural  immediate  faith — an  indemonstrable  per* 
ception  of  the  true  and  the  spiritual ;  and  any  other  revelation  besides 
this  inward  one  doth  not  exist.  "  To  the  true  religion,"  says  he, 
in  his  work  on  Divine  things,  "  no  outward  form  can  be  ascribed,  as 
the  sole  and  necessary  shape  of  its  substance  ;  on  the  contrary,  the 
utter  absence  of  all  forms  is  characteristic  of  its  very  essence.  As  the 
glory  of  God  lay  hidden  in  Christ,  so  it  lies  hidden  in  every  man." 
Lastly,  as  regards  the  philosophy  of  identity,*  "  Some  of  its  disciples, 
especially  the  theologian  Daub,  have,  doubtless,  more  justly  appreciated 
the  speculative  value  of  some  Christian  dogmas.     But  none  have  suc- 


a  spirit  of  indescribable  sweetness,  solace  and  hope,  seems  to  live  and  breathe  in  all 
these  paintings — every  thing  in  them  pcems  to  announce  the  kingdom  of  heaven. 
But,"  he  added,  "  since  the  Reformation,  something  painful,  desolate,  almost  evil, 
characterizes  works  of  art;  and,  instead  of  faith,  scepticism  is  often  transparent."— 
Katholische  Stimmen,  p  8^. 

*  This  is  the  name  given  to  the  pantheistic  philosophy  of  Schelling. 


MEMOIR  OF  DR.   MOEHLER.  33 

Ceeded  in  demonstrating  the  compatibility  of  the  general  principles 
of  this  philosophic  system  with  the  fundamental  doctrines  of  Chris- 
tianity ;  on  the  contrary,  the  followers  of  this  philosophy  put  forth 
assertions,  which  are  at  open  variance  with  the  primary  dogmas  of  that 
religion.  Among  these  we  may  include  the  doctrine,  that  it  is  only  in 
history  the  absolute  first  becomes  personally  conscious  of  himself,  and 
that  all  things  divided  will  finally  return  to  identity :  a  doctrine  which 
annihilates  all  personality."  * 

Emboldened  and  confirmed  by  these  philosophical  speculations,  the 
theological  Rationalism  assumed  a  more  decided  tone,  and  pursued  a 
more  daring  course.  Wegscheider,  De  Wette,  Schott,  Paulus,  Bret- 
schneider,  Rohr,  and  others,  successively  arose,  who  denied  the  inspira- 
tion of  the  Bible,  disputed  the  authenticity  of  many  books  of  the  Old 
and  New  Testament,  explained  away  the  Prophecies,  rejected  and 
ridiculed  the  miracles  recorded  in  the  Scriptures,  threw  out  imputations 
on  the  intentions  of  the  apostles,  arraigned  the  wisdom  of  the  Divine 
Saviour  himself:  and  lastly,  contested  the  necessity,  and  even  possi- 
bility of  a  supernatural  revelation.  The  game  of  the  old  Gnostic 
sects  was  revived.  On  the  most  arbitrary  assumptions  and  frivolous 
hypotheses,  entire  books  of  Scripture  were  rejected ;  the  genuineness 
of  the  most  important  passages  of  the  Bible  was  disputed  ;  even  the 
authenticity  of  one  or  other  of  the  Gospels  was  assailed ;  till  at  last, 
as  Reinhard  once  observed,  "  whoever  wished  to  obtain  the  applause  of 
the  critica.1  journals,  was  obliged  to  declare  some  Scripture  spurious,  or 
attack  some  established  doctrine."  But  between  these  Rationalists 
and  the  early  heretics,  with  whom  I  have  compared  them,  there  is  an 
important  difference  to  be  observed.  The  latter  called  in  question  the 
genuineness  and  authenticity  of  various  portions  of  Holy  Writ,  not  on 
critical  grounds,  but  from  polemical  motives  ;  they  were  led  on  to  these 
assaults  on  the  Scripture  by  an  impassioned  fancy,  heated  with  strange, 
extravagant  and  perverse,  though  often  ingenious  systems  of  philosophy. 
Among  their  modern  imitators,  on  the  other  hand,  it  was  the  cold,  cri- 
tical understanding,  directed  by  a  mere  negative  hostility  to  the  Chris- 
tian religion,  which  engaged  in  these  attacks  on  the  Bible. 

The  men  who  treated  the  Scriptures,  that  they  still  affected  to  con- 
sider as  the  sole  source  and  standard  of  faith,  with  such  audacious  irre- 
verence— such  atrocious  profanity — could  not  be  expected  to  pay  much 
regard  to  the  doctrines  they  taught,  not  even  to  those  for  which  the 
elder  Protestants,  while  they  tore  them  from  all  living  connexion  with 
other    Christian  dogmas,   had    professed   such    exclusive    attachment. 

*  See  Dollinger,  Kirchengeschichte,  pp.  393-4. 


34  MEMOIR  OF  DR.  MOEHLER. 

Accordingly,  we  find  the  great  doctrines  of  the  Trinity,  the  Blvinity 
of  our  Saviour,  original  sin,  Christ's  atonement  and  satisfaction,  justi- 
fication, grace,  and  the  efficacy  of  the  sacraments,  even  of  the  two 
retained  bv  the  old  Lutheran  church — baptism  and  the  Lord's  Supper 
— positively  rejected,  or  explained  away,  or  debased  to  the  lowest  point 
of  insignificance,  by  these  Rationalist  divines.  Even  the  dogma  of 
the  resurrection  of  the  flesh  passed  for  a  mere  figurative  representation 
of  the  idea  of  immortality  ;  and  the  eternity  of  future  torments  was 
pronounced  to  be  a  mere  chimera. 

There  is  always  the  closest  connexion  between  the  doctrinal  and 
the  ethical  system  of  any  sect.  In  conformity  with  their  frightful  du- 
alism, we  see  the  ancient  Gnostics  alternate  between  the  most  extrava- 
gant asceticism  and  the  wildest  lust.  The  Arians,  by  denying  the 
divinity  of  the  Redeemer,  had  narrov/ed  and  choked  up  all  the  chan* 
jiels  of  grace,  and  were  accordingly  ever  remarkable  for  a  low  tone  of 
morality.  The  Reformers  of  the  sixteenth  century,  with  their  doctrine 
of  justification,  swore  eternal  enmity  to  all  the  heroic  virtues  of  Chris- 
tianity, and  effectually  dried  up  that  mighty  stream  of  charity,  which 
had  fertilized  and  embellished  our  European  soil,  and  covered  it  with 
countless  institutions,  formed  to  glorify  God,  and  solace,  sustain,  and 
exalt  humanity.  The  Rationalists,  who  so  far  outran  the  early  Re- 
formers in  extravagance  and  blaspheni}'^  of  teaching,  outstripped  them, 
too,  in  the  licentiousness  of  their  moral  code  ;  for  what  was  more  natu- 
ral than  that  they,  who  had  revived  the  principles  of  Paganism,  should 
revive  her  morals  also?  Accordingly,  the  theologians,  Doderlein  and 
Caunabich,  among  other  things,  roundly  assert,  that  fornication  is 
blameless,  and  is  not  interdicted  by  the  precepts  of  the  Gospel.*  Every 
branch  of  theological  learning  was  subjected  by  degrees  to  the  potent 
dissolvents  of  these  subtle  chemists  ;  till  at  last,  after  the  process  of 
evaporation,  a  substance  less  Christian  than  Mohammedanism  was 
found  as  the  residuum. 

These  doctrines  of  unbelief,  taught  by  the  immense  majority  of  the 
Protestant  clergy,  penetrated  by  degrees  among  all  classes  of  the  lait^', 
and  led  to  the  general  neglect  of  Divine  service,  to  the  perversion  of 
youth  in  the  establishments  of  education,  to  the  desecration  of  the  Sab' 
bath,  the  fearful  multiplication  of  divorce,  and  to  general  demoraliza- 
tion. 

Yet  a  system  so  void,  so  absurd,  so  repugnant  to  Christian  sentiment, 
could  not  long  subsist  without  provoking  a  powerful  reaction,  especial- 

*  See  this  fact  stated  in  Dollingcr's  Continuation  of  Hortig's  Church  History  (in 
German,)  p.  935.    Landshut,  1828. 


MEMOIR  OF  DR.  MOEHLER.  35 

\y  among  a  people  like  the  Germans,  so  remarkable  for  deep  feeling 
und  inquisitive  intellect.  This  coarse  and  vulgar  Rationalism,  whose 
flourishing  era  was  from  the  year  1790  to  1810,  now  met  with  vigor- 
ous opponents  in  the  Theologians,  Reinhard,  Storr,  Flatt,  Kleuker, 
Tittman,  and,  more  recently,  Neander,  Tholuck,  Hengstenberg,  and 
several  others ;  who,  in  the  various  departments  of  dogmatic  theoloo^y, 
exegesis,  and  Church  history,  have,  with  considerable  learning  and 
iability,  striven  to  infuse  more  Christian  principles  into  the  minds  of 
their  fellow  religionists.  In  the  ranks  of  these  more  orthodox  divines, 
however,  it  is  vain  to  look  for  uniformity  of  doctrine  among  themselves, 
or  concurrence  with  the  formularies  of  the  old  Lutheran  Churchb  The 
articles  of  that  Church  on  original  sin,  on  the  atonement,  on  the  impu- 
tation of  Christ's  righteousness,  on  the  real  presence  in  the  Lord's  Sup* 
per,  and  on  the  eternity  of  future  torments,  are  in  part  rejected  by  some 
of  their  number.  Schleiermacher,  and  after  him  Neander,  have  re> 
vived  the  heresy  of  Sabellius ;  and  Tholuck  has  declared  the  Trinity  to 
be  no  fundamental  article  of  the  Christian  religion,  but  a  later  invention 
of  the  schoolmen.*  So  we  see  those,  who  at  Berlin  pass  for  Hi^h 
Church  divines,  would  at  Oxford,  and  even  at  Cambridge,  be  looked 
upon  as  low,  very  low,  Churchmen. 

A  small  party,  called  *'  Old  Lutherans,"  and  headed  by  a  fierv 
preacher  named  Claudius  Harms,  is  the  only  one  now  existing  which  up- 
holds in  all  its  vigour,  the  Lutheran  orthodoxy.  It  is  in  the  province 
of  Silesia,  only,  that  these  religionists  appear  to  have  taken  deep  root. 
They  are  strenuous  opponents  of  the  union  betv/een  the  Lutheran  and 
Calvinistic  Churches,  brought  about,  in  1817,  by  the  late  Kino-  of  Prus- 
sia, as  well  as  to  the  new  liturgy,  which,  in  consequence  of  that  union, 
the  same  monarch  enforced  on  all  the  Protestant  Churches  in  his  do- 
minions. Refusing  to  hold  communion  with  the  new  mongrel  Church, 
on  which  his  Prussian  majesty  had  bestowed  the  pompous  epithet  of 
*'  Evangelical,"  these  old  Lutherans  resorted  for  worship  to  secret  con- 
venticles, which  were  often  broken  up  by  the  mihtary  and  police. 
Their  ministers  were  sometimes  thrown  into  prison,  sDmetimes  com- 
pelled to  emigrate  to  America,  and,  on  the  whole,  a  very  resolute  con- 
test was  carried  on  by  them  with  the  Prussian  government,  until,  on  the 
accession  to  the  throne  of  the  present  enlightened  sovereign  of  that 
country,  the  men  whom  Luther,  could  he  return  to  Germany,  would 
alone  recognize  as  his  true  spiritual  sons,  were  admitted  to  the  blessings 
of  full  religious  toleration. 

The  late  King  of  Prussia  had  long  cherished  the  darling  project  of 

•  See  Dollinger,  ibid.  p.  942. 


36  MEMOIR  OF  DR.  MOEHLER. 

uniting  the  Lutheran  and  Calyinistic  Churches.  Looking  at  the  mstt-' 
ter  with  the  eye  of  a  soldier,  he  thought  the  junction  of  two  such  pow" 
erful  bodies  would  present  a  bolder  front  to  the  Roman  adversary ;  and 
he  therefore  seized  the  opportunity  offered  by  the  celebration  of  the 
tricentenary  festival  of  the  Reformation,  to  carry  his  scheme  into  exe- 
cution. His  majesty  had  also,  during  his  stay  at  Vienna,  in  1814,  been 
much  impressed  with  the  beauty,  the  majesty,  and  the  touching  holiness 
of  the  Catholic  liturgy.  He  therefore  conceived,  that  by  the  introduc- 
tion  of  some  of  its  forms  and  ceremonies  into  the  Protestant  service,- 
that  service  would  then  possess  greater  attractions  for  its  followers :  the 
churches,  in  consequence,  would  be  better  attended  ;  and  a  new  barrier 
thus  raised  up  against  the  progress  of  irreligion.  This  was  the  origin 
of  the  new  liturgy  he  devised  for  what  has  since  been  called  "  the 
Evangelical  Church." 

The  union  between  the  Lutheran  and  Calvinistic  Churches,  begun 
in  Prussia  in  the  year  1817,  was  adopted  in  Rhenish  Bavaria  in  1819, 
in  the  kingdom  of  AViirtemberg  in  1S20,  and  in  the  Grand  Duchy  of 
Baden  in  1821. 

Yet  the  success  of  this  royal  work  was  more  than  problematical,. 
The  more  violent  Lutherans,  as  we  have  seen,  refusing  assent  to  the 
new  ecclesiastical  arrangements,  seceded  from  the  Established  Church 
of  Prussia,  and  held  separate  conventicles.  Even  some  of  those,  how- 
ever, who  adhered  to  the  Evangelical  Church,  took  exceptions  to  seve- 
ral forms  and  ceremonies  introduced  into  the  new  liturgy,  as  being  of 
"  a  too  Popish  character ;"  and  thus,  as  regards  public  worship,  the  de^ 
sired  uni  ormity  was  but  imperfectly  attained.  The  wish,  so  credita-* 
ble  to  the  honest,  but  sadly  misguided  sovereign,  who  lately  swayed 
the  Prussian  sceptre,  to  infuse,  by  an  imitation  of  parts  of  the  Catho- 
lic ceremonial,  more  dignity  and  unction  into  the  public  service  of  his 
own  religious  community,  was  still  more  fallacious.  The  Catholic 
understands  the  secret  spring  whence  flows  that  unction — that  sacred 
charm— that  awe  and  majesty  in  his  worship,  which  rivet  the  senses 
and  win  the  hearts  of  all  beholders.  He  knows  that  it  is  the  great 
dogma  of  the  Eucharistic  sacrifice  that  gives  life,  and  significaney,  and 
importance,  to  all,  even  the  minutest  forms  of  his  public  liturgy. 

But  such  an  appreciation  of  things  is  impervious  to  the  Protestant, 
and  most  of  all  to  the  Calvinist  (for  the  late  King  of  Prussia  was  by 
birth  and  education  a  Calvinist)  ;  and,  therefore,  that  a  certain  set  of 
forms  and  ceremonies,  when  detached  from  their  natural  connexion, 
and  separated  from  the  doctrine  that  alone  imparted  to  them  meaning 
and  efficacy,  should  not  produce  the  same  fruits  in  the  Protestant  as  ia 
the  Catholic  worship,  was  to  him  an  incomprehensible  mystery. 


MEMOIR  OF  DR.  MOEHLER.  37 

If  from  the  consideration  of  worship  we  proceed  to  that  of  doctrine, 
we  shall  find  that  the  "  union  "  was  attended  vvith  even  far  less  happy 
results.  "  The  Calvinists,  in  Germany  at  least,"  says  Dr.  Dollinger, 
"  no  longer  attached  importance  to  their  founder's  doctrine  of  absolute 
predestination  ;  and  the  Lutherans  had  for  the  most  part  given  up  the 
old  Lutheran  doctrine  of  the  real  presence  in  the  Eucharist,  and  had 
adopted  the  Zwinglian  theory.  The  authority  of  the  symbolical  books 
was  at  an  end  ;  and  therefore,  as  regarded  dogmas,  no  important  obsta- 
cle appeared  in  the  way  of  the  desired  union.  Hence,  under  the  influ- 
ence of  the  King  of  Prussia,  the  conjunction  of  the  two  communions, 
ihe  Lutheran  and  the  Calvinistic,  was,  in  the  year  1817,  brought  about 
without  any  difficulty.  The  differences  of  belief  in  regard  to  the' 
Lord's  Supper,  that  still  prevailed  among  the  people,  might  in  the  opin- 
ion of  the  theologians  be  still  allowed  to  continue  under  the  union.  In 
the  reception  of  the  outward  Eucharistic  signs,  every  individual  was 
allowed  to  think  what  he  pleased.  Thus,  according  to  this  new  theory, 
signs  are  the  thing  essential,  but  what  should  be  understood  by  those 
signs  is  a  matter  of  no  importance.  The  union  was  made  to  consist 
in  the  mere  declaration,  that  the  members  were  united  ;  and  the  new 
community  was  decorated  with  the  title  of  the  Evangelical  Church.'''^ 
Thus  in  our  times  was  brought  about  the  union  of  two  communities, 
differing  on  the  most  important  and  fundamental  doctrines  of  Christi- 
anity— an  union  which,  whenever  proposed  in  the  age  of  the  Reforma- 
tion, was  stigmatized  as  an  abomination  by  Luther  and  hjs  early  fol- 
lowers. As  the  very  principle  and  constitution  of  such  an  alliance 
presupposes  religious  indifference,  so  it  is  eminently  calculated  to  con- 
firm and  difi'iise  it ;  and  what  the  late  King  of  Prussia  and  his  coun- 
sellors devised  as  an  instrument  for  checking  the  progress  of  irreligion, 
has  conduced  to  its  further  spread  among  all  classes  of  the  people. 

But  the  principal  element  of  hope  in  Protestant  Germany  is,  un- 
doubtedly. Pietism.  The  great  reform,  which,  towards  the  close  of  the 
seventeenfIT~ceiifury,  Spener  attempted,  and  to  a  certain  extent  brought 
about,  in  the  Lutheran  Church,  has  been  ably  described  in  the  second 
volume  of  the  work  now  translated.  It  was  the  aim  of  Spener  to  in- 
fuse into  that  Church  more  of  the  ethical  element,  in  opposition  to  the 
dry  and  steril  dogmatism  of  its  symbolical  books ;  to  insist  on  the  in- 
ward, moral,  and  spiritual  regeneration  of  man  ;  and  to  reform  discipline 
and  morals  in  his  own  religious  community.  He  was  the  first  to  under- 
mine the  authority  of  the  Lutheran  formularies  ;  and  thereby  he 
unconsciously  prepared  the  way  for  that  great  revolution  of  Rationalism, 

*  Hanbuch  der  Kirchengeschichte,  fortgesetzt  von  Dollingcr,  p  906-7. 


38  MEMOIR  OF  DR.  MOEHLER. 

which,  as  we  have  seen,  has  shattered  to  pieces  the  fabric  of  Lutheran 
orthodoxy.  In  the  eighteenth  century,  Spener's  disciples  united  with 
those  of  Zinzendorf,  and  assumed  ever  more  and  more  a  sectarian  char- 
acter ;  but  though  discountenanced  and  reprobated  by  the  orthodox 
Lutherans,  they  form,  in  the  words  of  Moehler,  "  the  true  salt  of  their 
Church." 

In  the  general  shipwreck  of  Protestantism,  visible  in  our  time,  this 
party  appeared  to  many  to  offer  the  only  plank  of  safet}^.  And  hence 
their  numbers  have  been  swelled,  and  their  influence  and  importance 
vastly  augmented,  by  the  accession  of  the  most  able  and  learned  Pro- 
testant theologians,  who,  in  their  war  against  Rationalism,  have  put 
forward  the  Pietists  as  the  vanguard.  This  party,  as  now  constituted, 
is  united  rather  by  a  general  conviction  of  the  truth  of  Christianity  and 
a  sense  of  piety,  than  by  any  defined  set  of  doctrines.  The  belief  in 
a  supernatural  revelation,  in  the  authenticity  and  inspiration  of  Holy 
Writ,  and  in  the  prophecies  and  miracles  it  relates,  seems  to  be  the 
only  bond  of  union  ;  for  as  to  special  dogmas  there  is  much  division  of 
opinion  ;*  and  there  are  even  some  Pietists  who  call  in  question  our 
Lord's  divinity. 

Like  some  of  our  own  ]Methodists,  they  are  distinguished  for  a  more 
careful  culture  of  the  religious  feelings,  than  the  bulk  of  Protestants  ; 
they  are  assiduous  in  prayer  and  in  Bible-reading,  active  in  the  dis- 
semination of  religious  tracts,  and  liberal  in  pecuniary  contributions 
towards  missionary  objects  ;  and  though  much  less  numerous  than  the 
Rationalists,  they  make  up  for  that  deficiency,  by  superiority  of  learning 
and  talents,  greater  energy  of  zeal,  and  higher  moral  worth.  Though, 
like  the  English  sectaries  with  whom  I  have  compared  them,  they 
often  evince  a  bitter  sectarian  hostility  to  the  Church  ;  yet,  like  them, 
whenever  they  wish  to  excite  a  devotional  feeling  among  their  followers, 
they  are  obliged  to  have  recourse  to  the  works  of  our  great  divines  and 
ascetical  writers.     The  writings  of  Taulerus,  the  great  mystic  of  the 

*  In  the  interesting  German  work  I  have  already  quoted,  entitled  "  Protestantism 
in  its  Self-Dissolution,"  the  divisions  among  the  Pietist  theologians  are  thus  pointed 
out.  "  The  imion  between  the  Protestant  theology,  and  the  belief  of  congregations, 
is  purely  illusive,  and  the  clergy  have  for  the  most  part  become  utterly  unfit  for  their 
calling.  How  can  they  preach  up  to  their  parishioners  a  faith,  which  they  do  not 
themselves  possess  ?  And  when  even  they  have  one,  where  is  the  bond  of  unity  to 
keep  them  together?  Does  not  Neander  teach  very  differently  from  Tholuck  ?  And 
Tholuck  differently  from  Hengstenberg  ?  And  Hengstenberg  differently  from 
Krummacher?  And  Krummacher  differently  from  Driiseke?  And  DrilFeke  differ- 
ently from  Harms  ?  And  Harms  differently  from  Ullman  ?  And  Ullman  differently 
from  Lucke  ?  And  Lficke  differently  from  Olshausen  ?  And  so  forth.  We 
are  wont  to  speak  of  a   Protestant  Church ;  but  where  is  it  ?" 


MEMOIR  OF  DR.  MOEHLER.  39 

fifteenlh  century,  the  treatises  of  Thomas  a  Kempis,  the  Pensees  of 
Pascal,  and  the  sermons  of  Massillon,  are  held  by  them  in  great  esti- 
mation. On  the  whole,  in  the  desolate  waste  of  German  Protestantism, 
this  religious  party  is  like  a  rivulet,  which,  harsh,  bitter,  and  bracki&h, 
though  its  waters  often  be,  yet  is  cheering  and  refreshing  to  the  eye  of 
the  Christian  observer. 

Yet  among  these  new  religionists  the  same  phenomenon  has  oc- 
curred, which  the  history  of  heretical  sects  has  so  often  exhibited, 
where  religious  enthusiasm  degenerates  after  a  time  into  the  darkest, 
most  fearful  fanaticism,  and  an  ill-directed  asceticism  sinks  into  the 
most  undisguised  sensuality. 

In  Konigsberg  a  fanatical  sect  sprang  out  of  this  pietistic  movement, 
and  which  under  the  name  of  Muckers,  held  errors  cot  unlike  those  of 
some  ancient  Gnostics,  and  perpetrated  the  most  shameless  mysteries. 
These  scandalous  scenes,  in  which  together  with  others,  two  Lutheran 
pastors  and  several  persons  of  rank  were  engaged,  drew  down  a  long 
judicial  investigation.  In  Saxony  a  fanatical  pietistic  party,  headed  by 
the  pastor  Stephan,  was  forced  to  emigrate  to  America,  where  after  he 
had  exercised  over  his  followers  the  most  unbounded  despotism  in  spiri- 
tual and  temporal  matters,  and  abused  his  ecclesiastical  authority  to 
the  gratification  of  his  personal  lusts,  the  religious  community  was 
broken  up. 

Swabia  during  the  present  century  has  brought  forth  several  singular 
sects,*  many  members  whereof,  on  emigrating  to  North  America — that 
EI  Dorado  of  all  false  religious  enthusiasts — have  boldly  proclaimed  and 
carried  out  their  monstrous  opinions,  preaching  up,  among  other  things, 
the  community  of  goods  and  community  of  wives.f 


*  See  Hase  Kirchengeschichte,  p.  520. 

t  In  the  year  1823,  and  in  a  part  of  German  and  Protestant  Switzerland  under 
the  influence  of  the  Swabian  pietists,  a  scene  of  dreadful  religious  fanaticism  occurred^ 
which  since  the  seventeenth  centmy  is  perfectly  unparalleled.  The  following  account 
of  it  is  taken  from  the  Church  History  of  a  Protestant  divine,  Dr.  Hase  of  Leipsick. 
"  Margaret  Peter,"  says  he,  "  the  daughter  of  a  peasant  at  Wildenspuch,  in  the  can- 
ton of  Zurich,  had  by  intercourse  with  the  Herrn-hutters  and  with  Madame  de 
Kriadener,  been  prepossessed  with  the  idea,  that  she  was  exclusively  charged  with  the 
spiritual  salvation  of  the  world.  Her  tone  of  spiritual  authority  and  decisiveness 
caused  the  pious  folks  of  the  neighbourhood  to  revere  her  as  a  saint ;  and  though  she 
even  fell  into  the  crime  of  adultery,  her  faith  in  her  own  mission  remained  unshaken. 
In  this  feeling  of  her  importance,  she  together  with  her  disciples  combated  against 
Satan  with  carnal  weapons  ;  she  caused  her  spiritual  sisters  to  be  slain  ;  and  pretend, 
ing  to  have  received  a  divine  command  to  sacrifice  Christ  anew  in  her  own  person, 
she  let  herself  with  wonderful  endurance  be  crucified,  in  order  to  redeem  many  thou- 
sand souls." — Hase,  Kirchengeschichte,  page  530. 


40  MEMOIR  OF  DR.   MOEHLER. 

Yet  while  the  pseudo-mysticism  of  Protestantism  had  run  into  sucli 
fearful  aberrations,  Rationalism  still  pursued  her  destructive  career.  In 
the  year  1834,  a  teacher  of  theology  at  Tubingen,  Dr.  Strauss,  pub- 
lished a  book  entitled  "  Life  of  Jesus,"  which,  written  with  consi- 
derable learning  and  ingenuity,  and  composed  in  a  tone  of  dogmatic 
assurance  and  imperturbable  phlegm,  concentrated  in  one  focus,  and 
raised  to  the  most  intense  degree  of  extravagance,  all  the  monstrous 
hypotheses  and  blasphemous  sophisms  put  forth  by  preceding  Rational- 
ists. Deeply  sunk  as  religious  feeling  and  principle  are  in  Protestant 
Germany,  yet  it  is  gratifying  to  observe,  that  as  the  celebrated  Catholic 
biblical  scholar,  Flug,  observes,  this  work  has  encountered  the  most 
formidable  opposition  among  Protestant  theologians,  and  that  not  a  sin- 
gle eminent  individual  of  their  number  has  entirely  subscribed  to  its 
doctrines.  Yet  this  infamous  book,  for  which  Rationalists  of  a  less  de- 
cided stamp  had  prepared  the  way,  has  wrought  immense  mischief,  and 
precipitated  many,  especially  among  the  Protestant  laity,  into  the 
depths  of  total  unbelief.* 


*  The  theory  of  Strauss  is  as  follows  :  without  absolutely  calling  in  question  the 
existence  of  our  Saviour,  he  asserts  that  the  Gospels  we  now  possess,  were  not  com- 
posed before  the  close  of  the  second  century  ;  and  that  the  life,  ministry',  and  miracles 
of  Jesus  Christ,  as  there  recorded,  were  purely  fictitious  representations,  traced  ac- 
cording to  that  ideal  of  the  Messiah  prevalent  among  the  Jews. 

In  reply  to  this  monstrous  theory,  let  a  few  observations  suffice.  In  the  first  place, 
it  supposes  that  the  writings  of  all  the  Apostolic  Fathers,  contemporaries  or  imme. 
diate  successors  of  the  Apostles,  and  which  contain  such  clear  and  numerous  quota- 
tions from  the  Gospels,  and  other  scriptures  of  the  New  Testament,  were  forgeries 
of  the  third  century.  Secondly,  it  supposes,  that  the  writings  of  St.  Justin  Martyr, 
IrentBus,  and  others  still  more  abounding  in  such  quotations,  were  also  forgeries  of  a 
like,  or  even  later  date.  Thirdly,  that  the  heretical  literature  of  the  former  half  of 
the  second  century,  numerous  fragments  whereof  survive  in  the  pages  of  the  early 
Fathers,  and  which  furnishes  such  cogent,  irrefragable,  testimony  in  favour  of  the 
authenticity,  the  genuineness,  and  sometimes  the  Divine  authority  of  the  Four  Gospels 
and  other  New  Testament  scriptures ; — that  this  heretical  literature,  I  say,  was  also  an 
orthodox  fabrication  of  the  same  period.  Fourthly,  that  the  work  written  against  the 
Christian  religion  by  the  Pagan  philosopher  Celsus,  about  the  year  176  of  our  era, 
which  admits  the  miracles  of  our  Divine  Lord  as  matters  of  incontestable  notoriety, 
and  refers  to  the  narratives  of  supernatural  events,  contained  in  the  historical  books 
of  Christians,  with  such  distinctness  and  accuracy,  as  to  establish  their  identity  with 
the  Gospels  we  now  possess  ; — that  this  work,  I  say,  composed  by  an  acute,  but  ma- 
lignant  enemy  of  our  faith,  was  a  Christian  production  of  a  subsequent  age.  Fifthly, 
that  the  Jewish  Mishna,  compiled  in  the  sec  jnd  century  of  the  Christian  era,  and 
which,  while  it  seeks  to  ascribe  to  fantastic  causes  the  miracles  of  Christ,  unequivo- 
cally admits  their  reality  ;  (miracles,  be  it  observed,  the  knowledge  whereof  came 
down  to  the  Jews  of  that  age  by  a  channel  of  tradition  totally  independent  of  Chris- 
tians)  that  the  Jewish  Mishna  was  likewise  a  Christian  fabrication.     Sixthly,  that  not 


MEMOIR    OF  DR.  MOEHLER.  41 

Strauss,  deprived  of  his  place  of  private  teacher  of  Protestant  divinity 
in  the  University  of  Tubingen,  was  offered  a  few  years  ago,  by  the 
revolutionary  government  of  Zurich  in  Switzerland,  a  theological  chair  ; 
but  an  armed  insurrection  of  the  sounder  portion  of  the  Protestant  popu- 
lation prevented  this  outrage  on  Christianity.  In  Halle,  two  years  ago, 
a  hundred  and  fifty  students  presented  a  petition  to  the  government,  that 
a  professorship  should  be  bestowed  on  this  infidel.  In  Holstein,  a  party 
.  called  "  Philalethes,"  and  in  Berlin,  another  denominated  "  Freemen," 
have  severally  formed  leagues  to  renounce  all  show  of  outward  commu- 
nion with  any  Christian  Church  whatsoever. 

In  the  year  1841,  a  licentiate  of  Protestant  theology  at  the  university 
of  Bonn,  Bruno  Bauer,  published  a  v.ork  entitled,  "  Criticism  on  the 
Evangelical  History  of  the  Synoptics  ;"  a  work  which  in  licentious  im- 
piety surpassed  even  that  of  Strauss.  The  pantheistic  views  of  Hegel, 
insinuated  in  Strauss's  book,  are  distinctly  avowed  by  Bauer  ;  the  iden- 
tity of  the  Divine  and  the  human  consciousness  openly  proclaimed — 
and  the  personal  existence  of  God  and  the  immortality  of  the  human 
soul  denied.  The  author  then,  absolutely  and  without  restriction,  re- 
jects the  authenticity  and  the  credibiUty  of  the  whole  Gospel  History. 

The  Prussian  Government,  naturally  conceiving  it  most  absurd  and 
dangerous  that  a  man  holding  such  principles  should  be  allowed  to  re- 
main a  teacher  of  divinity,  proposed  to  the  several  Protestant  theologi- 
cal  faculties  within  its  dominions  the  two  following  questions  :  "  What 
point  of  view  does  the  author  of  the  above-mentioned  work  hold  in  re- 
gard to  Christianity,"  and  "  whether  the  hcentia  docendi  should  be  grant- 
ed to  him  ?"  In  reply  to  the  two  questions  proposed,  the  several  facul- 
ties of  Berlin,  Bonn,  Halle,  Breslau,  Griefswalde,  and  Koenigsberg, 
have  published  their  opinions  ;  and  no  documents  that  have  ever  appear- 
ed throw  so  clear  and  withal  so  fearful  a  light  on  the  present  state  of 
German  Protestantism.  That  Bauer's  book  is  in  opposition  to  Chris- 
tianity is  the  opinion  of  the  Faculty  of  Berlin  with  one  exception,  of  the 
entire  Faculty  of  Bonn,  of  that  of  Breslau  with  one  exception,  and  of 
one  half  the  members  in  the  Faculties  of  Griefswalde  and  Koenigsberg. 

only  did  the  whole  Christian  world  at  the  close  of  the  second  a^e  receive  as  authen- 
tic and  divine,  Scriptures  which  were  spurious,  hut  also  believe  them  to  have  been  in 
■universal  circulation  for  one  hundred  and  fifty  years  before.  Lastly,  that  the  Chris, 
tian  Church  antedated  her  own  existence  by  a  century  and  a  half,  and  succeeded  in 
enlisting  in  behalf  of  this  imposture  the  unanimous  assent  not  only  of  her  own  mem- 
bers, but  of  the  heterodox,  the  Jews,  and  the  Gentiles. 

Such  are  the  preliminary  difficulties  that  encounter  Mr.  Strauss ;  and  when  he  has 
been  clever  enough  to  overcome  these,  his  most  arduous  task  remains ;  for  the  main 
evidences  of  Christianity  would  still  remain  unshaken. 


42  MEMOIR  OF  DR.  MOEHLER. 

That  the  work  is  compatible  with  the  essence  of  Christianity,  though 
^opposed  only  to  its  ecclesiastical  dcvelopnc7it,  is  the  opinion  of  Piofessor 
Marheincke  of  Berlin,  Professor  Middledorpf  of  Breslau,  and  one  half 
the  members  in  the  Faculties  of  Griefswalde  and  Kcenigsberg.  As  to 
the  second  question,  whether  the  licentia  docendi  should  be  granted  to 
the  author,  the  opposition  to  Bauer  was  not  quite  so  strong  as  on  the 
first  question.  The  Faculty  of  Bonn,  which  passes  for  the  most  ortho- 
dox  in  Protestant  Germany,  made  the  disgraceful  remark,  that  if  Bauer. 
were  permitted  to  teach  theology,  there  would  be  no  hindrance  to  any 
member  of  the  Evangelical  Church  inculcating  the  doctrines  of  invoca- 
tion  of  saints  and  the  papal  supremacy  !  This,  doubtless,  would  be  a 
great  misfortune  !  But  a  greater  misfortune  it  is,  the  candid  Protes- 
tant Christian  will  confess,  to  see  a  theological  faculty,  calling  itself 
Christian,  and  Evangelical  to  boot,  place  doctrines  held  by  the  immense 
majority  of  Christians  on  the  same  level  with  the  grossest  Pan- 
theism !  !"* 

Had  the  Prussian  government  proposed  the  aforesaid  questions  to 
some  other  Protestant  faculty,  like  that  of  Tubingen  for  example,  it 
would  have  found  the  majority  of  members  probably  pronounce  a  decla- 
ration in  favour  of  Bauer's  infamous  book  ;  for  the  majority  are  there 
pantheistic.  These  dreadful  doctrines  have  obtained  alarming  currency 
among  the  junior  members  of  the  theological,  as  well  as  philosophical 
faculties  at  several  Protestant  universities. 

Thus  have  I  tracked  the  restless  spirit  of  negation  through  all  its  la- 
byrinths for  the  last  hundred  years.  We  have  seen  it  first  question  the 
genuineness  of  certain  passages  and  books  of  Scripture  ;  next  reject  the 
theory  of  Divine  inspiration  ;  then  deny  the  authenticity  of  several  of 
the  Apostolic  Epistles,  and  even  Gospels  ;  and  afterwards  subvert,  one 
after  another,  all  the  Christian  dogmas  that  the  elder  Protestantism  had 
retained  ;  till  at  last  it  has  reached  the  ultimate  term  of  folly  and  wick- 
edness, and  proclaimed  the  essential  identity  of  the  Divine  and  the  hu- 
man consciousness. 

As  the  old  orthodox  Lutherans  gave  way  to  the  Rationalists  of  the 
school  of  Semler,  and  these  again  to  the  Rationalists  represented  by 
Wegscheider  and  Paulus,  so  the  latter  are  now,  by  many  of  the  rising 
generation,  forsaken  for  the  Mythic  divines,  as  Strauss  and  his  followers 
are  denominated. 

Melancholy  as  is  the  picture  which  has  here  been  drawn  of  the  state 
of  religion  in  Protestant  Germany,  let  not  the  reader  suppose,  that  all 

*  See  "  Gutachten  der  Evangelisch  theologischen  Facultiiten  der  Picussichen 
Universitatcn  iiber  Bruno  Bauer."     Berlin,  1842. 


MEMOIR    OF   DR.  MOEHLER.  43 

hope?  of  a  religious  regeneration  there  are  utterly  extinct.  The  remark- 
able  reaction,  headed  by  her  most  distinguished  spirits,  in  favour  of  more 
Christian  views,  he  has  already  had  occasion  to  observe.  A  far  rhore 
favourable  sign,  is  that  never  intermitting  stream  of  conversions,  that 
for  the  last  forty  years  has  set  in  towards  the  Catholic  Church,  and 
which  every  year  sees  flow  on  with  a  more  rapid  tide,  and  in  a  more 
expansive  course.  • 

If  among  the  middle  and  the  lower  ranks  of  society,  conversions  be 
not  near  so  numerous,  relatively  to  the  population,  as  in  Holland  and 
in  our  own  country,  yet  in  the  upper  and  more  cultivated  classes,  they 
were,  until  very  lately,  of  much  more  frequent  occurrence.  Germany 
is  peculiarly  circumstanced.  There  are  vast  districts  in  the  north, 
where  a  Catholic  priest  and  Catholic  chapel  are  objects  as  rare  as  in 
North  Wales  ;  and  unfortunately,  in  several  of  those  provinces,  like 
Wurtemberg  and  Baden,  where  the  two  Churches  come  in  contact,  the 
loose  opinions  and  disedifying  conduct,  which  until  very  lately  were 
very  generally  prevalent  among  the  Catholic  clergy,  were  not  of  course 
calculated  to  raise  their  Church  in  the  estimation  of  Protestants.  In 
other  parts,  like  the  Rhenish  province,  Westphalia,  Bavaria,  Silesia,  and 
parts  of  Austria — districts  where  new  elements  of  religious  life  are  fer- 
menting  through  the  whole  Catholic  population,  conversions  are  exceed- 
ingly  numerous,  and  are  annually  on  the  increase.* 

But  the  solution  of  the  great  problem  that  perplexes  Protestant  Ger- 
many— the  return  to  a  higher  religious  life,  whereof  she  seems  to  have 
a  dim  anticipation — and  whereof  so  many  noble  individual  examples 
seem  to  be  the  necessary  forerunners — the  solution  of  this  great  pro- 
blem, I  say,  mainly  depends  on  the  moral  regeneration  of  Catholic  Ger- 
many  herself;  and  this  leads  me  to  the  second  part  of  this  historical 
sketch,  wherein  I  propose  briefly  to  describe  the  destinies  of  the  Ger- 
man Catholic  Church  for  the  last  hundred  years. 

Catholic  Germany,  that,  in  the  latter  part  of  the  sixteenth  century, 
had  opposed  with  so  much  energy  the  progress  of  the  Reformation,  sank 
after  the  great  convulsions  of  the  Thirty  Years'  War  into  a  state  of 
moral  and  intellectual  languor,  that  lasted  for  the  period  of  a  hundred 
years.  Under  the  auspices  of  Catholic  prelates,  however,  many  lauda- 
ble attempts  were  made  in  that  interval  to  bring  about  a  reunion  of  Pro- 
testants with  the  Catholic  Church  ;  and  Protestant  princes,  such  as  the 
Landgrave  Ernest  of  Hesse,  Frederick  of  Brunswick,  Duke  of  Hanover, 


*  For  instance,  in  the  hereditary  states  of  Austria,  exclusive  of  Hungary,  though 
the  Protestant  population  lies  thinly  scattered,  five  hundred  and  forty-eight  persons  of 
various  ranks  were  in  the  year  1840  converted  to  the  Catholic  Church. 


44 


MEMOIR  OF  DR.  MOEHLER. 


Frederick  Augustus,  Elector  of  Saxony,  and  Alexander,  Duke  ofWur- 
temberg,  were  successively  admitted  into  her  communion. 

The  number  of  ecclesiastical  principalities  in  Germany,  though  on 
the  whole  conducive  to  the  temporal  welfare  of  the  people,  were  in  a 
spiritual  point  of  view  attended  with  great  disadvantages.  The  pre- 
lates, too  exclusively  engaged  with  cares  of  state,  often  entirely  aban- 
doned to  their  coadjutors  the  spiritual  administration  of  their  dioceses  ; 
and  there  were  instances  in  the  last  century,  where  the  character  of  the 
bishop  seemed  entirely  merged  in  that  of  the  prince.* 

That  a  certain  share  of  political  power  and  influence  is  necessary  to 
the  episcopacy,  for  the  better  protection  of  the  interests  of  religion  and 
morality,  as  well  as  of  the  Church's  proprietary  rights — for  the  conser- 
vation of  order,  and  the  promotion  of  popular  freedom,  cannot  for  a 
moment  be  doubted.  That,  moreover,  the  temporal  sovereignty  enjoy- 
ed by  the  Holy  See  was  a  means  devised  by  Divine  Providence  for  pre- 
serving intact  its  spiritual  independence,  the  most  superficial  glance 
over  the  page  of  history  may  suffice  to  convince  us.  But  whether  in 
bishoprics,  where  independence  is  not  of  the  same  vital  importance  ; 
which  possess  not  the  same  promise  of  indefectibility  and  Divine  assis- 
tance, and  consequently  are  devoid  of  the  same  guarantees  against  the 
abuses  and  dangers  attendant  on  the  possession  of  secular  power,  such 
extensive  political  jurisdiction  be  conducive  to  the  interests  of  religion, 
is  a  matter  exceedingly  questionable. 

It  was  not  so  much,  however,  the  temporal  sovereignty  of  the  pre- 
lates, as  the  too  exclusively  aristocratic  composition  of  the  capitular 
bodies,  that  operated  so  prejudicially  to  the  well-being  of  the  Church. 
The  priesthood,  as  it  holds  the  office  of  mediator  between  all  ranks  of 
society,  should  itself  represent  the  blending  of  all  classes  ;  and  as  nobi- 
lity is  calculated  to  infuse  into  it  moderation  of  temper  and  dignity  of 
habits,  so  the  commonalty  pours  into  it  a  perpetual  stream  of  energy, 
talent,  and  popular  sympathy.  In  this,  as  in  so  many  other  instances, 
the  nciblest  example  has  ever  been  set  by  Rome,  whose  Sacred  College 


*  An  anecdote,  illustrative  of  the  observation  in  the  text,  is  related  of  one  of  the 
electors  of  Maycnce  in  the  last  century.  Passing  in  his  carriage  one  day  through  the 
streets  of  his  capital,  he  saw  a  man  taken  suddenly  very  ill.  He  stopped  his  carriage, 
and  bade  his  footman  fetch  a  clergyman  from  a  neighbouring  church;  and  seemed 
totally  to  forget  that  he  himself  was  invested  with  powers  to  render  the  poor  man 
spiritual  aid. 

Yet  there  were  other  ecclesiastical  potentates  (and  among  these  the  Prince-bishops 
of  Wiirzburg,)  who  to  the  last  remained  true  to  the  spirit  of  their  sacred  profession, 
and  spent  their  ample  revenues  in  promoting  the  interests  of  religion,  and  the  moral 
and  temporal  well-being  of  their  subjects. 


MEMOIR  OP  DR.  MOEHLER.  45 

has  in  evefy  age  been  open  to  virtue  and  merit,  in  the  humblest,  as  well 
as  in  the  highest  ranks  of  life  ;  and  where  it  has  so  often  happened,  as 
even  at  this  moment  is  the  case,  that  the  son  of  a  peasant  sits  clad  in 
the  Roman  purple  by  the  side  of  a  brother  of  the  first  Christian 
emperor. 

The  members  of  the  German  Chapters,  thus  exclusively  composed, 
were  too  often  listless  and  given  up  to  ease,  indifferent  to  literature, 
little  concerned  about  the  great  objects  and  interests  of  the  Church,  and 
evincing  activity  only  in  the  obscure  intrigues  that  preceded  and  ac- 
companied  the  election  of  a  bishop. 

If  We  except  the  laudable  labours  of  the  Benedictines,  and  the  ex^ 
cellent  writings  of  the  Brothers  Walenburg,  (he  theological  literature 
of  that  period  was  mostly  confined  to  petty  polemical  skirmishes  ;  while 
in  the  schools,  divinity,  finding  few  able  expositors,  was  taught  in  the 
most  dry,  tasteless,  and  mechanical  manner. 

But  in  the  reign  of  the  excellent  Empress  Maria  Theresa,  a  better 
spirit  arose.  Popular  education  was  considerably  extended,  the  theolo.' 
gical  schools  underwent  great  improvements  ;  and  the  method  of  in- 
struction then  adopted  has  been  found  so  excellent,  as  to  be  ever  since 
retained.  Towards  the  close  of  this  reign,  however,  the  Janseriista 
became  active  and  influential ;  a  spirit  of  unworthy  distrust  towards 
the  Holy  See  began  to  display  itself}  the  odious  placet  on  all  papal 
bulls  was,  in  imitation  of  France,  established;  and  the  evil  genius,  that 
so  often  blighted  all  salutary  reforms  in  the  eighteenth  century,  here 
again  exerted  its  baneful  influence. 

Those  principles  of  hostility  to  papal  and  episcopal  power,  which 
characterized  the  French  Jansenists  of  the  eighteenth  century,  and 
distracted  and  convulsed  the  Ga.Uican  Church,  at  the  moment  when  she 
needed  all  her  combined  energies  and  resources  in  order  to  resist  un- 
belief, found  their  way  into  Catholic  Germany  ;  where  the  relaxation 
of  discipline,  and  the  growing  lukewarmness  among  a  large  portion  of 
the  clergy  and  laity,  presented  a  too  favourable  soil  to  the  growth  of 
such  principles.  They  found  an  organ  and  defender  in  John  Nicholas 
von  Hontheim,  suffragan  bishop  to  the  Elector  of  Treves,  who  under 
the  name  of  Febronius,  published,  in  the  year  1763,  a  work  against  the 
authority  of  the  Hol^  See,  under  the  pretence  that  by  the  depression 
of  prerogatives  peculiarly  odious  to  Protestants,  the  return  of  the  latter 
to  the  Catholic  Church  might  be  more  easily  brought  about.  "  Hence 
he  asserted,"  says  Dr.  Doilinger,  "  that  the  constitution  of  the  Church 
is  not  monarchical,  that  it  was  not  Christ,  but  the  Church,  that  had  con^ 
ferred  on  the  Roman  pontiffs  the  supremacy;  that  the  pope  has, 
indeed,  an  authority  over  all  Churches,  but  no  proper  jurisdiction  ;  that 


M  MEMOIR  OP  DR.  MOEHLER. 

his  superiority  among  bishops  is  no  more  than  the  precedency  allotted 
to  the  president  or  speaker  of  a  parhament ;  and  that  he  can  indeed 
make  laws,  but  that  they  receive  a  binding  force  only  through  the 
tcnanimous  adhesion  of  all  bishops."*  The  author,  moreover,  counselled 
princes  to  hold  back  the  papal  bulls,  in  order  to  impede  the  intercourse 
of  their  Churches  with  Rome,  and  thereby  to  force  the  latter  into  con- 
cessions;  and  also,  with  the  advice  of  their  prelates,  to  take  in  hand 
the  reform  of  those  national  Churches.  This  work,  condemned  by  the 
Holy  See,  and  proscribed  by  several  German  bishops,  called  forth  able 
replies  from  several  distinguished  divines  of  Germany  and  Italy.  Yet 
the  principles  it  inculcated,  exercised  for  a  long  time  a  most  fatal  influ* 
ence  over  public  opinion,  passed  into  the  teaching  of  the  theological 
schools,  furnished  the  secular  power  with  most  formidable  weapons 
against  the  liberties  of  the  Church,  and  led  to  the  degradation  and 
oppression  of  the  German  clergy. 

While  such  principles  were  leading  minds  astray,  a  prince  arose, 
■who  was  destined  to  enforce  them  in  public  life,  and,  by  his  great 
power,  give  to  them  the  most  fatal  extension  and  diffusion.  Imbued 
with  the  maxims  of  this  insidious  Jansenism,  as  well  as  with  many  of 
the  false  principles  of  lUuminism  ;  vain,  frivolous,  and  egotistical,  yet 
not  devoid  of  benevolent  feelings,  the  perverted  philanthropy  of  the 
emperor  Joseph  was  the  curse  of  his  subjects.  While  with  the  view 
of  improving  the  happiness  of  his  people,  he  ventured  on  crude,  pre-* 
cipitate,  violent  pohtical  reforms,  that  often  infringed  on  their  liberties, 
violated  their  ancient  customs,  and  were  repugnant  to  their  feelings  : 
his  ecclesiastical  reforms,  that  originated  likewise  in  a  true  or  affected 
zeal  for  the  advancement  of  piety,  were  still  more  unsuccessful.  True 
to  the  counsels  of  Febronius,  he  prescribed  by  ordinance  the  royal  placet 
as  a  necessary  condition  to  the  reception  of  all  papal  bulls,  whether  of  a 
doctrinal  or  a  disciplinary  kind,  forbade  recurrence  to  Rome  in  all  mat* 
ters,  and  took  upon  himself  to  transfer  the  right  of  giving  dispensations, 
in  matrimonial  cases,  from  the  Holy  See  to  the  bishops  of  his  own  do- 
minions. He  next  cut  off  all  communication  between  the  heads  of 
religious  houses  within  his  states  and  their  superiors  at  Rome ;  pro- 
scribed  all  the  contemplative  orders,  and  tolerated  none  but  those  dedi* 
cated  to  the  care  of  souls,  attendance  on  the  sick,  and  the  instruction 
of  youth  ;  and  at  last,  with  few  exceptions,  dissolved  all  the  monasteries, 
confiscated  their  property,  and  applied  it  to  the  endowment  of  parishes, 
the  foundation  of  schools,  and  the  building  of  barracks.  His  reforming 
zeal  was  then  exerted  on  the  public  liturgy  and  worship,  where  the 

*  Dollinger'B  Continuation  of  Hortig's  Church  History  Cin  German,)  p.  871, 


MEMOIR  OF  DR.  MOEHLER.  47 

innovations  he  introduced  attested  at  once  the  Httleness  of  his  mind 
and  his  reckless  arrogance.  The  numerous  confraternities  devoted  to 
exercises  of  piety,  and  the  spiritual  and  corporal  works  of  mercy,  this 
ruthless  enemy  of  the  Church  abolished  also.  The  education  of  clerical 
students  \vas  withdrawn  from  the  eye  of  the  bishops ;  episcopal  autho- 
rity was  everywhere  invaded;  those  prelates  who  resisted  the  impious 
innovations  of  the  emperor,  were,  by  his  agents,  held  up  to  odium  and 
contempt ;  and  writings  more  or  less  openly  directed  against  the  dis- 
cipline, the  constitution,  and  the  dogmas  of  the  Catholic  Church,  were 
encouraged  and  circulated  by  the  government.  He  proclaimed  the 
dissolubility  of  the  nuptial  tie,  before  the  civil  tribunals ;  and  while  he 
thus  undermined  the  constitution  of  the  family,  as  established  by 
Christianity,  he  thereby,  to  a  certain  extent,  severed  the  connexion 
between  Church  and  State.  The  celibacy  of  the  clergy  he  would  fain 
have  abolished,  but  was  compelled  to  yield  to  the  remonstrances  of  the 
Austrian  prelates. 

The  venerable  pontiff  Pius  VI.  crosses  the  Alps  to  check  the  giddy, 
infatuated  emperor  in  his  headlong  course.'  His  remonstrances,  ex- 
hortations,  and  prayers  are  unavailing ;  till  the  loud  murmurs  of 
Austria,  the  menacing  attitude  of  Hungary,  and  the  open  revolt  of 
Flanders,  rouse  the  monarch  from  his  illusion.  He  lived  to  see,  in 
part,  the  futility  of  his  efforts  ;  but  his  career  was  terminated  before  he 
could  consummate  the  schism  in  Austria. 

The  ecclesiastical  policy  of  this  imperial  revolutionist  well  deserves 
our  consideration,  because  it  has  been  the  main  source  of  all  the  evils 
that  for  the  last  fifty  years  have  afflicted  the  German  Church.     Those 
prelates  who  had  encouraged  this  monarch  in  his  encroachments  on 
the  papal  power,  lived  to  become  the  victims  of  that  policy  ;— ^the  blow 
levelled  at  a  higher  authority  recoiled  on  themselves  ;  their  jurisdiction 
was  soon  infringed,  trampled  on,  and  despised  ;  and  experience  proved 
on  this,  as  on  so  many  former  occasions,  that  the  safest  bulwark  of  na- 
tional Churches,  against  the  assaults  of  the  secular  power,  is  in  their 
firm  adherence  to  the  Apostolic  See.     In  the  suppression  of  monas* 
teries,  Joseph  II.  was  doubtless  an  unconscious  instrument  in  the  hands 
of  a  high  retributive  Justice,  for  the  chastisement  of  declining  piety  and 
relaxing  zeal.     Yet  here,  as  elsewhere,  the  abolition  of  those  institutes 
left  an  irreparable  void  in  society.     In    directing  their   first  attacks 
against  the  contemplative  orders,  the  revolutionists  of  the  last,  as  of  the 
present  century,  struck  at  the  very  root  of  the  monastic  life.     For  all 
outward  energy, — all  zealous  manifestations  of  love  for  God  and  our 
neighbour, — all  heroic  exercises  of  works  of  mercy,  spiritual  and  cor- 
poral,—'have  their  foundation  in   prayer  and  heavenly  contemplation, 


48  MEMOIR  OF  DR.  MOEHLER. 

which  form  the  basis  of  all  religious  communities,  though  in  sottie  the 
exercise  be  more  rigidly  prescribed,  and  more  prominently  practisedj 
than  in  others. 

The  fountains  of  education  were  now  often  poisoned  :  the  instruction 
of  youth,  wrested  from  the  hands  of  the  vigilant  guardians  of  virtucj 
was  entrusted  to  men  devoid  of  the  same  guarantees,  or  even  the 
avowed  partisans  of  schismatical  and  irreligious  principles ;  while  in 
the  duties  of  the  sacred  ministry,  in  the  care  of  the  infirm,  and  in  the 
relief  and  education  of  the  poor,  the  secular  clergy  lost  often  zealous 
co-operators,  and  admirable  models  in  the  path  of  virtue* 

The  suppression  of  the  religious  confraternities  was  also  a  most  fatal 
blow  to  the  cause  of  public  virtue.  These  admirable  sodalities  foster 
faith  and  piety  among  their  members,  inspire  deeds  of  benevolence, 
keep  up  a  holy  concord  among  citizens  of  all  classes,  and  are  to  laymen 
(even  such  as  are  not  therein  enrolled)  what  religious  orders  are  to  the 
secular  clergy, — perpetual  incentives  to  the  practice  of  the  higher  vir^ 
tues.  The  destruction  of  these  pious  brotherhoods  was  followed,  in 
Vienna,  by  the  establishment  of  various  societies  for  the  promotion  of 
worldly  gaieties  and  profane  amusements.  So  indestructible  is  the 
spirit  of  association  in  the  mind  of  man  ! 

The  elaborate  despotism  which  Joseph  had  contrived  for  the  oppres* 
sion  of  the  Church,  though  modified  by  his  successors,  has  long  con- 
tinued to  enervate  episcopal  authority,  to  check  the  zeal  of  the  inferior 
clergy,  to  thwart  the  efforts  and  weaken  the  influence  of  those  religious 
orders  that  were  originally  retained,  or  have  since  been  restored,  and  to 
dry  up,  among  the  people,  many  springs  of  spiritual  life. 

The  spirit  of  distrust  and  ahenation  towards  the  Holy  See,  inspired 
by  the  writings  of  Febronius,  and  encouraged  by  the  legislation  of 
Joseph  II.,  finds  still,  unhappily,  its  adherents  among  a  portion  of  the 
Austrian  priesthood,  and  a  large  body  of  the  civil  functionaries ;  while 
in  some  other  parts  of  Germany,  that  spirit  terminated  in  the  open  pro* 
fession  of  schismatical  principles. 

Lastly,  the  sacrilegious  spoliation  of  monastic  property  on  the  part 
of  this  emperor,  as  well  as  the  encouragement  he  gave  to  a  licentious, 
irreligious  press,  coupled  with  his  avowed  contempt  for  all  ancient  cus- 
toms, popular  franchises  and  liberties,  and  the  prescriptive  rights  of  civil 
corporations,  led  to  the  loss  of  his  Belgian  provinces,  facilitated  the 
triumph  of  the  arms  and  the  principles  of  French  Jacobinism,  and  the 
consequent  dismemberment  of  the  Germanic  empire,  and  brought  about 
that  long  train  of  calamities,  disgraces,  and  humiliations,  that  Austria 
was  destined  to  endure. 

While   the  head  of  the   empire  was  thus  waging  war  against  the 


MEMOIR  OF  DR.  MOEHLER.  49 

Church,  she  received  severe  blows  from  those  who  were  her  natural 
protectors  and  defenders.  The  extensive  jurisdiction,  which  for  two 
centuries  the  papal  nuncios  had  exercised  in  Germany,  and  which  had 
been  conferred  on  them  in  order  to  check  the  progress  of  the  Reforma- 
tion, now  irritated  the  jealousy  of  some  German  prelates,  and  rendered 
them,  in  the  general  religious  laxity  of  the  age,  but  too  well  disposed  to 
lend  a  willing  ear  to  the  doctrines  of  Febronius.  Imbued  to  a  certain 
extent  with  those  opinions,  and  spurred  on  by  the  counsels  and  example 
of  Joseph,  the  three  ecclesiastical  electors  of  Mayence,  Treves,  and 
Cologne,  accompanied  by  the  archbishop  of  Salzburg,  met  in  the  year 
178G,  at  the  baths  of  Ems,  and  there  framed  a  series  of  articles,  called 
the  twenty-six  points,  insulting  to  the  dignity,  and  derogatory  to  the 
rights,  of  the  Holy  See.  They  were  to  the  effect,  that  episcopal  juris- 
diction should  be  freed  from  those  restraints,  whereby  recurrence  to 
Rome  is  rendered  necessary  5  that  the  right  of  dispensation  in  matri- 
monial cases,  down  to  the  second  degree,  belonged  of  right  to  bishops ; 
that  all  papal  bulls  and  breves  must  first  be  sanctioned  by  the  accept- 
ance of  the  bishops  ;  that  annats  and  dues  for  the  reception  of  palliums 
be  abolished,  and  an  equitable  tax  substituted  ;  that  in  cases  of  appeal 
the  pope  must  select  judices  hi  partibus,  or  leave  them  to  the  deter- 
mination of  a  provincial  council ;  and  that  the  prelates,  when  restored 
to  the  possession  of  their  original  rights,  would  undertake  a  reform  of 
ecclesiastical  discipline. 

These  articles,  some  whereof  struck  at  the  e&sential  rights  of  the 
papal  power,  others  at  long-established  usages,  sanctioned  by  the  autho- 
rity or  practice  of  the  Church,  were  strenuously  resisted  by  several 
German  prelates,  as  well  as  the  Pope's  nuncio  at  Cologne,  'i'he  next 
year,  the  parties  themselves,  who  had  been  implicated  in  these  proceed- 
ings, revoked,  in  a  formal  address  to  the  pope,  the  obnoxious  articles ; 
but  it  would  be  an  error  to  suppose  that  the  scandal  and  mischief  of 
such  declarations  are  immediately  removed  by  a  retractation. 

At  the  moment  when  these  attempts  were  made  to  introduce  disor^ 
ganizing  principles  into  the  German  Church,  infidelity  was  not  behind 
in  the  concoction  of  her  own  schemes.  Weishaupt,  a  professor  at  the 
Bavarian  university  of  Ingolstadt,  entered,  as  I  before  observed,  into 
close  communication  and  confederacy  with  Nicolai,  who,  in  the  north 
of  Germany,  was  actively  difflising  the  principles  of  irreligion.  The 
former  founded,  in  the  year  1776,  the  order  of  the  lUuminati,  which 
was  destined  to  propagate  the  atheistic  and  antisocial  principles  of  the 
French  Encyclopedists,  through  the  mysterious  forms  and  agency  of 
masonic  lodges.  The  founder  and  first  members  of  this  destructive 
order  were  even  more  systematic  in  their  schemes,  and  more  crafty 
4 


50  MEMOIR  OF  DR.  MOEHLER, 

in  the  execution  of  them,  than  the  infidels  of  France.  A  well-informed 
eye-witness  of  the  time  says  :  "  The  illuminati  undertake  to  give  eccle- 
siastics to  the  Church,  counsellors  to  sovereigns,  tutors  to  princes* 
teachers  to  universities,  nay,  even  commanders  to  the  imperial 
fortresses."  This  formidable  association  was,  indeed,  broken  up  by 
the  energy  of  the  elector,  Carl  Theodore  ;  but  its  principles  to  a  certain 
extent  survived,  and  wrought  great  mischief  in  Bavaria  and  other  parts 
of  Catholic  Germany. 

In  this  state  of  things  did  the  French  revolution  surprise  the  inhabit- 
ants of  Catholic  Germany.  A  clergy  partly  relaxed  in  discipline,  and 
tainted  with  Febronian  doctrines, — its  better  members  often  thwarted 
by  the  despotic  control  of  the  state,  in  their  zealous  efforts  for  the 
maintenance  of  faith  and  piety  ;  a  nobility  in  part  corrupted  by  the 
irreligious  literature  of  France  and  the  rationalist  philosophy  of  Nor- 
thern Germany ;  a  third  estate  in  many  instances  perverted  by  doc- 
trines openly  proclaimed  from  many  university-chairs,  or  secretly  in- 
culcated in  the  lodges  of  the  illuminati  ; — all  these  were  social  elements 
ill  calculated  to  encounter  the  shock  of  the  moral  and  physical  energies 
of  revolutionary  France. 

To  these  causes  of  moral  debility,  others  of  a  political  nature  must  be 
added. 

The  political  absolutism,  which  from  the  reign  of  Lewis  XIV.  had 
become  so  predominant  in  France,  in  Spain,  and  Portugal,  and,  to  a 
less  extent,  in  Germany  (for  here  many  remnants  of  ancient  freedom 
survived),  powerfully  contributed  to  bring  about  the  great  popular  com- 
motion which  now  shook  Europe  to  its  centre.  In  the  first  place,  by 
detaching  the  nobles  from  the  sphere  of  their  local  power  and  influence, 
this  political  system  drew  them  into  the  vortex  of  dissipation,  so  often 
incident  to  a  court  life,  and  thereby  rendered  them  more  obnoxious  to 
the  irreligious  philosophy  of  the  day,  that  ministered  to  sensuality. 
Secondly,  by  excluding  them  as  a  body  from  a  participation  in  the  con- 
duct of  public  affairs,  it  rendered  them  frivolous,  inexperienced,  ready 
to  concur  in  any  hollow  sophism,  or  adopt  any  rash,  crude  expedient, 
suggested  or  put  forth  by  political  innovators.  Thirdly,  it  exposed  the 
aristocracy  to  the  jealousy  and  envy  of  the  middle  classes,  who  were  at 
a  loss  to  understand  the  meaning  of  surviving  distinctions  and  privi- 
leges, when  they  no  longer  beheld  the  corresponding  exercise  of  power. 

Lastly,  the  middle  classes  themselves,  deprived  of  their  old,  sound, 
historical,  legitimate  liberties,  were  the  more  prone  to  run  after  the  illu- 
sive meteor  of  a  false,  pernicious,  abstract  freedom.  In  a  word,  the 
solitary  column  of  royalty,  unaided  by  the  pilasters  of  nobility,  and  the 
strong  buttresses  of  democracy,  was  found  incapable  of  sustaining  the 


MEMOIR  OF  DR.  MOEHLER.  51 

whole  weight  of  the  social  edifice.  Such  were  some  of  the  evils  that 
the  modern  system  of  political  absolutism  brought  on  Church  and 
State  ;  and  though  by  no  means  the  chief,  it  was  certainly  one  of  the 
great  concurrent  causes  of  that  mighty  revolution,  which  darkened  and 
convulsed  the  close  of  the  eighteenth  century,  and  the  last  shocks 
whereof  we  are  ever  and  anon  doomed  to  feel. 

The  divine  Nemesis  now  stretched  forth  His  hand  against  devoted 
Germany,  and  chastised  her  rulers  and  her  people  for  the  sins  and  trans- 
gressions of  many  successive  generations.  Like  those  wild  sons  of  the 
desert,  whom,  in  the  seventh  century,  heaven  let  loose  to  punish  the  de- 
generate Christians  of  the  east,  the  new  Islamite  hordes  of  revolutionary 
France  were  permitted  by  Divine  Providence  to  spread  through  Ger- 
many, as  through  almost  every  country  in  Europe,  terror  and  desolation. 
What  shall  I  say  of  the  endless  evils  that  accompanied  and  followed 
the  march  of  her  armies  ?  The  desolation  of  provinces, — the  plunder 
of  cities, — the  spoliation  of  Church  property, — the  desecration  of  altars, 
■ — the  proscription  of  the  virtuous, — the  exaltation  of  the  unworthy 
members  of  society, — 'the  horrid  mummeries  of  irreligion  practised  in 
many  of  the  conquered  cities, — the  degradation  of  life, — and  the  profa- 
nation of  death  ; — such  were  the  calamities  that  marked  the  course  of 
these  devastating  hosts.  And  yet  the  evils  inflicted  by  Jacobin  Franco 
were  less  intense  and  less  permanent,  than  those  exercised  by  her  le- 
gislation. In  politics,  the  expulsion  of  the  old  ecclesiastical  electors, 
who,  if  they  had  sometimes  given  in  to  the  false  spirit  of  the  age,  had 
ever  been  the  mildest  and  most  benevolent  of  rulers, — the  proscription 
of  a  nobility,  that  had  ever  lived  in  the  kindliest  relations  with  its  te- 
nantry,— and  on  the  ruins  of  old  aristocratic  and  municipal  institutions, 
that  had  long  guarded  and  sustained  popular  freedom,  a  coarse,  levelling 
tyranny,  sometimes  democratic,  sometimes  imperial,  established  ; — in 
the  Church,  the  oppression  of  the  priesthood, — a  heartless  religious  in- 
differentism,  undignified  even  by  attempts  at  philosophic  speculation, 
propagated  and  encouraged  ;— and  through  the  poisoned  channels  of 
education,  the  taint  of  infidelity  transmitted  to  generations  yet  unborn ; 
— such  were  the  evils  that  followed  the  establishment  of  the  French 
domination  in  the  conquered  provinces  of  German}-.  Doubtless, 
through  the  all-wise  dispensations  of  that  Providence,  who  bringeth 
good  out  of  evil,  this  fearful  revolution  has  partly  become,  and  will  yet 
further  become,  the  occasion  of  the  moral  and  social  regeneration  of 
Europe.  It  was  thus  Protestantism  gave  occasion  to  the  reform  of 
manners  instituted  by  the  Council  of  Trent.  In  both  instances,  the 
regeneration  was  brought  about  in  utter  opposition  to  the  principles  of 
the  revolution  that  furnished  occasion  for  reform. 


52  MEMOIR  OF  DR.  MOEHLER. 

By  the  treaty  of  Luneville,  in  1801,  and  a  corresponding  decree  of  th(5 
imperial  diet,  in  1803,thc  left  bank  of  the  Rhine  was  ceded  to  France.  In 
order  to  indemnify  the  secular  princes,who  thereby  lost  their  territorial  pos- 
sessions, all  the  ecclesiastical  electorates,  principalities,  and  landed  pro- 
perty of  bishoprics,  abbies,  convents,  chapters,  and  other  ecclesiastical  cor- 
porations throughout  the  greater  part  of  Germany,  were  given  up  to  them. 
Thus  did  all  the  secular  pomp  and  temporal  grandeur  of  the  German 
Church  perish  with  that  holy  Roman  empire,  which  had  risen,  and  for  so 
many  ages  grown  up,  under  her  auspices,  and  which  had  imparted  to  her, 
in  turn,  so  much  power  and  dignity.  The  monasteries  and  convents 
were  almost  everywhere  suppressed,  their  estates  confiscated,  and  their 
inmates  reduced  to  a  paltry  pittance,  which  was  often  but  irregularly 
paid.  The  chapters  also  were  despoiled,  their  promised  endowments 
withheld  ;  and  while  their  members  died  one  after  the  other,  the  bishops 
were  left  without  advisers  and  co-operators.  The  episcopal  sees  them- 
selves were  arbitrarily  broken  up,  contracted,  or  extended  in  their  di- 
mensions ;  and  as  their  occupants  died  off,  or  resigned,  from  age  or 
other  circumstances,  they  were  replaced  by  vicars  apostolic,  who,  with- 
out the  same  influence  or  authority,  were  incapable  of  repressing  the 
abuses,  or  coping  with  the  evils  of  the  time.  Every  impediment  was 
opposed  to  a  free  intercourse  between  the  episcopacy  and  the  Holy 
See  ;  and  the  jurisdiction  of  the  former  was  subjected  to  the  odious 
shackles  of  a  jealous  legislation.  Ecclesiastical  seminaries  were,  with 
few  exceptions,  not  restored  ;  and  thus  one  of  the  most  efficient  means 
for  training  up  a  pious  priesthood  was  neglected.  Altars  and  churches 
were  despoiled,  and  pious  and  charitable  foundations  misapplied  or 
squandered  away.*  Principles  of  irreligion,  propagated  by  the  press,  or 
from  the  university-chair,  met  with  secret  encouragement  or  passive 
connivance  from  several  governments ;  the  popular  and  grammar 
schools  were  often  entrusted  to  teachers  totally  devoid  of  religion  ;  and 
in  Bavaria  especially,  the  profligate  ministry  of  Count  von  iVlongelas 
left  no  measure  untried,  in  order  to  obliterate  religion  from  the  hearts 
of  a  most  Catholic  people. 

To  these  calamities,  under  which  the  Church  of  Germany  groaned, 
we  must  add  the  many  and  various  evils  attendant  on  the  campaigns  of 
Napoleon, — that  often  partook  of  the  sacrilegious  and  atrocious  charac-< 
ter  of  the  first  revolutionary  wars  ;  the  general  prostration  of  moral  and 
intellectual  energy,  that  foreign  dominion  engenders ;  and  the  demo- 
ralizing effects  that  follow  the  arbitrary  transfer  of  countries  or  provin- 

*  See  Alzog's  Church  History  (in  German),  p.  659  ;  sec  also  the  Protestant  Hase's 
Church  History,  p.  505. 


MEMOIR  OF  DR.  MOEHLER.  53 

ces  from  one  ruler  to  another  ;  the  dissolution  of  the  sacred  ties  of 
nationahty,  and  the  breaking  up  of  old  hereditary  attachments. 

Yet  the  hour  of  liberation  for  Germany  and  Europe  at  last  sounded. 
"That  mighty  hunter  before  the  Lord,"  as  Gorres  once  called  Napo- 
leon, who  had  been  raised  up  by  Divine  Providence  to  chastise  (in  the 
words  of  Dryden)  "  a  lubrique  and  adulterate  generation,"  had  now 
accomplished  his  mission  of  terror,  and  amid  the  exultations  of  the  civi- 
lized world,  was  himself  caught  in  the  toils  which  his  ambition  had  laid 
for  others. 

On  the  restoration  of  general  peace,  in  1814,  the  several  German 
governments  saw  the  necessity  of  co-operating  with  the  Holy  See,  for 
the  establishment  of  a  new  ecclesiastical  organization.  In  the  year 
1817,  Bavaria  entered  into  a  concordat  with  the  Pope;  and,  after  long 
negotiations,  Prussia,  Hanover,  Wurtemberg,  Baden,  and  the  other  minor 
states,  followed  her  example.  Tlie  stipulations  in  these  several  concor- 
dats were  tolerably  favourable  to  the  Church  ;  but  in  a  very  few  in- 
stances only  were  they  honestly  carried  out.  The  virtuous  Emperor  of 
Austria,  Francis,  strove  to  negotiate  with  the  Papal  See  a  concordat, 
whereby  the  many  evils  engendered  by  Joseph's  policy  might  be  re- 
moved :  but  owing  to  the  fatal  influence  of  a  dignitary  of  the  Church, 
this  godly  work  was  not  accomplished. 

It  was  the  great  merit  of  the  Emperor  Francis,  that  he  relaxed  the 
severity  of  his  predecessor's  legislation  in  regard  to  the  Church  ;  dis- 
countenanced  impiety  ;  restored  several  religious  orders,  and  mitigated 
the  harsh,  despotic  laws  respecting  the  spiritual  government  and  tem- 
poral administration  of  others,  that  had  been  retained  ;  placed  every 
department  of  education  in  closer  connexion  with  the  Church ;  and 
generally  nominated  to  the  episcopal  dignity,  and  other  ecclesiastical 
functions,  men  of  orthodoxy,  zeal,  and  learning.  In  Bavaria,  the 
Church  languished  in  a  miserable  condition,  until  the  year  1825,  when 
the  present  enlightened  sovereign  ascended  the  throne.  He  has  made 
it  his  duty  to  heal  his  country's  wounds,  by  restoring  to  religion  her 
salutary  influence.  He  has  appointed  men  of  eminent  learning  and 
piety  to  the  episcopal  sees  ;  reformed  the  establishments  of  public  edu- 
cation ;  revived  several  religious  orders  of  either  sex ;  encouraged  all 
institutions  of  piety  and  charity  ;  and  laboured  to  bring  about  a  holy 
union  between  the  Church  and  art  and  science.  Under  his  auspices, 
Catholic  science  has  reached  a  magnificent  pitch  of  development  ;  and 
religious  art — and  especially  painting — has  achieved  wonders  unex- 
ampled since  the  days  of  Perugino,  Leonardo  da  Vinci,  and  Raphael. 

In  Prussia,  and  the  other  German  states  ruling  over  a  Catholic  popu- 
lation, the  Church,  after  the  so-called  restoration  of  1814,  had  to  encoun- 


54  MEMOIR  OF  DR.   MOEHLER. 

ler  a  long  succession  of  secret  intrigues,  odious  machinal  ions,  and  vexa- 
tious oppressions.  At  times,  the  independence  of  canonical  election 
was  violated  ;  at  others,  bishoprics  were  kept  vacant ;  and  almost  al- 
ways, by  the  influence  of  the  state,  men  noted  for  subserviency  of  cha- 
racter, or  labouring  under  the  infirmities  of  age,  were  promoted  to  the 
episcopal  office.  Papal  bulls,  even  on  doctrinal  matters,  were  for  years 
held  back  by  many  of  these  governments  :  episcopal  authority,  in  Wiir- 
temberg  more  especially,  was,  and  is  still,  shackled  by  the  most  humi- 
liating fetters  ;  and  in  general  every  favour  was  evinced  towards  those 
churchmen  who  were  most  unmmdful  of  their  duties.  Every  attempt 
Avas  made  to  Protestantize,  or  rather  to  uncatholicize  the  Catholic  popu- 
lation, partly  by  the  Protestant  or  irreligious  teachers  appointed  to  the 
schools,  as  well  as  by  the  professors  nominated  to  the  university-chairs, 
and  partly  by  the  instrumentahty  of  the  press,  under  government  influ- 
ence. Every  disfavour  was  manifested  towards  zealous  Catholics,  lay 
as  well  as  clerical ;  and  every  encouragement  given  to  mixed  marriages, 
contracted  under  such  circumstances,  and  with  such  conditions,  as 
were  calculated  to  promote  a  considerable  increase  in  the  Protestant 
population. 

But  the  web,  which  a  cunning  tyranny  had  spun  for  years,  the  me- 
morable night  of  the  20th  of  November,  1837,  saw  the  courageous  wis- 
dom of  one  man  suddenly  unravel.  The  venerable  Archbishop  of 
Cologne,  Count  von  Droste-Vischering,  forced  the  Prussian  government 
out  of  its  labyrinth  of  secret  machinations  into  the  path  of  open  violence. 
Hereby  its  hypocrisy  was  exposed,  its  flatterers  were  put  to  shame,  and 
the  vigilance,  energy,  and  religious  zeal  of  Catholic  Germany  were 
aroused.  It  is  here  unnecessary  to  do  more,  than  briefly  advert  to  recent 
transactions,  that  must  be  still  fresh  in  the  reader's  mind,  and  which  I 
have  not  space  to  recount.  The  example  of  the  illustrious  Archbishop 
of  Cologne  was  followed  by  that  of  the  distinguished  prelate  who  occu- 
pied the  archiepiscopal  see  ofPosen.  The  sovereign  pontiff  denounced 
the  gross  injustice  of  the  Prussian  government,  in  its  imprisonment  of 
the  two  archbishops,  and  applauded  the  firmness,  prudence,  and  self- 
devotedness  of  the  latter  ;  while  backed  by  that  high  authority,  the 
other  prelates  within  the  Prussian  dominions  united  in  strenuous  resist- 
ance against  the  encroachments  of  the  secular  power.  This  was  the 
dawn  of  a  new  epoch  on  Catholic  Germany.  From  the  banks  of  the 
Rhine  down  to  the  frontiers  of  Hungary,  a  new  spirit  hath  breathed 
over  the  German  Church.  A  warmer,  more  filial  attachment — the  re- 
sult at  once  of  gratitude  and  conviction — hath  sprung  up  towards  the 
Holy  See ;  the  inferior  clergy  have  rallied  round  their  bishops  ;  and 
churchmen,  formerly  timid  and  lukewarm,  are  now  become  fervent  and 


MEMOIR  OF  DR.   MOEHLER.  55 

courageous.  Among  the  laity  many  have  been  reclaimed  from  tepidity, 
and  even  unbelief;  the  duties  of  religion  are  prosecuted  with  greater 
fervour  ;  pious  and  charitable  confraternities  have  multiplied  ;  and  a 
zeal  to  diffuse  the  blessed  truths  of  religion,  to  defend  the  doctrines  of 
the  Church  against  the  calumnies  of  the  press,  and  her  liberties  against 
the  oppressions  of  the  state,  has  become  more  and  more  manifest. 

But  before  I  close  this  account  of  the  German  Catholic  Church,  it  is  my 
duty  to  notice  two  parties,  that  disturbed  her  peace,  and  were  even  seve- 
rally converted  by  Protestant  Governments  into  instruments  for  her  an- 
noyance and  oppression.  The  first  is  the  party  of  the  so-called  Liberals, 
or  anti-Celibates  ;  a  fraction  that  carries  to  the  most  violent  excess  the 
principles  of  the  old  Febronians.  Headed  by  Wessenberg,  Alexander 
Miiller,  Carove,  and  others,  it  prevails  chiefly  in  Baden,  Wiirtemberfr 
and  Silesia.  Distinguished  for  a  strong  semi-rationalistic  tone  in  their 
general  doctrines,  its  members  clamour  for  a  German  National  Church, 
with  a  mere  nominal  dependence  on  the  Pope  ;  they  demand  (doubtless 
with  the  view  of  better  diffusing  their  peculiar  opinions)  the  celebration 
of  the  liturgy,  and  the  administration  of  the  sacraments  in  the  verna- 
cular tongue  ;  and  insist  with  peculiar  force  on  the  abolition  of  the  irk- 
some law  of  celibacy.  While  in  politics  they  profess  an  ardent  liber- 
alism, they  are  noted  in  ecclesiastical  matters  for  their  mean  subservi- 
ency to  the  State,  which  finds  in  them  ready  tools  for  the  accom- 
plishment of  any  clandestine  or  open  act  of  tyranny  against  that 
Church,  whereof  they  profess  themselves  members.  In  the  earlier  part  of 
the  present  centurv,  when  so  many  episcopal  sees  were  vacant,  when  the 
secular  power  ventured  on  so  many  encroachments  upon  ecclesiastical 
jurisdiction,  this  party  wrought  much  mischief,  spread  pernicious  doc- 
trines among  the  people,  suppressed  many  practices  of  devotion,  and 
not  unfrequently  set  the  example  of  a  scandalous  violation  of  their  sa- 
cred vows.  Several  of  its  members  have  gone  over  to  Protestantism  ; 
others  have  been  suspended  for  immoral  conduct,  or  the  profession  of 
false  doctrines.  It  is  remarkable  that,  as  in  former  times,  schismatics 
generally  ended  by  falling  into  heresy ;  so  in  the  present  age,  when,  on 
the  Continent  especially,  heresy  has  little  or  no  vitality,  schism  gene- 
rally terminates  in  the  profession  of  total  unbelief.  Such  was  the  case 
with  the  old  constitutional  ecclesiastics  of  France ;  such  is  the  case 
with  their  successors,  the  Abbe  Chatel  and  his  followers ;  such,  too,  is 
the  case  with  the  German  clerical  faction  I  am  now  describing  ;  and 
examples  still  more  melancholy  might  be  adduced.  Stigmatized  by 
episcopal  authority,  reprobated  by  the  sounder  portion  of  laics,  unsup- 
ported by  a  single  writer  of  eminence,  and  combated,  moreover,  by 
distinguished  theologians,  and,  among  others,  by  the  subject  of  this 


56  MEMOIR  OF  DR.  MOEHLER, 

memoir,  this  schismatical  faction,  though  still  powerful  in  the  Grand 
Duchy  of  Baden,  is,  in  Wiirtcmberg  and  elsewhere,  rapidly  sinking 
into  insignificance  ;  and  before  the  day-star  which  hath  arisen  above 
the  German  horizon,  these  impure  and  turbulent  innovators,  like  birds 
of  night,  will  doubtless  soon  disappear. 

But  while  this  party  was  truckling  to  the  state,  in  its  iniquitous  inva- 
sion of  ecclesiastical  rights,  and  disturbing  the  Church  by  its  endea- 
vours to  subvert  an  apostolic,  and  most  salutary,  and  necessary  ordi- 
nance of  discipline,  another  party  arose,  which  attempted  to  form  a  de- 
grading alliance  with  Rationalism.  By  adopting  Luther's  fundamental 
principle  of  private  judgment,  the  late  Dr.  Hermes,  a  professor  of  Ca- 
tholic theology  at  the  university  of  Bonn,  deemed  he  could  better 
succeed  in  undermining  Luther's  theological  doctrines.  Like  Descartes, 
he  proclaimed  that  methodical  doubt  was  the  only  path  to  wisdom ; 
but  whereas  the  French  philosopher  had  expressly  limited  this  method 
of  doubt  to  scientific  objects  only,  Hermes  extended  it  to  all  the  truths 
of  revelation,  even  the  existence  of  God,  the  immortality  of  the  soul, 
and  the  distinction  between  right  and  wrong. 

"  This  method  of  doubt,"  says  the  celebrated  Klee,  "  is  the  worst 
system  that  can  be  devised.  It  is  a  sin  against  the  object,  which  sus- 
pended in  its  rights  on  our  belief,  is  declared  to  have  no  existence  for 
us;  it  is  a  sin  against  the  authority  of  Christ,  of  the  apostles,  and 
the  Church,  whose  existence  and  character  are  hereby  called  in  ques- 
tion— with  whom  we  place  our  own  private  reason  on  a  level,  and 
whom  we  summon  to  the  bar  of  our  own  judgment ;  it  is  a  sin  against 
God,  as  we  hereby  destroy  faith,  which  is  God's  work  in  man,  and  then 
presume  by  our  own  energies  to  reconstruct  it.  It  is  a  sin  against  the 
subject,  who  is  dragged  from  his  state  of  faith,  which  is  for  him  a  want 
and  a  duty  per  eminent iam,  and  transported  into  a  state  of  scepticism, 
from  which  the  escape  is  to  many  a  matter  extremely  arduous  and  pro- 
blematical. To  conjure  up  the  demon  of  scepticism  is  no  difficult 
task :  but  to  exorcise  him  again  into  his  gloomy  regions  is  a  matter  that 
may  baffle  the  art  of  the  conjurer."* 

This  radically  false  and  vicious  method  naturally  led  the  author  into 
many  doctrinal  errors  more  or  less  grievous,  and  which,  as  enumerated 
by  the  sovereign  pontiff  in  his  bull  of  condemnation,  regard  the  nature 
of  faith  ;  the  essence,  the  holiness,  the  justice,  and  the  liberty  of  God  ; 
the  ends  which  the  Most  High  proposed  to  Himself  in  the  creation  ; 
the  proofs  whereby  the  existence  of  God  should  be  established  ;  reve- 
lation ;  the  motives  for  belief;  the  Scriptures  ;  the  tradition  and  minis- 

*  See  Klee's  Dogmatik,  vol.  i.  p.  344.    Mainz,  1839. 


I 


MEMOIR  OF  DR.  MOEHLER.  57 

try  of  (he  Church,  as  the  depository  and  judge  of  faith ;  the  state  of 
our  first  parents  ;  original  sin  ;  the  faculties  of  fallen  man  ;  the  neces- 
sity and  the  distribution  of  Divine  grace  ;  and  the  rewards  of  merit  and 
the  infliction  of  punishments. 

These  errors,  and  the  method  which  led  to  them,  were,  after  a  long 
and  careful  investigation,  condemned  by  the  Holy  See.  This  system, 
though  it  numbered  among  its  partisans  no  inconsiderable  portion  of  the 
Rhenish  and  Westphalian  clergy,  and  was  countenanced  by  Count  von 
Spiegel,  the  former  archbishop  of  Cologne,  found  not  many  supporters 
among  the  laity,  and  was  not  upheld  by  any  theologian  of  eminent 
talent.  Had  this  system,  however,  been  broached  forty  years  ago, 
when  the  ecclesiastical  disorganization  was  so  great,  when  the  Kanti- 
an philosophy  exerted  such  sway  over  the  public  mind,  and  before 
the  great  regeneration  of  religious  life  and  of  theological  science  had 
taken  place  in  Catholic  Germany,  the  results  would  have  been  far  more 
fatal.  Thanks  to  the  decision  of  the  Holy  See,  and  the  firmness  of 
Count  von  Droste,  archbishop  of  Cologne,  as  well  as  his  present  able 
coadjutor,  these  pernicious  doctrines,  which  caused  some  young  men  to 
make  a  shipwreck  of  the  faith,  have  sunk  into  utter  discredit.  Many, 
on  the  other  hand,  who  had  innocently  imbibed  these  opinions,  have 
bowed  to  the  sentence  of  the  sovereign  pontiff,  and  recanted  ;  others 
(and  they  constitute  the  smaller  number)  have  been  abashed  into 
silence  ;  not  a  single  work,  or  even  pamphlet,  has  for  the  last  two  years 
been  put  forth  in  behalf  of  the  system  ;  the  stronghold  of  the  party,  the 
University  of  Bonn — has  lately  been  cleared  of  those  professors  who 
were  its  most  obstinate  defenders,  and  the  error  may  be  considered  as 
all  but  defunct.  In  conclusion,  it  is  necessary  to  say  a  few  words  on 
the  relation  which  the  literature  of  the  present  age  has  borne  to  the 
Catholic  Church  ;  and  here  the  task  is  far  more  pleasing  than  when  I 
had  to  trace  the  destructive  consequences  of  the  alliance  between  Ra- 
tionalism and  the  literature  of  the  eighteenth  century. 

The  illustrious  Count  Stolberg,  at  the  commencement  of  the  present 
age,  gave  the  first  impulse  to  Catholic  literature,  and  commenced  that 
series  of  eminent  writers,  who  have  since  adorned  Catholic  Germany. 
Deeply  imbued  with  the  spirit  of  Hellenic  antiquity,  Stolberg  had  in  his 
youth  published  spirited  translations  from  some  of  the  old  Greek  drama- 
tists,— while  his  own  lyrical  poems  breathed  a  noble,  chivalric  spirit. 
After  his  conversion  to  the  Catholic  Church,  he  consecrated  his  genius 
to  her  exclusive  service ;  and  certainly  no  man  ever  rendered  his  clas- 
sical acquirements  more  serviceable  to  the  cause  of  Christianity.  His 
great  work,  the  History  of  the  Christian  Religion,  from  the  origin  of 
the  world  down  to  the  fifth  century,  is  written  with  considerable  learn- 


58  MEMOIR  OF  DR.  MOEHLER. 

ing,  great  elegance  of  diction,  brilliancy  of  fancy,  and  much  amenity 
of  feeling.     Indeed  the  work  may  be  called  a  noble  epos  of  history, 
where   the  narrative  is  from   time  to  time  intermingled  with  lyrical 
effusions  of  the  author's  own  pure  and  exalted  feelings.     At  the  same 
timo  arose  the  romantic  school.     The  object  of  this  school,  established 
by  the  two  Schlegels,  Novalis,  and  Tieck,  was,  as  is  well  known,  to 
revive  a  love  for  Christian  art  and  literature,  and  to  explain  the  prin- 
ciples whereon  they  are  founded.     The  founders  of  this  school  were 
at  first,  indeed,  exclusively  Protestant,  and  their  aim,  apparently,  was 
purely  aesthetic ;  yet  were  their  labours  most  useful  in  dispelling  many 
prejudices  of  their  fellow-religionists,  and  in  pointing  out  the  ennobling 
influences  of  Catholicity  on  the  human  mind.  Nor  is  it  true,  as  has  some- 
times been  asserted,  that  a  mere  literary  dilettantism,  and  no  earnest  reli- 
gious thoughts,  were  at  the  bottom  of  this  remarkable  intellectual  move- 
ment.  The  great  poet,  Tieck,  was  so  earnest  in  the  matter,  as  to  induce 
his  wife  to  become  Catholic ;  and  she  and  her  daughter  are  pious  mem- 
bers of  our  church.   And  that  the  great  writer  himself  never  took  the  step 
he  had  recommended,  is  only  a  proof  of  that  sad  discrepancy  between  the 
intelligence  and  the  will,  which  is  one  of  the  melancholy  consequences 
of  the  fall.     The  eminent  piety  of  Novalis,  and  his  attachment  to  the 
Catholic  Church,  breathe  through  all  his  writings  ;  and  those  possessing 
the  best  opportunities  of  forming  an  opinion,  declare,*  that  but  for  his 
untimely  death,  he  would  have  sought  a  refuge  in  that  Church  which  is 
the  native  home  of  all  lofty  intelligences,  as  well  as  the  asylum  of  all 
bruised  hearts.     His  illustrious  friend,  Frederic  Schlegel,  the  deepest 
thinker  of  all,  embraced  at  a  mature  period  of  life  the  Catholic  faith  ; 
and  the  sincerity  of  that  conversion,  as  well  as  the  piety  which  subse- 
quently characterized  him,  was  proved,  in  a  memoir  I  published  several 
years  ago,  to  the  satisfaction  of  my  English  Protestant  critics.    Several 
of  his  disciples,  like  Adam  Miiller,  Baron  d'Eckstein,  and  others,  were 
led,  partly  by  aesthetic  studies,  partly  by  historical  researches  and  philo- 
sophic speculations,  to  follow  the  noble  example  which  Schlegel  had 
set.     As  the  avenues  that  led  to  the  old  Egyptian  temples,  were  bor- 
dered on  either  side  by  representations  of  the  mysterious  sphinx,  so  it 
was  through  a  mystical  art,  poetry  and  philosophy,  many  spirits  were 
then  conducted  to  the  sanctuary  of  the  true  Church.     I  am,  however, 
far  from  pretending  to  assert,  that  all  the  followers  of  the  romantic 


*■  A  friend  of  mine,  a  distinguished  German  writer,  who  saw  the  private  corre- 
spondence that  once  passed  between  Novalis  and  Frederic  Schlegel,  has  assured  me 
that  in  that  correspondence,  the  Catholic  sentiments  of  the  former  are  still  more 
clearly  evinced  than  in  his  published  writings. 


.MEMOIR  OF  DR.  MOEHLER.  69 

school  were  equally  earnest,  or  that  the  admiration  professed  by  many 
among  them  for  the  Catholic  Church,  went  beyond  a  mere  enthusiasm 
for  the  music  of  Pergolesi,  the  paintings  of  Raphael,  and  the  poetry  of 
Dante. 

The  heathenish  fanaticism  which  Goethe  had  called  up,  and  which 
was  exercising  such  destructive  sway,  Frederic  Schlegel  opposed  by  a 
noble  Christian  enthusiasm.  This  was  the  aim  of  all  his  labours — this 
was  the  task  of  his  life,  and  which  he  so  gloriously  accomplished.  And 
whether  we  behold  him  pouring  forth  the  religious  effusions  of  his  earn- 
est, reflective  muse  ;  or  displaying  in  comparative  philology  his  ad- 
mirable analytic  skill ;  or  unfolding  with  such  marvellous  depth  the 
peculiar  genius  of  ancient  and  modern  literatures  ;  or  tracing  on  the 
map  of  the  world's  history,  the  workings  of  God's  providential  dispensa- 
tions  ;  or  throwing  out  in  metaphysics  his  rapid,  searching,  intuitive 
perceptions  ;  or,  before  an  audience  of  celebrated  painters,  like  Stho- 
dow,  Veit,  Cornelius,  and  Overbeck,  revealing  the  fountains  of  artistic 
inspiration, — we  are  lost  in  wonder  at  a  mind  of  such  depth  and  uni- 
versality. It  is  no  exaggeration  to  say,  that  the  whole  modern  art? 
literature,  and  science  of  Catholic  Germany,  sprang,  kindled  up  by  the 
fire  which  this  Promethean  spirit  stole  from  heaven. 

Of  the  genius  of  Novalis,  who  was  cut  off  at  the  premature  age  of 
twenty-nine,  it  is  impossible  to  speak  with  the  same  confidence ;  but  it 
may  be  asserted,  that  if  inferior  to  his  illustrious  friend  in  sohdity  of 
judgment,  he  was  endowed  with  nearly  the  same  depth  of  understand- 
ing, and  with  even  higher  poetical  imagination.  His  writings  in  prose 
and  in  poetry  exhibit  a  mind  instinctively  Catholic,  wrestling  with  the 
prejudices  imbibed  from  a  Protestant  education.  His  tender  piety, 
which  among  other  things  frequently  exhibited  itself  in  an  extraordi- 
nary devotion  to  the  glorious  Mother  of  God,  unique,  perhaps,  among 
Protestant  writers,  stamped  on  all  his  poetical  conceptions  a  character 
of  indescribable  purity.  And  had  his  brilliant  career  not  been  so 
speedily  terminated,  he  would,  under  the  patronage  of  that  powerful 
advocate,  have  in  all  probability  reached  the  temple,  after  which  he 
had  so  fondly  yearned.  As  in  the  cloudless  atmosphere  of  the  south, 
the  stars  of  heaven  shine  with  greater  effulgence,  so  those  lights  of  hu- 
man existence — love,  friendship,  patriotism — that  beam  along  the  im- 
mortal verse  of  Novalis,  receive,  as  it  w^ere,  a  more  magical  glow  from 
the  exquisite  purity  of  his  devotional  feelings. 

The  genius  of  Gorres  exhibits  the  same  wondrous  combination  of 
deep,  comprehensive  understanding  and  lofty  imagination,  though  not 
in  the  same  beautiful  harmony  as  we  find  developed  in  Frederic  Schle- 
gel, and  as,  in  an  immature  state,   was  perceptible  in  Novalis.     This 


60  MEMOIR  OF  DR.  MOEHLER. 

combination  is  the  rare  privilege  of  the  most  favoured  sons  of  genius  j 
and  when,  as  in  the  case  of  Gorres,  it  is  consecrated  to  the  service  of 
truth,  it  becomes  indeed  the  most  potent  instrument  of  good.  Gorres, 
wl*o  devoted  his  energetic  youth  and  manhood  chiefly  to  political  and 
historical  Hterafure,  wherein  he  combated  at  once  the  absolutists  of  de- 
mocracy and  the  revolutionists  of  absolutism,  has  in  the  evening  of  life 
gone  into  the  sanctuary  of  the  mystic  theology  ;  as,  after  the  fatigues 
and  agitations  of  the  day,  men  love  to  retire  into  the  secret  oratory. 

The  other  great  thinkers  of  Catholic  Germany,  like  Molitor,  Windisch- 
mann,  Gunther,  and  others,  have  in  the  several  departments  of  Jewish 
traditions,  Oriental  philosophy,  and  speculative  theology,  displayed 
great  extent  of  erudition  and  depth  of  understanding,  and  rendered  emi- 
nent services  to  the  Church. 

In  this  rapid  survey  I  can  notice  only  the  most  celebrated  men  in  the 
most  important  departments  ;  but  it  may  be  asserted,  without  fear  of 
contradiction,  that  in  almost  every  branch  of  literature  and  science* 
Catholic  Germany  has  in  our  times  produced  most  distinguished  men, 
and  has  nobly  redeemed  herself  from  the  reproach  of  intellectual  sloth, 
that  once  deservedly  attached  to  her. 

The  historical  school,  founded  by  the  eminent  Protestant  John  von 
Muller,  and  continued  by  the  Protestants  Voight,  Leo,  and  Hurter,  is 
more  or  less  distinguished  for  impartiality,  extensive  research,  and  a 
noble  appreciation  of  the  social  influence  of  the  Catholic  Church. 
This  school,  when  we  look  to  its  general  tone  and  spirit,  particularly  in 
its  most  distinguished  ornament,  Hurter,  belongs  certainly  more  to 
Catholic  than  to  Protestant  literature.  And  certainly  in  no  department 
have  German  learning,  genius,  and  rectitude,  shone  to  greater  advan- 
tage,  or  been  attended  with  more  beneficial  results. 

If  the  department  of  special  history  has  not  been  cultivated  by  the 
Catholic  party  with  such  brilliant  success  as  by  the  Protestant,  the  for- 
mer, on  the  other  hand,  has  produced  the  most  celebrated  men  in  pub- 
lic and  constitutional  law;  and,  among  these,  Haller,  Adam  Muller, 
Jarcke,  and  Phillips,  hold  the  most  conspicuous  place. 

Yet  theology,  the  queen  of  sciences,  was  still  unrepresented  in  the 
high  circles  of  intelligence.  In  the  last  century  the  Jesuit  Stattlcr,* 
and  the  Augustinian  Klupfel,  and  in  the  present  age,  Zimmer,  Dob- 
mayer,  Bishop  Sailer,  Liebermann,  and  Breuaer,  had  treated  dogmatic 
theology  with  remarkable  acuteness  and  learning,  and  some  of  them 
with  great  taste  and  elegance  of  diction,  and  clearness  of  method.    But 


*  In  the  theology  of  Stattler,  however,  there  were  a  few  erroneous  propositions, 
that  were  censured  by  the  Holy  See. 


MEMOIR  OF  DR.  MOEHLER.  61 

a  high  creative  spirit  was  still  wanting.  Divine  Providence  took  com- 
passion  on  that  afflicted  German  Church,  and  at  the  right  moment  sent 
her  the  aid  she  most  needed.  It  was  in  the  beautiful  province  of  Swa- 
bia  that  (through  the  whole  IMiddle  Age,  and  down  to  recent  times,  has 
ever  furnished  Church  and  State,  art  and  science,  with  the  most  dis- 
tinguished men)  this  great  luminary  arose;  and  this  leads  me  to  the 
great  subject  of  my  biography. 


JoHX  Adam  Moehler  was  born  the  8th  of  May,  1796,  at  Igersheimj 
near  Mergentheim,  on  the  confines  of  Franconia  and  Swabia,  about 
twenty  miles  from  Wiirzburg.  His  father,  who  vvas  a  substantial  inn- 
keeper of  the  place,  resolved  to  give  his  son  the  benefit  of  a  liberal  edu- 
cation. 

In  his  twelfth  year,  Moehler  began  to  attend  the  Gymnasium  at 
Mergentheim,  a  town  two  miles  distant  from  the  place  of  his  birth,  and 
every  evening  he  was  obliged  to  return  home.  During  his  four  years' 
attendance  at  this  school,  he  was  distinguished  as  well  for  a  peculiar 
gentleness  of  disposition,  and  blameless  conduct,  as  for  his  diligence  and 
love  of  study.  Yet  his  mental  powers  were  but  of  slow  development, 
and  gave  no  earnest  of  the  intellectual  eminence  he  was  destined  one 
day  to  reach.  In  most  branches  of  study  he  was  surpassed  by  some  of 
his  fellow-students  ;  although  the  strong  predilection  for  history,  which 
he  evinced  even  at  this  early  period,  and  the  keen  interest  he  took  in 
the  events  of  the  day,  are  well  worthy  of  attention.  Such  a  love  for 
historic  lore  was  also  a  characteristic  trait  in  the  boyhood  of  Gibbon. 

It  was  Moehler's  happiness  to  receive  a  religious  education  from  his 

virtuous  parents  ;  for  in  Germany,  more  than  in  any  other  country,  the 

task  of  education,  in  the  strict  sense  of  the  word,  devolves  on  parents 

far  more  than  on  the  heads  and  teachers  of  schools.    Under  the  modern 

system  of  Gymnasial  instruction,  which  for  the  last  fifty  or  sixty  years 

has  theue  prevailed,  the  students  of  all  the  schools,  whether  elementary, 

commercial,  or  Latin,  are  mere  day-scholars,  who  after  the  prescribed 

hours  of  study  must  return  to  the  paternal  roof.     With   the  exception 

of  the  catechetical  instruction,  which   in  many  parts  of  Catholic  Ger- 

many  is  now  most  solid  and  excellent,  and  with  exception  of  the  fixed 

hours  for  attendance  at  mass,  and   the  frequentation  of  the  sacraments, 

the  moral  training  of  the  pupil,  the  culture  of  his  religious  feelings,  and 

the  superintendence  of  his  moral   conduct,  devolve   on  his  parent   or 

guardian.     The  defects  of  this  system,  in  most  instances,  are  obvious, 

and  are  deeply  deplored  by  the  most  eminent  Catholics  of  Germany. 


6S  MEMOIR  OF  DR.  MOEHLEtt. 

Yet  it  cannot  be  denied  that  where,  as  in  the  case  of  the  subject  of  this 
memoir,  the  parents  are  very  religious,  it  may  be  attended  with  ad- 
vantages. 

Mojhler  had  the  misfortune  to  lose  his  mother  very  early,  and  his 
father,  though  a  most  worthy  and  excellent  man,  treated  him  with  a 
certain  degree  of  harshness.  On  his  return  from  school,  he  would 
sometimes  compel  him  to  perform  the  household  duties,  and,  during  the 
vacations,  to  labour  in  the  field.  On  one  occasion  a  friend  of  his 
youthful  days  came  to  his  house,  and  saw  him  pouring  out  wine  for  his 
father's  customers,  while  on  the  table  lay  a  grammar,  which  at  every 
spare  interval  he  would  take  up  and  study. 

After  attending  the  Gymnasium  of  Mergentheim  for  four  years, 
Moehler  repaired,  in  1814,  to  the  Lyceum,  in  the  Swabian  city  of 
Ellwangen,  in  order  to  prepare  for  the  study  of  theology.  After  re- 
maining there  some  time,  he  began  to.  entertain  serious  doubts  whether 
he  were  equal  to  the  discharge  of  the  arduous  and  awful  duties  of  the 
priesthood,  and  already  revolved  in  his  mind  the  project  of  embracing 
another  of  the  learned  professions.  For  this  end  the  consent  of  his 
father  was  to  be  obtained  ;  and  the  conduct  of  that  father  on  this  occa- 
sion, harsh  and  injudicious  as  it  undoubtedly  was,  and  perilous  as  it 
might  have  been,  was,  under  the  mysterious  guidance  of  Providence, 
the  means  of  giving  a  great  teacher  to  the  Church,  and  a  most  edify- 
ing minister  to  her  altars.  On  his  son's  soliciting  his  approbation  and 
support  in  a  new  professional  career,  the  father  replied,  that  the  most 
fervent  wish  of  his  heart  was  to  see  his  son  a  worthy  Catholic  priest ; 
but  that  if  he  felt  not  a  call  from  heaven  to  that  state,  he  might  give  up 
his  studies  and  return  to  the  parental  roof,  where  he  would  meet  with 
kindness,  and  find  occupation.  "  But,"  said  he,  "  as  regards  any  other 
of  the  liberal  professions,  I  can  never  give  my  consent  to  your  embrac- 
ing one  of  them."  When  subsequently  censured  for  his  conduct,  the 
father  replied  to  a  friend,  "I  could  not  possibly  see  my  son  take  to  the 
study  of  the  law,  for  I  have  seen  so  many  young  men  at  the  universi- 
ties  make  a  shipwreck  of  their  faith,  and  lose  the  heritage  of  eternal 
life."  When  we  consider  the  state  of  the  German  universities  at  that 
period,  the  pernicious  doctrines  which  were  then  inculcated  from  so 
many  professional  chairs,  the  unbelief  and  immorality  of  so  many  of  the 
students,  we  may  well  understand  the  apprehensions  of  this  honest  and 
simple-minded  man,  however  we  may  feel  disposed  to  condemn  his 
severity. 

But  Moehler,  whose  talents  by  this  time  were  quickly  and  vigorously 
developing,  felt  an  irresistible  attraction  to  learned  pursuits,  and,  after 
some  consideration,  he  returned  to  the  study  of  theology.     In  the  fol- 


MEMOIR  OF  DR.  MOEHLER.  63 

lowing  year  he  repaired  to  the  University  of  Tubingen,  where  the  theo- 
logical faculty  numbered  among  its  members  distinguished  professors, 
like  Drey,  Herbst,  and  Hirscher.  Here  he  entered  the  ecclesiastical 
seminary,  and  after  passing  four  years  in  the  study  of  divinity,  under 
the  guidance  of  these  distinguished  masters,  he  was  ordained  priest  on 
the  18th  of  September,  1819,  and  thus  reached  the  term  of  all  his  la. 
hours,  and  obtained  the  most  ardent  desire  of  his  heart. 

The  first  fruits  of  sacerdotal  grace  he  wished  to  offer  up  to  God  by 
devoting  himself  to  the  pastoral  ministry,  and  accordingly,  in  the  fol- 
lowing  year,  he  officiated  as  assistant  vicar  in  the  successive  parishes 
of  Walderstadt  and  Reidlingen,  in  Wurtemberg. 

I  shall  here  take  the  liberty  of  citing  the  testimony,  so  honourable  to 
both  parties,  which  his  principal  in  the  last-named  parish,  the  now  canon 
Strobele,  has  given  respecting  the  fife  and  ministry  of  the  subject  of 
this  memoir,  during  the  period  in  question.     "  His  pastoral  career  was 
characterized  by  such  an  amiable,  modest,  and,  in  every  respect  worthy, 
deportment,  joined  to  such  holy  earnestness  in  all  his  functions  and  in- 
tercourse with  men,  that  he  won  in  an  eminent  degree  the  love  and 
veneration   of  the  whole   congregation,  and  especially  of  the  young 
scholars,  whom  he  had  to  catechize.     His  style  of  preaching,   simple 
and  feeling,  addressed   itself  more   particularly   to  the  hearts  of  his 
hearers,  and  thus  atoned  for  defects  in  delivery.     The  inhabitants  of 
Riedlingen  boasted  of  their  vicar,  whose  name  even  now  is  mentioned 
among  them  with  love  and  respect.     The  half-year  which  he  spent  by 
my  side,  was  to  my  friend,  the  then  chaplain  Ehinger,  and  myself,  a 
period   of  cordial  mutual  co-operation.     But  even  then  his  desire,  I 
might  almost  say  his  destination,  for  learned  pursuits,  was  so  decided, 
that  every  hour  he  could  devote  to  them  was  precious  to  him  ;  and  there- 
fore the  official  writing  which,  as  my  assistant  in  the  rural  deanery, 
he  was  obliged  to  go  through,  he  felt  as  an  irksome  duty.     To  lighten 
this  burden  as  much  as  possible,  my  friend  Ehinger  and  myself  under- 
took a  portion  of  his  task,  and  said  to  him  in  jest,  that  we  expected  he 
would  give  us  in  return  some  fruits  of  his  learned  labours.     I  must  here 
make  mention  of  a  visit,  which  at  this  time  the  venerable  and  cele- 
brated Bishop  Sailer  honoured  me  with.     Moehler  made  on  the  mind 
of  this  prelate  a  deep  impression ;  and  the  manner  in  which  he  fixed 
his  eyes  on  him,  threw  our  modest  vicar  into  great  embarrassment.    This 
amiable  bishop  made  particular  inquiries  respecting  this  interesting  young 
man,  as  he  termed  him,  and  testified  the  great  hopes  he  entertained  of 
him,  which  the   latter  afterwards  so   well  justified.     That,  moreover, 
Moehler's  way  of  thinking  had  not  then  the  same  turn,  which  it  after- 
wards took,  is  notorious  ;  and  I  well  remember   that  on  seeing  some 


64  MEMOIR  OF  DR.  MOEHLER. 

essays  he  had  delivered  at  several  ecclesiastical  conferences,  the  vene 
rable  and  learned  curate  Haass  expressed  with  apprehension  a  hope, 
that  this  young  man,  tor  whom  he  entertained  such  sincere  aticction, 
might  regain  the  path  of  strict  orthodoxy  ;  and  the  old  curate  Bertsch 
once  said  on  a  similar  occasion  :  "  Well,  well,  it  is  allowable  for  such  a 
learned  young  man  to  believe  a  little  differently  from  us  old  men  ;  but 
he  will  later  recur  to  our  way  of  thinking." — Kuhn,  Biography  in  the 
Quarterly  Theological  Revietv  of  Tubingen,  p.  678,  580. 

The  pernicious  influence  that  the  Neologists  had  exerted  over  public 
opinion  in  Southern  Germany,  particularly  in  Baden  and  Wiirtemberg, 
I  have  already  described.  The  theological  faculty  in  the  university  of 
Tubingen,  at  which  Moehler  had  studied,  was,  to  a  certain  extent,  and 
in  some  of  its  professors,  infected  with  those  doctrines  ;  and  even  Hir- 
scher,  who  has  since  become  so  eminent  a  divine,  then  gave  in  to  many 
of  those  false  opinions.  It  was  not  to  be  expected  that  a  young  man, 
like  Moehler,  should  have  escaped  totally  free  from  the  contagion  of 
doctrines,  often  put  forth  with  seductive  eloquence  and  learning,  and 
then  held  by  so  many  fellow-students,  and  the  majority  of  the  Swabian 
clergy.  "  The  Church,"  says  his  friend  Professor  Ruhn,  "  had  not 
yet  won  all  the  affections  of  his  heart,  and  the  objects  of  his  enthusiasm 
lay,  in  part,  beyond  her  circle  :  his  views  did  not  entirely  harmonise 
with  all  her  doctrines,  nor  agree  with  all  her  disciplinary  institutions. 
Yet,  from  the  outset  of  his  career  he  was  a  conscientious  priest,  and 
preserved  intact  the  sanctity  of  the  sacerdotal  charactei*,  and  most  as- 
suredly he  was  devoid  of  all  perfidy  towards  the  Church,  whose  minister 
he  had  become."— Twiirt^'er  Quartal-Schrijt,  p.  580,  1838. 

His  passion  for  learning  was  too  irresistible  to  keep  him  long  aloof 
from  the  university  life.  After  passing  a  year  in  the  pastoral  office,  he 
returned  on  the  31st  October,  1820,  to  the  University  of  Tubingen, 
where  he  was  soon  nominated  to  the  place  of  tutor  in  the  Gymnasial 
Institute,  connected  with  the  Convictorium,  or  ecclesiastical  seminary 
of  that  town.  During  the  two  years  he  filled  this  place,  he  devoted 
himself  with  uncommon  ardour  and  astonishing  success  to  the  study  of 
the  ancient  classics,  particularly  the  Greek  philosophers  and  historians. 
The  study  of  these  ancient  masters  of  human  eloquence  and  specula- 
tion, brought  out  and  developed  all  those  faculties,  wherewith  nature 
had  so  richly  endowed  him.  In  this  school  he  acquired  that  delicacy 
of  taste>— that  solidity  of  judgment — that  vigour  and  dexterity  of  ratio- 
cination-— that  clearness  and  precision  of  language,  which  afterwards 
so  eminently  characterized  him.  The  insight,  too,  which  he  hereby 
obtained  into  the  nature  of  Paganism,  as  well  as  the  acquaintance  he 
formed   with  the  various  systems  of  ancient  philosophy,  was  of  the 


MEMOIR  OF  DR.  MOEHLER.  66 

greatest  service  to  the  future  speculative  divine,  and  learned  Churcb» 
historian.  And  in  allusion  to  the  importance  of  these  preparatory  studies 
for  his  subsequent  career,  Moehler  used  to  speak  jestingly  "  of  the  times 
when  he  lived  in  heathenism." 

So  strong  was  his  love  for  ancient  Uterature,  that  in  1822  he  drew 
up  a  petition  to  the  Wiirtemberg  government,  sohciting  the  nomination 
to  a  place,  that  had  just  become  vacant  in  the  philological  faculty. 
And  there  is  no  doubt,  that  had  he  pursued  this  career,  he  would  have 
reached  the  highest  eminence.  But  Providence  had  reserved  far  higher 
destinies  for  him.  While  he  was  on  the  point  of  forwarding  this  peti- 
tion to  the  government,  the  theological  faculty,  that  had  long  observed 
his  great  talents,  transmitted  to  him,  with  unanimous  consent,  a  written 
invitation  to  accept  the  place  of  private  teacher  in  theology — a  place 
which  is  always  sure  in  time  to  conduct  to  a  professorship.  Moehler 
hesitated  not  a  moment — gave  up  his  cherished  plan — accepted  the 
offer  that  had  been  so  graciously  made  him,  and  thus  became  bound 
by  new  and  more  intimate  ties  to  the  interests  of  the  Church. 

His  appointment  to  this  place  was,  on  the  22nd  of  September  1822, 
confirmed  by  the  government,  which  at  the  same  time  furnished  him 
with  pecuniary  means  for  undercaking  a  great  literary  journey  through 
Northern  and  Southern -Germany,  in  order  that  by  visiting  the  most 
celebrated  seats  of  learning,  and  conversing  with  distinguished  profes- 
sors, he  might  the  better  qualify  himself  for  the  important  office  he  was 
about  to  enter  on. 

He  began  his  journey  in  the  autumn  of  1822,  and  visited  succes- 
sively the  universities  of  Jena,  Leipzig,  Halle,  Berlin,  Gottingen  ;  and 
on  his  return  visited  those  of  Prague,  Vienna,  and  Landshut.  The 
conversation  and  hterary  advice  of  so  many  distinguished  scholars  and 
theologians,  whether  Catholic  or  Protestant,  whom  he  met  with  on  his 
journey,  were,  doubtless,  of  the  greatest  service  to  the  future  develop- 
ment of  his  Diind  ;  and  there  was  one  individual,  in  particular,  from 
whom  Moehler  received  lasting  benefit.  The  celebrated  Plank,  Pro- 
testant professor  of  theology  at  Gottingen,  had  been  the  first  to  revive 
—I  had  better,  perhaps,  have  said  introduce — the  study  of  the  fathers 
in  Protestant  Germany.  By  his  profound  study  of  Christian  antiquity, 
he  had  been  led  to  approximate  very  closely  to  the  doctrines  of  the 
Catholic  Church;  and  it  was  said  that  more  than  one  member  of  his 
family  evinced  no  little  inclination  to  embrace  its  faith.  With  Plank, 
Moehler  held  much  conversation  on  the  subject  of  the  fathers,  and  of 
Church-history  ;  and  the  result  was,  that  several  Neological  opinions, 
which  the  latter  had  imbibed  in  the  school  of  Tubingen,  were  dispelled 
by  this  learned  and  enlightened  Protestant.     Plank  urged  him  also  to 


66  MEMOIR  OF  DR.  MOEHLER. 

prosecute  with  diligence  the  study  of  the  fathers  ; — a  study  which,  in 
the  school  of  Hermes,  and  in  that  of  the  WUrtemberg  and  Baden  Neolo* 
gists,  had  been,  from  their  strong  leaning  to  heretical  and  semi-ratio- 
nalistic  opinions,  as  well  as  from  a  conceited  contempt  for  all  former 
ages,  grossly  neglected. 

The  nearer  insight  into  the  essence  of  Rationalism,  which,  from  his 
visit  to  Protestant  Germany,  Moehler  had  obtained'— the  perception  of 
the  dreadful  moral  ravages  it  had  occasioned— its  dry  and  heartless 
worship — its  churches  vacant,  even  during  the  sermons  of  the  most 
celebrated  preachers— the  unbelief  that  had  spread  from  the  upper  to 
the  lower  classes  of  society — the  sight  of  all  these  evils,  I  say,  tended 
heartily  to  disgust  the  subject  of  this  memoir  with  all  those  sickly  ofT- 
shoots  of  Rationalism,  that  the  Swabian  innovators  were  endeavouring 
by  degrees  to  engraft  on  the  Catholic  Church. 

On  his  return  to  Tubingen,  Moehler  took  Wiirzburg  in  his  way,  and 
called  on  his  friend  Dr.  Benkert,  then  rector  of  the  seminary,  and  who 
has  since  succeeded  him  in  the  deanery  of  that  city.  Dr.  Benkert  af- 
firms, that  he  found  Moehler  vastly  improved  by  this  journey,  and  a 
more  decided  Catholic  tone  pervading  all  his  theological  views. 

Having  arrived  at  Tiibingen  in  the  summer  of  1828,  Moehler  opened 
his  theological  course  with  lectures  on  Church-history,  and  occasionally 
on  canon-law.  Here  he  devoted  himself  with  his  characteristic  ardour 
and  untiring  perseverance  to  the  study  of  the  fathers,  and  of  ecclesias- 
tical history.  The  first  fruit  of  his  labours  was  the  work  entitled 
"  Unity  in  the  Church,  or  the  Principle  of  Catholicism,"  1825.  This 
work  is  now  out  of  print,  nor  have  I  been  able  anywhere  to  procure  a 
\;opy  of  it.  "  In  this  book,"  says  one  of  his  biographers,  "  there  w  as 
much  which  in  his  riper  years  he  no  longer  approved  of,  yet  it  must  ever 
be  regarded  as  a  noble  proof  of  his  originality  of  mind,  as  well  as  of 
the  depth  of  his  feelings,  and  gave  earnest  of  his  future  eminence  in 
theological  literature.  The  reputation  which  it  soon  acquired  for  the 
author,  induced  the  Baden  government  to  make  him  the  following  year 
the  offer  of  a  theological  chair  at  the  University  of  Freyburg  ixi  Breisgau. 
This  honourable  offer  Moehler  declined ;  but  was  thereupon  immedi- 
ately raised  to  the  dignity  of  professor  extraordinary  at  his  own 
university. 

In  the  year  1827,  a  more  important  work,  entitled  "  Athanasius  the 
Great,  or  the  Church  of  his  time  in  her  struggle  with  Arianism,"  tended 
vastly  to  extend  Moehler's  reputation.  There  were  many  reasons, 
which  induced  him  to  make  the  Arian  controversy,  and  the  illustrious 
saint  who  played  so  salutary  and  glorious  a  part  in  that  religious  dis- 
pute, the  subject  of  special  investigation  and  description.     Now,  as  in 


IVltMOlR  OF  DR.  MOEttLER.  67 

^lie  age  of  Constant ius,  the  cardinal  mystery  of  Christianity,  that  the 
'elder  Protestantism,  in  its  destructive  march,  had  yet  respected,  was 
assailed  with  a  subtlety  and  a  violence,  that  even  Arianism  itself  had 
■never  displayed.  Those  rationalizing  views  of  the  whole  system  of 
Christianity,  but  timidly  put  forth  by  the  heretics  of  the  fourth  century, 
were  developed  and  proclaimed  with  an  unblushing  effrontery  and  a 
recklessness  of  impiety,  that  would  have  startled  and  shocked  the  ex- 
tremest  Arian.  Now,  as  in  the  former  period,  lukewarmness  and 
timidity,  not  to  say  cowardice,  characterised  a  great  proportion  of 
Catholics  ;  while  the  oppression  of  the  German  Church  by  the  secular 
power,  if  less  open  and  violent  than  in  the  age  of  the  son  of  Constan- 
tino, was  far  more  insidious,  refined,  and  systematic.  And  what  more 
glorious  model  could  be  presented  to  many  of  the  degenerate  Church- 
men of  Germany,  than  that  illustrious  saint,  who  combines  in  himself 
the  characters  of  the  learned  and  profound  theologian,  the  prudent  and 
indefatigable  prelate,  the  holy  ascetic,  and  the  intrepid  confessor? 

The  work  is  divided  into  six  books.  In  the  first  we  find  a  very  clear, 
iearned,  and  elaborate  dissertation  on  the  doctrine  of  the  ante-Nicene 
fathers,  respecting  the  divinity  o^"  our  Lord,  and  the  Trinity  in 
general. 

The  following  five  books  are  taken  up  with  the  public  history  of  St. 
Athanasius,  with  a  copious  analysis  of  his  various  works  against  the 
heathens,  the  Arians,  and  the  Apollinansts,  and  with  a  very  full  ae- 
Tjount  of  the  Arian  heresy,  from  its  rise,  down  to  the  death  of  St. 
Athanasius,  in  the  year  373. 

The  author,  by  giving  copious  extracts  from  contemporary  histo- 
rians, and  also  from  the  letters  of  St.  Athanasius  and  the  other  de- 
fenders  of  the  CathoHc  cause,  as  well  as  from  those  of  their  Ariasi 
opponents,  completely  transports  us  into  the  age  he  describes.  It  is, 
however,  to  be  regretted,  that  the  narrative  of  events  is  too  often  inter- 
rupted by  doctrinal  dissertations,  and  analytic  expositions  of  writings  ; 
and  this  defect  renders  the  perusal  of  this  valuable  work  sometimes 
irksome. 

All  the  personages,  who  took  part  in  this  mighty  conflict,  are  por- 
trayed with  much  truth,  life,  and  interest.  In  the  hostile  camp,  we  find 
the  false-hearted,  double-tongued  Arius — the  crafty  Eusebius  of  Nico- 
media-^the  hypocritical  Valens  and  Ursacius-^the  audacious  Aetius — 
the  weak  and  tyrannical  Emperor  Constantius^— and,  lastly,  the  pagan 
•enthusiast,  Julian,  who  hangs  over  the  Church  like  a  dark,  boding,  but, 
happily,  passing,  thunder-cloud.  On  the  side  of  the  combatants  for 
truth,  the  firmness  of  Pope  Julius — the  noble-minded  character  of  his 
■successor^  Liberius-^the  intrepid  fortitude  of  the  venerable  Osius — the 


I 


68  MEMOIR  OF  DR.  MOEHLER. 

burning  zeal  of  Marcellus  of  Ancyra — 'the  high  courage,  but  hai'sh  aud 
intemperate  zeal  of  Lucifer  of  Cagliari — the  genius,  the  eloquence,  the 
mild  virtues,  and  unshaken  constancy,  of  Hilary  of  Poictiers— and, 
lastly,  the  lofty  genius  and  majestic  character  of  the  great  Athanasius, 
alternately  challenge  our  admiration,  and  enlist  our  sympathy. 

Much  as  all  Catholics  are  taught,  from  childhood,  to  revere  the 
character  of  this  great  confessor,  yet  none  can  rise  from  the  perusal  of 
Moehler's  work,  without  feeling  increased  admiration  for  his  genius, 
and' increased  love  and  veneration  for  his  virtues.  In  the  writings  of 
Athanasius,  what  marvellous  acuteness  of  dialectic,  what  prodigious 
depth  of  observation,  do  we  discover  !-^what  intuitive  insight  into  the 
mind  of  Scripture ! — what  dexterity  in  the  application  of  its  texts  ! — ■ 
what  knowledge  in  the  tradition  of  the  fathers,  and  what  instinctive 
adherence  to  the  spirit  of  the  Church  !  In  his  life,  what  magnanimous 
intrepidity  in  the  defence  of  truth  ! — -what  unwearied  perseverance  in 
the  path  of  duty  !-— what  unbroken  constancy  under  persecution ! — "■ 
what  presence  of  mind  in  the  face  of  danger ! — what  sagacious  insight 
into  the  wiles  and  machinations  of  heretics  ! — -what  generosity  towards 
his  enemies  I  How  temperate,  too,  is  his  zeal,  and  what  a  spirit  of  con- 
ciliation, where  compromise  is  possible,  and  where  concession  is  safe  * 
What  activity  and  what  wisdom  in  the  government  of  his  vast  patri- 
archate !  Watch  him  through  all  the  phases  of  his  various  destinies  f 
See  him  now  surrounded  by  the  love  and  sympathy  of  his  Alexandrians 
— now  confronting  hostile  synods — -now  undertaking  long  and  perilous 
journeys,  to  defend  his  character  from  calumny,  and  to  unmask  before 
the  head  of  the  Church  the  arts  of  heresy — now  fearlessly  proclaiming 
the  truth  at  the  court  of  the  tyrannical  Constantius-^and  now  banished^ 
time  after  time,  from  his  diocese,  his  country,  his  friends  ;  encom" 
passed  hj  perils  from  false  brethren,  perils  from  the  sea,  perils  from  the 
wilderness ;  and,  while  surrounded  by  the  lions  of  the  Lybian  desert, 
writing  those  immortal  letters  and  treatises,  v/here  he  consoles  the  per- 
secuted sons  of  the  Church,  confirms  her  wavering  members,  and 
refutes  the  elated  heretics  ; — productions  that  to  the  end  of  time  will  be 
the  solace  and  the  glory  of  the  Church  ! 

Behold  him  now,  at  the  close  of  his  glorious  career,  after  forty  years' 
incessant  toil,  hardship,  and  suffering  ;  with  a  frame  unbent,  and  a  mind 
unsubdued  by  age,  still  ready  to  fight  new  battles  for  the  Lord  :  spared 
by  Heaven  to  see  the  great  adversary  he  had  so  long  combated — the 
adversary  of  Christ— the  monster  Arianism— gasping  and  bleeding 
from  his  death-wound.  Behold  the  veteran  warrior  now  honoured  by 
that  degenerate  court,  which  had  so  long  persecuted  him — consoled  by 
the  respect  and  sympathy  of  the  Christian  world — consulted  on  all 


MEMOIR  OF  DR.   MOEHLER.  69 

important  affairs  by  the  diguitaries  of  the  Church,  near  or  remote — 
and  nerving  the  courage,  and  directing  the  counsels,  of  that  young, 
hopeful  band  of  Christ's  soldiers — the  Basils,  the  Nazianzens,  and  the 
Nyssas,  who  were  destined  to  follow  up  the  victory  he  had  achieved, 
and  annihilate  the  great  antagonist  of  the  Church. 

But  Athanasius  attained  to  this  great  authority  in  the  Church,  only 
because  he  had  been  most  obedient  and  most  faithful  to  the  authority 
of  the  Church.  It  was  not  by  his  personal  genius,  learning,  and  sanc- 
tity alone,  that  he  obtained  such  a  prodigious  ascendancy  over  the 
minds  of  his  contemporaries,  but  also  by  the  weight  he  derived  from 
the  sanction  of  the  Church  and  its  visible  head. 

What  a  glorious  part  doth  not  the  holy  Roman  See  act  in  this  Arian 
contest !  While  orthodox  prelates  are  driven  from  their  sees ;  while 
some  quail  before  triumphant  heresy,  and  others  are  incautiously  en- 
trapped into  the  acceptance  of  ambiguous  formularies  ;  while  the  fiiith- 
ful  are  distracted  by  the  conflicting  decisions  of  hostile  synods,  and 
doctrine  is  undermined,  and  discipline  subverted,  by  intruded  heretical 
bishops,  the  Roman  pontiffs  ever  uphold  the  authority  of  the  Nicene 
Council,  quash  the  decrees  of  heretical  provincial  sj-nods,  restore  to 
their  churches  the  banished  prelates,  condemn  their  adversaries,  every- 
where enforce  canonical  discipline,  and  sometimes  overawe  the  hostile 
potentates  of  the  earth.* 

*  The  inerrancy  of  the  Holy  See  during  this  dreadful  contest,  which  witnessed 
the  confusion,  or  the  fall,  of  so  many  other  Christian  Churches,  is  an  historical  fact 
that  has  excited  the  admiration  of  enlightened  Protestants  themselves.  "  The  history 
of  the  great  ecclesiastical  disputes  of  this  period,"  says  Eugelhardt,  a  German 
Protestant  Church  historian  of  our  day,  "  will  show  how  much  the  authority  of  the 
Roman  See  increased  from  the  circumstance,  that  its  bishops,  almost  without  ex- 
ception, upheld  with  undeviating  perseverance  their  doctrinal  views,  and  that  these 
views  ever  bore  off  the  final  victory."*  An  elegant  writer  in  the  British  Critic,  after 
asserting  "that  Rome  was  the  only  apostolical  see  in  the  west,  and  thereby  had  a- 
natural  claim  to  the  homage  of  those  which  were  less  distinguished,"  proceeds  to 
say,  "  that  this  pre-eminence  was  heightened  hy  her  inflexible  orthodoxy  amid  the 
doctrinal  controversies  in  which  the  eastern  sees  had  successively  erred,  and  by  the 
office  of  arbitrator  and  referee,  which  she  held  amid  their  rivalries  and  quarrels." — 
British  Critic,  No.  lviii.     April,  18-11,  p.  396. 

Very  many  ages  before  the  two  Protestant  writers  made  the  remarks  cited  in  the 
text,  the  Emperor  Justinian  said,  "  the  bishops  of  ancient  Rome  having  in  all  things 
followed  the  apostolic  tradition,  have  never  disagreed  among  themselves,  but  down 
to  our  days  have  preserved  the  sound  and  true  doctrine."  "  Oi  yxp  n^ii;  tmc 
■STfiiTJiuTt^-i;  'Pltunc  T»    sfs-^ja-ToKlKij  Sl%  TaiTiev   daiXot/S-JtVafTec   7rAQj.So^t'.  obS'tTTOTi   9r^o{ 

Adv.  Monophys.  in  Mai.  torn.  vii.  par.  i.  p.  304. 


*  Engelhardt  Kirchcn-Geschichte,  vol.  i.  p.  312. 


70  MEMOIR  OF  DR.  MOEHLER. 

The  approbation  which  this  work  universally  received^ — the  spirit 
of  zealous  orthodoxy  that  pervaded  its  pages — the  immense  patristic 
and  historical  learning  it  displayed — and  the  original  and  profound 
views  with  which  it  abounded,  drew  more  and  more  the  attention  of 
Protestant  as  well  as  Catholic  Germany  towards  its  illustrious  author. 

He  now  began  to  deliver  lectures  on  the  doctrinal  differences  be- 
tween Catholics  and  Protestants.  The  errors  of  his  time,  as  I  before 
observed — the  struggles  the  Catholic  Church  had  to  encounter,  and  the 
oppression  she  had  to  endure,  by  rendering  her  position  very  analogous- 
to  her  state  in  the  age  of  the  great  Athanasius,  had  first  induced 
Moehler  to  compose  the  work  that  has  just  been  described.  But  now 
he  resolved  to  grapple  more  closely  and  directly  with  the  errors  of  his 
ao-e.  Judging  that  the  most  effectual  method  to  bring  about  the  return 
of  our  erring  brethren  to  the  Catholic  Church,  as  well  as  to  awaken 
many  Catholics  themselves  from  their  state  of  torpor,  was  to  set  forth 
v/ith  accuracy  the  points  of  doctrine  which  divide  the  Churches,  he 
commenced  a  thorough  investigation  into  the  public  formularies  of  the 
various  Protestant  communities,  as  well  as  the  private  writings  of  the 
Reformers,  and  their  most  eminent  disciples.  This  was  a  field  which 
had  been  but  partially  tilled  by  preceding  labourers,  and  which  offered 
much  to  reward  the  industry  of  a  new  cultivator.  The  course  of  lec- 
tures which,  in  the  year  1828,  Moehler  opened  on  this  important  sub- 
ject,  soon  attracted  a  crowded  auditory  ;  and  every  year  they  were 
received  by  the  students  with  increasing  interest  and  attention.  The 
fame  of  these  lectures  getting  abroad,  the  Prussian  government  made 
to  Moehler  the  offer  of  a  theological  professorship  at  the  University  of 
Breslau  in  Silesia — an  offer  which  he  immediately  declined.  The 
Wiirtemberg  government  now  nominated  him  professor  ordinary  of 
theology  at  the  University  of  Tubingen — a  nomination  that  was  con- 
Before  Justinian,  the  ^eat  St.  Leo  had  spoken  of  those  privileged  bishops,  his  pre- 
decessors, ''  who  for  so  many  ages,  under  the  guidance  of  the  Holy  Spirit,  had  been 
preserved  from  the  defilements  of  heresy."  "  Quos  per  tot  seecula  docente  Spiritu 
Sancto  nulla  htErcsis  violavit.'* — Serm.  xc.  viii.  e.  iii. 

And  long  before  St.  Leo,  the  great  teacher  and  martyr  of  the  third  century,  St. 
Cyprian,  had  extolled  that  Roman  Church,  "  which  was  inaccessible  to  false  faith." 
"  Ad  quos  (Romanos)  perfidia  habere  non  potest  accessura." — Ep.  Iv. 

The  fall,  real  or  pretended,  of  Pope  Liberius,  forms  no  exception  from  the  truth 
of  these  remarks,  in  the  first  place,  from  the  silence  of  many  contemporary  his- 
torians, the  lapse  of  this  pontiff  is  doubtful.  Secondly,  it  is  very  generally  agreed,  that 
the  formulary  he  is  said  to  have  subscribed,  was  susceptible  of  a  Catholic  interpreta- 
tion. Thirdly,  he  was  under  personal  restraint ;  and  consequently,  as  Cardinal  Orsj 
observes,  he  could  not  in  that  state  be  considered  the  organ  and  representative 
of  his  See. 


MEMOIR  OF  DR.  MOEHLER.  71 

firmed  by  the  theological   faculty,  which,  at  the  same  time,  conferred 
on  him  the  honour  of  doctor  of  divinity. 

At  length,  in  the  year  1832,  the  great  work,  whose  fame  the  public 
had  long  anticipated,  issued  from  the  press,  under  the  title,  "  Symbol- 
ism, or  Exposition  of  the  Doctrinal  Differences  between  Catholics  and 
Protestants,  as  evidenced  by  their  Symbolical  Writing^?."  The  sensation 
it  produced  throughout  all  Germany,  Protestants  as  well  as  Catholic, 
was  prodigious  ;  perhaps  unparalleled  in  the  history  of  modern  theolo- 
gical literature.  Hailed  by  Catholics  with  joy  and  exultation,  its 
transcendant  merits  were  openly  acknowledged  by  the  most  eminent 
and  estimable  Protestants.  The  celebrated  Protestant  theologian  and 
philosopher,  Schleiemracher,  declared  it  to  be  the  severest  blow  ever 
given  to  Protestantism.  Another  very  distinguished  Protestant  pro- 
fessor of  philosophy  at  Bonn,  candidly  confessed,  that  none  of  the 
Protestant  replies  at  all  came  up  to  it  in  force  of  reasoning. 

"Germany,"  says  a  French  journal  of  high  merit,  "  so  parcelled  out 
into  different  states,  so  divided  in  religious  belief — Germany,  where 
opinion  is  not  centralized  in  a  single  city,  but  where  the  taste  of  Vienna 
is  checked  by  the  critics  of  Gottingen,  Munich,  or  Berlin, — Germany 
with  one  voice  extols  the  merits  of  Moehler's  'Symbolism.' '' — UUni- 
versite  Catholique,  p.  75,  vol.  xi. 

That  this  testimony  is  not  exaggerated,  the  rapid  sale  of  the  work 
will  show  ;  for  in  the  course  of  six  years  it  passed  through  five  editions, 
each  consisting  of  from  three  to  four  thousand  copies,  which  were 
nearly  as  much  sought  for  in  Protestant  as  in  Catholic  Germany.  It 
was  adopted  by  several  universities  as  a  text-book,  was  translated  into 
Latin  and  Italian  by  the  papal  nuncio  of  Switzerland,  and  into  French 
by  M.  Lac  hat. 

The  same  French  critic,  as  Avas  before  observed,  termed  the  Symbol- 
ism "  an  indispensable  complement  to  Bossuet's  immortal  History  of 
the  Variations."*  This  has  suggested  to  me  a  parallel  between  the 
two  works.  Looking  to  the  plan  and  the  matter  of  the  two  books, 
I  may  call  the  work  of  the  illustrious  French  prelate  a  more  external — 
that  of  the  German  theologian,  a  more  internal,  history  of  Protestantism. 
In  the  first  place,  the  bishop  of  Meaux  points  out  with  admirable  skill 
the  endless  variations  and  inconsistencies  of  Protestantism  ;  so  does 
the  German  professor  ;  yet  the  inconsistencies  and  variations,  which, 
in  the  pages  of  the  former,  appear  isolated,  unconnected,  accidental 
phenomena,  the  latter  shows  to  be  bound  by  the  ties  of  a  necessary, 
though  secret,  connexion.  In  a  word,  Moehler,  not  content  with 
proving  the  many  mutations  and  self-contradictions  of  Protestantism, 

*  L'Uniyersite  Catholique,  torn.  ii.  p.  75, 


72  MEMOIR  OF  DR.   MOEHLER. 

and  its  repugnance  to  reason  and  revelation,  sets  forth  its  consistency 
also — I  mean  the  filiation  of  its  doctrine,  and  the  concatenation  of  its 
errors.  Secondly,  the  French  prelate  confines  his  attention  to  the  two 
leading  sects  of  the  Reformation — the  Lutheran  and  the  Calvinistic, 
and  expressly  informs  us  in  the  preface  to  his  work,  that  his  intention 
is  "  not  to  speak  of  the  Socinians,  nor  of  the  several  communities  of 
Anabaptists,  nor  of  so  many  different  sects,  which  in  England  and 
elsewhere  have  sprung  up  in  the  bosom  of  the  Reformation  ;"  a  reso- 
lution, that  was  the  more  to  be  regretted,  as  the  description  of  these 
sects  would  not  only  have  lent  a  fresh  charm  to  his  historic  narrative, 
but  have  vastly  increased  the  weight,  and  extended  the  compass,  of  his 
argument.  And  that  sagacious  mind,  which,  in  the  funeral  oration  on 
Queen  Henrietta,  had  cast  such  an  intuitive  glance  into  the  history 
of  our  domestic  troubles,  would,  doubtless,  have  given  an  admirable 
portraiture  of  the  various  and  multitudinous  sects  of  the  Cromwellian 
era.  Yet  we  must  remember  that,  in  the  course  of  his  work,  Bossuet 
had  more  particularly  in  view  the  Calvinists  of  his  own  country.  This 
void  is  supplied  in  the  Symbolism,  where  the  history  and  the  dogmas 
of  the  minor  sects  of  Protestantism  are  fully  analysed  and  described : 
a  portion  of  the  work,  which  is  certainly  not  the  least  important,  and,  to 
the  English  reader,  perhaps  the  most  interesting  and  attractive. 
Thirdly,  Bossuet,  who  lived  at  a  period  when  Protestantism  had  just 
entered  on  the  second  stage  of  its  existence,  not  only  with  the  most 
masterly  skill  traced  its  progressive  development,  from  its  birth  down 
to  his  own  days,  but  foretold  the  course  of  its  future  destinies. 

From  his  lofty  eyrie,  the  eagle  of  Meaux  beheld  the  whole  coming 
history  of  Protestantism;  he  snuffed  from  afar  the  tempestuous  clouds 
of  irreligion,  that  were  to  spring  from  its  already  agitated  waters,  and 
the  whirlwind  of  impiety  that  was  to  convulse  Christianity  to  its 
centre.* 


*  In  an  immortal  passage  of  the  Variations,  Bossuet  has  recorded  the  moral  and 
social  evils,  which  the  Reformation,  up  to  his  own  day,  had  already  brought  forth, 
and  the  still  greater  ones  wherewith  it  was  pregnant.  After  noticing  the  prophetic 
words  of  Mclancthon,  "  Good  God  !  what  tragedies  will  posterity  witness,  if  one  day 
men  shall  begin  to  stir  those  questions,  whether  the  Word,  whether  the  Holy  Ghost, 
be  a  person,"  the  eloquent  prelate  exclaims  :  "  On  commen^a  de  son  temps  &.  remuer 
ces  matiercs  :  mais  il  jugca  bien,  que  ce  n'dtait  encore  qu'un  faible  commencement ; 
car  il  voyait  les  esprits  s'enhardir  inscnsiblement  centre  les  doctrines  etablies,  et 
centre  rautorit<5  des  decisions  ecclesiastiqucs.  Que  seroit-cc  s'il  avoi  vu  les  autres 
suites  pemicieuses  des  doutes,  que  la  R^forme  avoite  exit^s  ?  toiit  I'ordre  de  la  disci, 
pline  renverse  publiquement  par  les  uns,  et  I'indcpendance  etablie,  c'est-ii-dire  sous 
un  nom  sp^cieux  et  qui  fliatte  la  liberty,  I'anarchie  avec  tons  ses  maux ;  la  puissance 
spirituclle  misc  par  les  autres  entre  les  mains  des  princes ;  la  doctrine  Chretienns 


MEMOIR  OF  DR.  MOEHLER.  73 

Moehler,  on  the  other  hand,  cannot  be  said  to  bring  the  history 
of  the  Reformation  down  to  his  own  times;  for  with  the  excep- 
tion of  the  Herrnhutters,  the  Methodists,  and  the  Swedenborgians,  the 
sects  whose  doctrines  he  has  examined  were  not  posterior  to  the  age  of 
Bossiiet.  The  new  and  prodigious  forms,  which,  within  the  last  sixty 
years,  Protestantism,  in  Germany  especially,  has  assumed,  the  doctrines 
of  Rationalism  and  Pietism,  that,  as  the  reader  has  already  seen,  have 
quite  superseded  those  of  the  elder  Protestantism,  are,  as  was  before 
stated,  for  the  reasons  assigned  in  the  work  itself,  left  unnoticed  by  the 
author  of  the  Symbolism.  It  may  at  first  sight  appear  singular,  that 
a  work  which  has  excited  so  prodigious  a  sensation  throughout  Ger- 
many, which  has  been  read  by  Protestants  as  well  as  Catholics,  with 
an  avidity  that  proves  it  responded  to  a  want  generally  felt,  should 
have  left  untouched  the  existing  forms  of  Protestantism,  and  been  ex- 
clusively engaged  with  the  refutation  of  those  antiquated  doctrines 
that,  though  in  certain  Protestant  countries  they  may  still  retain  some 
influence  and  authority,  can  count  in  Protestant  Germany  but  a  small 
number  of  adherents.  How  is  this  fact  to  be  accounted  for  1  I  must 
observe  that,  although  the  Symbolism  abstains  from  investigating 
the  modern  systems  of  Protestantism,  yet  it  presupposes  through- 
out their  existence  ;  and  the  work  itself  could  never  have  appeared,  if 
Protestantism  had  not  attained  its  ultimate  term  of  development.  The 
present  forms  of  Protestantism,  moreover,  being  only  a  necessary  de- 
velopment of  its  earlier  errors,  a  solid  and  vigorous  refutation  of  the 
latter  must  needs  overthrow  the  former.  But  there  is  yet  another  and 
more  special  reason,  which,  in  despite  of  first  appearances,  rendered 
this  work  eminently  opportune.  A  portion  of  the  German  Protestants, 
as  we  have  seen,  recoiling  from  the  abyss,  to  which  Rationalism  was 
fast  conducting  them,  sought  a  refuge  in  falling  back  on  the  old  sym- 
bolical books  of  the  Lutheran  and  Calvinistic  Churches,  whose  author- 


comhattue  en  tous  ses  points ;  des  Chretiens  nier  Vouvrage  de  la  creation  et  celui 
de  la  redemption  du  genre  humain;  aneantir  I'enfer  ;  abolir  Vimmortalite  de  Vdme; 
depouiller  le  Christianisme  de  tous  ses  mystercs,  et  le  changer  en  une  secte  de  philo- 
Sophie,  toute  accommodee  aux  sens ;  de  Id  naitre  V indifference  des  religions,  et  ce 
qui  suit  naturellement,  le  fonds  meme  de  la  religion  attaque  ;  Vecriture  directement 
comhattue  ;  la  voie  ouverte  au  Deisme,  c^est-d-dirc  a  tin  Atheisme  degnise,  et  les 
livres  oil  seroient  ecrites  ces  doctrines  prodigieuses,  sortir  du  sein  de  la  Reforme,  et 
des  lieux,  oii  elle  doinine.  Qu'aurait  dit  Mclancton,  s'il  avail  prevu  tous  ces  maux, 
et  quelles  auraient  et6  ses  lamentations  ?  II  en  avait  asscz  vu  pour  en  etre  trouble 
toute  sa  vie.  Les  disputes  de  son  temps  ct  dc  son  parti  suffisaient  pour  lui  fairo  dire, 
qu'ii  moins  d'un  miracle  visible,  toute  la  religion  allait  6tre  dissip^e." — vol.  i-  pp-  215. 
16.  ed.Venise,  1738. 


74  MEMOIR  OF  DR.   MOEHLER. 

ity  for  upwards  of  sixty  years  had  been  totally  disregarded.  This 
movement  of  minds  was  seconded  by  some  Protestant  princes,  particu- 
larly by  the  late  King  of  Prussia,  who  had  learned,  from  bitter  expe- 
rience, the  disastrous  political  consequences  which  the  doctrines  of 
Rationalism  are  calculated  to  produce.  This  sovereign,  who  was  as 
skilful  an  ecclesiastical,  as  he  was  a  military  tactician,  in  order  to 
escape  from  the  two  enemies,  Catholicism  and  Rationalism,  who  were 
galling  his  flanks,  sounded  the  trumpet  for  retreat,  and,  assisted  by  an 
able  staff  of  theologians,  was  making  a  rapid  retrograde  march  on  the 
old  formularies — the  bulwarks  of  Protestant  orthodoxy,  which,  for 
more  than  half  a  century  neglected  and  dilapidated,  had  remained 
utterly  untenanted.  Moehler  watched  his  moment — fell  with  terrific 
onslaught  on  the  retreating  forces — blew  up  the  old  Protestant  strong- 
holds— compelled  the  enemy  to  retrace  his  steps,  and  brought  him  at 
last  into  such  straits,  that  he  must  now  either  make  an  unconditional 
surrender  to  the  Church,  or  be  swept  down  the  abyss  of  Pantheism. 
This  is  the  origin  and  the  meaning  of  the  present  book — this  is  in  part 
the  cause  of  its  prodigious  success.  Thus,  it  not  only  presupposes  the 
extinction  of  the  tfftftw,  more  orthodox  Protestantism,  hut  in  so  far  as  any 
human  production  can  accomplish  such  a  thing,  it  effectually  will  prevent 
its  revival. 

Fourthh^,  if  we  look  to  the  form  of  these  two  remarkable  productions 
of  the  human  mind,  which  I  have  ventured  to  compare,  the  History  of 
the  Variations  is  characterized  in  an  eminent  degree  by  logical  perspi- 
cuity ;  the  Syinbolism,  at  least  equal  to  it  in  dialectic  force,  is  vastly 
superior  in  philosophic  depth.  The  learning  displayed  in  the  former 
work  is  quite  sufficient  for  its  purpose ;  and  when  we  consider  the 
period  at  which  it  was  written,  the  comparative  paucity  of  materials 
accessible  to  its  illustrious  author,  and  the  then  state  of  historical 
researches,  we  are  astonished  at  the  extent  and  the  critical  soundness 
of  the  learning  there  exhibited.  Mr.  Hallam,  however,  in  his  History 
of  Literature,  complains  that  Bossuet  had  not  given  his  citations  from 
Luther  in  the  Latin  original ;  so  that  he  himself  had  often  been  unable 
to  verify  his  quotations.  This  complaint  at  least  he  will  bo  unable  to 
prefer  against  the  Symbolism,  where  the  Latin  citations  from  Luther 
and  the  other  patriarchs  of  the  Reformation,  are  given  with  a  fulness 
and  an  exactness  that  must  satisfy — perhaps  rather  more  than  satisfy — 
our  fastidious  critic.  The  erudition  displayed  in  the  Symbolism  is 
admitted  on  all  hands  to  be  most  extensive  and  profound.  Its  style  is 
clear,  forcible  and  dignified  ;  but  in  point  of  eloquence  the  Bishop  of 
Meaux  ever  remains  the  unrivalled  master. 

The  Symbolism  called   forth  many  replies  from  Protestant  theolc 


MEMOIR  OF  DR.  MOEHLER.  75 

gians,  such  as  Nitzch,  Marheineke,  and  Dr.  Baur  of  Tubingen.  The 
work  of  the  latter,  which  was  the  longest  and  most  elaborate,  was 
entitled,  "  Opposition  between  Catholicism  and  Protestantism,  accord- 
ing to  the  leading  dogmas  of  the  two  religious  systems,  with  special 
reference  to  Moehler's  Sy7nboUsm,"  Tubingen,  1833.  Of  this  work,  a 
writer  in  the  Conversations- Lexicon,*  thus  speaks  :  "  That  Protestant 
Avriters  should  stand  up  in  defence  of  a  Church,  to  which  Moehler  denies 
every  right,  save  that  of  political  existence,  was  very  natural.  But  it  is 
equally  certain,  that  in  an  inquiry,  wherein  the  symbolical  writings  only 
of  the  different  Churches  possess  a  decisive  authority,  an  Hegelian,! 
with  his  subjective  views,  and  the  attempt  to  enforce  these  as  the  doc- 
trine of  the  Evangelical  Church,  could  play  no  brilliant  part.  Yet  in 
this  false  position  we  find  Dr.  Baur,  whose  writing,  moreover,  is  not 
exempt  from  personal  attacks  against  his  adversary." 

Moehler  replied  without  delay,  and  in  a  tone  of  suitable  dignity,  in  a 
work  entitled,  New  Investigations  into  the  doctrinal  dijferences  between 
CatJwlics  and  Protestants :  Mayence,  1834.  This  work  will  be  found 
a  most  valuable  appendix  to  the  Symbolism  ;  although  no  inconsiderable 
portion  of  it  has  been  incorporated  into  the  edition  from  which  the  pre- 
sent translation  has  been  made. 

The  personal  acrimony,  which  Dr.  Baur  had  infused  into  his  contro- 
versy with  the  subject  of  this  memoir,  as  well  as  the  intrigues  set  on 
foot  to  alienate  the  Wurtemberg  government  from  the  latter,  who  was 
represented  as  a  disturber  of  religious  peace,  rendered  his  abode  at  Tu- 
bingen daily  more  unpleasant  and  irksome.  The  Prussian  govern- 
ment, probably  apprised  of  this  state  of  things,  renewed  negotiations 
with  Moehler,  in  the  view  of  obtaining  his  services  for  one  of  its  univer- 
sities. Yet  these  negotiations,  creditable  to  the  prudence  and  discern- 
ment  of  the   Prussian  government,  a  second  time  failed,  through  the 


♦Conversations- Lexicon,  p.  699.     Leipzig,  1840, 

t  The  system  of  Hegel  is  that  of  a  logical  Pantheism.  His  leading  doctrine  is, 
that  the  Doity  is  the  impersonal  Reason,  and  in  the  human  mind  only  attains  to  self- 
consciousness.  He  and  his  earlier  disciples  affected  to  re-establish  the  union  between 
faith  and  science,  and  employed  the  language  of  the  Bible  and  the  Church  in  a  sense 
totally  different  from  what  was  meant  by  either.  But  the  younger  Hegelians  have 
rejected  the  hypocritical  artifices  of  their  master,  and  proclaimed,  in  the  most  cyni. 
cal  language,  the  most  undisguised  Pantheism-  It  is  just,  however,  to  observe,  that 
there  arc  some,  though  the  number  is  small,  who  combine  Christian  views  with  this 
system  of  philosophy. 

As  to  Dr.  Baur  of  Tiibingen,  he  has,  since  his  controvers}'  with  Moehler,  shown 
himself  a  decided  Pantheist.  Yet  this  is  the  man  whom  the  Wiirtemberg  govern, 
ment  decorated  with  orders,  while  it  loaded  Moehler  with  affronts,  that  forced  him 
to  leave  the  country.     Ex  una  disce  omnes. 


76  MEMOIR  OF  DR.   MOEHLER. 

opposition  of  the   Hermesian  party.     This  party  had  already  a  most 
formidable  opponent  to  encounter  in  the  celebrated  Klee,  professor  of 
Theology  at   Bonn  ;  and  it  was  evident  that  the  accession  of  Moehler 
to  that  theological  faculty,  or,  indeed,  to  any  other  in  the  Prussian 
states,  would  be  most  detrimental  to  the  influence,  and  adverse  to  the 
projects,  of  the  party.  Count  Von  Spiegel,  then  Archbishop  of  Cologne, 
and  predecessor  to  that  illustrious  confessor,  whose  humiliation  prepared 
the  triumph  of  the  German  Church,  and  whose  captivity  was  the  pre- 
lude to   her  liberation — Count   Von   Spiegel,  I  say,  a  worldly-minded 
courtier,  little  acquainted  with  theology,  was  alternately  the  tool  of  the 
Hermesians  and    the   Prussian  government.     His  sanction,  as  Arch- 
bishop of  Cologne,  was  necessary  for  the  confirmation  of  Moehler's 
appointment   to  a  theological  chair  at  Bonn.     To  the  latter  he  ad- 
dressed a  letter,  requiring  as  the  condition  to  such  a  sanction,  the 
public  retractation  of  the  work  entitled,  Unity  of  the  Church;  just  as  if 
Moehler,  with  Hermesian  obstinacy,  had  continued    to  defend  in   the 
face  of  the  Church,  and  as  the  doctrine  of  the  Church,  what  its  highest 
tribunal  had  formally  and  solemnly  condemned.   He  wrote  back  to  the 
Archbishop  of  Cologne,  that  the   mistakes,  such  as  they  were,  in  his 
first  work,  were  entirely  rectified  in  his  subsequent  productions  :  and  it 
may  be  added,  that  he  had  never  been  called  upon  by  the  competent 
authorities  to  make  a  public  recantation  of  any  opinions  therein  con- 
tained.    It  was  indeed  truly  ridiculous,  that,  while  purity  of  doctrine 
and  glowing  love  for  the  Church,  as  well  as  profound  genius,  were 
claiming  for  the  illustrious  author  of  Athanasius  and  the  Symbolisms 
the  respect  and  admiration  of  Germany  and  Europe,  the  organ  of  a 
party    that  had    for  years  broached  pernicious   doctrines,   evinced  a 
marked   disrespect   for   ecclesiastical  tradition,   and  subsequently  dis- 
played a  most   obstinate   resistance   to  the  authority  of   the  Church, 
should,  forsooth,  take  exceptions  to  Moehler's  orthodoxy  ! 

Here  it  may  be  proper  to  make  a  few  remarks  on  the  position  which 
he  had  taken  up  in  relation  to  this  party.  It  has  sometimes  been 
asked  why  he  did  not  appear  in  the  lists  against  the  Hermesians  ? 
Many  reasons  may  be  assigned  for  his  not  taking  an  active  part  in  this 
controversy.  In  the  first  place,  his  opposition  would  have  been  ascribed 
to  motives  of  personal  resentment  against  a  body  of  men,  through 
whose  intrigues  he  had  been  twice  thwarted  in  the  attainment  of  an 
honourable  and  lucrative  professorship.  Secondly,  the  Hermesian  sys- 
tem, unsupported  by  a  single  theologian  of  eminence,  had  been  pros- 
trated by  the  vigorous  arm  of  Klee.  Thirdly,  the  Holy  See  having 
pronounced  a  solemn  sentence  of  condemnation,  the  view  which  all 
Catholics  were  to  take  of  this  system,  could  no  longer  be  problematic. 


Memoir  ojp  dr.  Moehlek.  7? 

Fourthly,  the  utterly  disgraceful  part  that  the  Hermesians  had  played 
in  the  tyrannical  proceedings  of  the  Prussian  government  against 
Count  Von  Droste  Vischcring,  the  venerahle  Archbishop  of  Cologne, 
drew  down  upon  them  the  general  odium  of  Catholic  Germany.  Lastly, 
the  tactics  of  this  party  was  to  avoid  an  open,  dispassionate,  scientific 
discussion  of  principles  ;  and  to  drag  into  the  controversy  matters  of 
personal  dispute,  and  even  of  ecclesiastical  administration- — a  course 
of  warfare,  where  even  victory  was  somewhat  ignoble,  and  which, 
above  all  things,  was  abhorrent  to  the  gentle  disposition  and  elevated 
feelings  of  Moehler. 

But  there  was  another  party  in  the  Church,  with  whom  he  came  into 
more  immediate  contact — the  so-called  Liberals  of  Catholic  Germany, 
whom  I  have  already  had  occasion  to  describe.  This  party,  whose 
principal  seat  was  in  Baden  and  Wiirtemberg,  had,  as  has  been 
already  observed,  exerted  some  influence  over  the  youthful  mind  of 
Moehler ;  and  the  last  faint  tinge  of  their  principles  is  traceable  in  his 
first  production,  Unity  of  the  Church.  But  his  maturer  genius — his 
more  extended  acquaintance  with  ecclesiastical  antiquity — and,  above 
all,  his  advances  in  piety,  had  revealed  to  him  the  hollow  pretensions 
and  dangerous  tendencies  of  this  party.  In  the  year  1827,  he  pub- 
lished his  celebrated  essay  on  "  sacerdoral  celibacy,"  that  inflicted  on 
this  party  a  wound,  from  which  it  has  never  since  recovered.  In  this 
masterly  production  he  proves  the  apostolic  antiquity  of  clerical  celi-^ 
bacy  ;  its  conformity  with  reason,  and  with  the  most  ancient  traditions 
of  nations  ;  its  close  connexion  with  the  most  sacred  dogmas  and  essen- 
tial  institutions  of  the  Church,  as  well  as  the  occasions  that  led  to  a 
partial  deviation  from  the  law ;  and,  after  showing  why  the  enemies  of 
sacerdotal  celibacy,  must  necessarily  be  the  foes  to  ecclesiastical  inde- 
pendence and  the  papal  supremacy,  he  stigmatizes  the  Baden  church- 
men for  their  shallow  theological  learning,  in  despite  of  all  their  high 
pretensions  to  general  knowledge — -for  their  carnal-minded  tendencies, 
their  often  profligate  habits,  and  their  political  harlotries  with  the 
secular  power.  This  essay  was,  in  the  year  1829,  followed  up  by 
another,  entitled,  "  Fragments  on  the  False  Decretals ;"  where,  with 
much  skill  and  learning,  the  author  wrested  from  the  enemies  of  the 
papal  authority,  one  of  their  most  favourite  weapons  of  attack.  The 
rage  of  the  anti-celibates  was,  as  we  ma}^  suppose,  wound  up  to  the 
highest  pitch ;  Moehler  was  denounced  as  an  apostate,  an  ultra-mon-- 
tanist,  a  Roman  obscurantist ;  and  his  fame,  which  grew  from  year  to 
year,  served  only  to  embitter  the  animosity,  and  stimulate  the  assaults, 
of  this  paltry  faction.  While  the  great  genius  of  the  illustrious  author 
of  Athanasius  and  the  Symbolism  was  hailed  with  joy  by  Catholic,  and 


78  MEMOIR  or  DR.  MOEHLER. 

S-ecognized  with  respect  by  Protestant  Germany,  these  false  hrcthfeW 
had  discovered,  that  he  was  devoid  of  talent  and  erudition  ;  they  openly 
gave  the  palm  of  victory  to  his  Protestant  opponent,  Dr.  Baur  ;  and,  in 
one  of  their  periodicals,*  were  shameless  enough,  while  they  denomi- 
nated the  Symholism  a  violation  of  religious  peace,  to  avow  their  satis- 
faction  with  the  mythical  theory  of  the  blasphemous  Strauss,— a  proof, 
if  further  were  wanting,  how  utterly  many  of  these  so-called  "  Libe- 
rals"  had  apostatized  from  the  principles  of  that  Church,  whose  commu- 
nion they  still  so  audaciously  profaned  ! 

It  was  not,  however,  by  his  writings  only  that  this  excellent  man 
opposed  the  progress,  and  defeated  the  projects,  of  a  dangerous  faction. 
By  his  amiable  disposition  and  engaging  manners,  as  well  as  by  his 
great  reputation,  he  had  gained  an  extraordinary  influence  over  the 
minds  of  his  pupils  ;  and  this  influence  he  employed  to  inspire  these 
young  theologians  with  a  zeal  for  the  cause  and  interests  of  the  Church, 
—a  d'eep  veneration  for  the  Holy  See,— a  love  for  the  duties  of  their 
future  calling,— and  a  noble  passion  for  learning.  Nor  was  the 
beneficial  influence  of  his  example  and  exhortations  confined  to  his 
pupils  alone.  During  the  ten  years  he  filled  the  professorial  chair  at 
Tiibingen,  a  complete  change  came  over  the  Catholic  theological  fa- 
culty of  that  university.  Such  of  its  members  as  had  hitherto  been 
sound  in  doctrine,  but  timid  in  its  avowal,  like  Dr.  Drey,  took  courage 
by  Moehler's  example  :  and  such  who,  like  Hirscher,  had  been  to  som.e 
extent  led  away  by  Neological  doctrines,  were  now,  partly  through  that 
example,  partly  by  their  own  researches,  gradually  reclaimed.  The 
evidence  of  this  change  is  aflx)rded  by  the  Theological  Qnarterhj  Review 
of  Tubingen,  which,  from  the  year  1828,  breathes  a  very  different 
spirit,  and  which,  supported  as  it  was  by  Moehler  and  his  most  distin- 
guished colleagues  and  disciples,  has  remained,  down  to  the  present 
day,  by  its  orthodoxy,  its  learning,  and  its  philosophic  spirit,  an  orna> 
ment  to  literature  and  the  Church.  The  noble  attitude  which,  in  the 
present  struggle  for  the  liberties  of  their  Church,  the  younger  members 
of  the  Swabian  clergy  have  taken— the  zeal  and  courage  wherewith 
they  defend  their  spiritual  rights,  and  rally  the  people  round  that  sacred 
standard— the  talent  and  learning  they  evince  in  defence  of  their  re- 
ligion,are  all,  according  to  a  recent  public  acknowledgment  of  the  prime 
minister  of  Wiirtemberg  in  the  assembled  states,  mainly  attributable  to 
the  influence  of  Moehler. 

Yet,  the  spot  which  was  dear   to  him  from  so  many  early  associa- 


•  "  Die  Freimxithige  Blatter," 


MEMOIR  OF  DR.  MOEHLER.  ^jg 

tioris— where  the  Lord  had  blessed  his  labours— where  he  had  won  so 
many  brilliant  victories  over  the  enemies  of  the  faith— he  was  now,  for 
the  reasons  above  adverted  to,  about  to  quit.  At  the  commencement  of 
the  year  1835,  a  theological  chair  at  Munich  became  vacant  ;  and  the 
King  of  Bavaria,  with  that  enlightened  zeal  which  makes  him  ever  at- 
tentive  to  the  promotion  of  the  interests  of  the  Church,  and  the  ad- 
vancement  of  Catholic  learning,  solicited,  on  this  occasion,  the  scrvicea 
of  Moehler.  To  this  proposal  the  latter  immediately  acceded ;  and, 
deeply  regretted  by  his  friends,  his  colleagues,  and  the  academic  youth, 
he  quitted  Tubingen^  and  arrived  at  Munich  in  the  spring  of  the  same 
year.  Warmly  welcomed  by  his  friends  in  the  Bavarian  capital,  and 
enthusiastically  greeted  by  its  students,  he  immediately  opened  a  course 
of  lectures  on  St.  Paul's  Epistle  to  the  Romans,  which  was  soon  fol- 
lowed  up  by  others  on  Church-history,  patrology,  as  well  as  commenta- 
ries on  various  epistles  of  St.  Paul. 

This  seems  to  me  the  most  proper  place  to  speak  of  the  various  theo- 
logical and  historical  essays,  that  Moehler  contributed  to  periodical  pub. 
lications,  and  especially  to  the  Theological  Quarterly  Review  of  Tubin- 
gen. These  essays  have  since  his  death  been  collected  by  his  friend, 
Dr.  DoUinger,  and  published  in  two  volumes.  They  are  as  follows  :  — 
I.  An  investigation  of  the  dispute  between  St.  Jerome  and  St.  Auo-us- 
tine,  on  the  fourteenth  verse  of  the  second  chapter  of  Galatians.  ii.  A 
critical  inquiry  into  the  period  of  publication  of  the  Epistle  to  Diogne- 
tos,  usually  attributed  to  St.  Justin,  and  an  analysis  of  its  contents. 
III.  An  historical  sketch  of  St.  Anselm,  Archbishop  of  Canterbury,  aild 
his  times,  iv.  An  essay  on  clerical  celibacy,  v.  Short  considerations 
on  the  historical  relation  of  Universities  to  the  State,  vi.  Fragments 
on  the  false  decretals,  vii.  An  essay  on  the  relation  of  Islam  to  the 
Gospel.  VIII.  An  essay  on  the  origin  of  Gnosticism.  The  second 
volume  contains  the  following  :— i.  Considerations  on  the  state  of  the 
Church,  during  the  fifteenth,  and  at  the  commencement  of  the  sixteenth 
century.  ii.  An  essay  on  St.  Simonianism.  m.  Fragmentary 
sketches  on  the  abolition  of  slavery,  iv.  Letter  to  the  Abbe  Bautatir 
of  Strasburg,  on  his  system  of  philosophy,  v.  Rise  and  first  period  of 
Monasticism  :  a  fragment,  vi.  Two  articles  on  the  imprisonment  of 
the  Archbishop  of  Cologne. 

It  does  not  enter  into  the  plan  of  this  memoir  to  give  an  analysis  of 
these  collected  essays,  which  certainly  furnish  new  evidence  of  the 
author's  great  historical,  as  well  as  theological  learning ;  his  critical 
acutencss,  his  depth  of  observation,  and  elegance  of  style. 

The  most  remarkable  pieces  in  this  miscellaneous  collection,  are  the 
already  noticed  essay  on  clerical  celibacy,  that  on  Gnosticism,  the 


80  MEMOIR  OF  DR.  MOEHLER. 

beautiful  fragment  on  the  early  history  of  monasticism,  which  was  to 
form  part  of  a  large  work  on  the  monastic  orders  of  the  west,  and  the 
essay  ou  Islam,  that  has  received  its  due  meed  of  praise  from  one  of 
our  own  Protestant  critics.  •'  This  essay  of  Moehler's,"  says  a  writer 
in  a  number  of  the  Quarterly  Review,  that  appeared  two  years  ago, 
"  was  composed  with  an  express  view  towards  the  progress  of  Chris* 
tianity  in  the  east,  and  the  question  how  it  might  be  offered  in  the  most 
commanding  and  persuasive  manner  to  Mahometans.  It  is  written 
with  so  much  learning,  judgment,  and  moderation,  that  it  might  be  well 
worthy  of  translation  in  some  of  our  religious  journals."* 

The  lectures  which  Dr.  Moehler  delivered  on  patristic  literature,  have 
since  his  death  been  collected  and  edited  by  his  friend  Dr.  Reithmayr, 
Professor  of  Theology  at  the  University  of  Munich.  Of  this  work, 
three  parts  only  have  as  yet  appeared,  embracing  the  first  three  centu- 
ries of  the  Church,  and  containing  nearly  a  thousand  pages  of  print  in 
small  octavo.  After  some  very  interesting  and  profound  preliminary 
reflections  on  the  Greek  and  Roman  languages  and  literatures,  and 
their  relation  to  Christianity,  and  some  general  views  on  the  nature  of 
patristic  literature  ;  the  author,  in  the  first  part,  treats  of  the  lives  and 
writings  of  the  Apostolic  Fathers,  from  Pope  St.  Clement,  down  to 
Papias.  In  the  second  part,  the  lives  and  writings  of  the  Fathers  of  the 
second  century,  from  St.  Justin  martyr,  down  to  Pantenus  ;  and  in  the 
third,  the  lives  and  writings  of  "Ihe  fathers  of  the  third  century,  from 
St.  Clemens  Alexandrinus  down  to  Lactantius,  are  described,  analyzed, 
and  appreciated. 

In  this  work,  the  plan  of  the  author  is  to  prefix  to  each  century  ge-" 
neral  views  on  its  ecclesiastical  and  literary  character ;  then  under  a 
special  section  devoted  to  each  particular  father,  to  trace  a  short  sketch 
of  his  life,  where  the  materials  for  such  exist;  next  to  give  an  analysis 
of  his  various  works,  accompanied  with  a  critical  inquiry  into  the  age, 
or  the  authenticity  of  such  writings  as  have  been  disputed  j  then  to  fur= 
nish  a  summary  of  the  father's  doctrine,  and  lastly  to  pronounce  judg- 
ment on  his  literary  merits.  To  each  biographical  section,  the  editor 
has  appended  notices  of  the  best  editions  of  the  works  of  the  father.  It 
should  be  added,  that  the  account  of  the  fathers  of  the  second  century 
is  closed  with  a  notice  of  the  most  celebrated  martyrologies ;  and  that 
of  the  fathers  of  the  third  century  with  a  short  dissertation  on  the  spu- 
rious gospels,  and  a  more  lengthened  one  on  the  sybils. 

A  more  useful,  as  well  as  more  engaging  introduction  to  the  study  of 


*  See  No.  cxxxvi.  p.  410.     Murray,  London.    1841. 


MEMOIR  OF  DR.  MOEHLER.  SI 

patristic  literature,  cannot  be,  perhaps,  recommended  than  the  present 
Work.  The  author's  prodigious  knowledge  in  ecclesiastical  history,  as 
well  as  in  the  writings  of  the  fathers  ;  his  power  of  clear  exposition  and 
acute  analysis  ;  and  his  depth  and  originality  of  genius,  which  enabled 
him  easily  to  enter  into,  and  duly  to  appreciate,  the  conceptions  of  the 
great  thinkers  of  Christian  antiquity,  eminently  qualified  him  for  the 
execution  of  this  task.  And  although  the  w^ork  be  posthumous,  and 
did  not  therefore  receive  a  careful  revisal  from  its  author,  yet  its  every 
page  evinces  the  hand  of  the  master.  Among  the  various  dissertations 
I  may  notice  those  on  St.  Justin  martyr,  St.  Irenajus,  Origen,  and  St. 
Cyprian,  as  peculiarly  able  and  elaborate.  From  its  posthumous  cha- 
racter, there  were,  of  course,  many  gaps  and  omissions  in  it,  which  the 
talented  editor  has,  in  the  true  spirit  of  the  author,  endeavoured  to  fill 
up  ;  supi)lying  biographical  notices  of  those  ecclesiastical  writers  whose 
works  have  perished,  and  carefully  citing  the  authorities  for  statements 
and  assertions  in  the  text,  as  well  as  making  various  other  additions. 

Everything  contributed  to  render  Moehler's  abode  at  Munich  most 
agreeable.  Surrounded  by  the  distinguished  Catholic  professors,  whom 
the  king  had  assembled  in  that  capital  ;  living  amid  a  people  that  in 
despite  of  all  the  eflorts  made  during  the  late  reign  to  pervert  it,  was 
still  eminently  Catholic  ;  in  a  city,  too,  where  the  theological  faculty 
was  undisturbed  by  the  opposition  of  any  rival  ;  where  the  Catholic 
Church  could  unfold  all  her  salutary  influences,  and  all  her  pomp  of  wor- 
ship, and  where  art  was  making  the  noblest  efforts  to  minister  to  the 
splendour  of  that  worship  ; — Moehler  might  confidently  look  for  still 
more  blessed  results  from  his  literary  labours.  And  during  the  first 
eighteen  months  of  his  residence  in  the  Bavarian  capital,  the  content- 
ment he  enjoyed,  had,  in  despite  of  the  severe  climate  of  the  place,  re- 
established his  health,  which  of  late  years  had  been  much  impaired. 

At  length,  in  the  autumn  of  1836,  came  that  dreadful  scourge,  the 
cholera,  that  for  six  months,  without  intermission,  exercised  the  most 
dreadful  ravages  at  Munich.  Though  the  prevailing  epidemic  affected 
Moehler  but  in  a  slight  degree,  yet  he  experienced  a  general  debility, 
that  incapacitated  him  from  prosecuting  his  public  duties. 

This  indisposition  was  succeeded  in  the  following  spring  by  an  at- 
tack of  influenza,  that  confined  him  for  two  months  to  his  bed  ;  and 
did  not  quit  him,  without  leaving  behind  most  dangerous  symptoms  of 
disease  on  the  lungs.  On  rising  from  the  bed  of  sickness,  he  was  not 
permitted  by  his  physicians  to  pursue  his  ordinary  duties  ;  but  on  their 
urgent  advice,  he  took  a  journey  to  southern  Tyrol,  where  the  genial 
climate  of  Meran,  the  use  of  whey,  and  the  cheering  society  of  the 
Benedictines  of  that  place,  whose  learning  and  piety  he  made  a  con- 
6 


82  MEMOIR  OF  DR.   MOEHLER. 

stant  theme  of  eulogy  to  his  friends,  soon  produced  the  most  bettG' 
ficial  effects  on  his  health.  After  passing  the  whole  summer  of  1837 
in  that  beautiful  country,  he  returned  in  the  autumn  to  Munich,  to  re* 
sumc  his  public  functions.  But  the  hopes  which  his  friends  had  enter- 
tained of  his  complete  recovery,  were  soon  to  undergo  a  bitter  disap- 
pointment. On  the  first  of  November  his  indisposition  returned,  and 
symptoms  of  a  decided  pulmonary  complaint  became  even  more  mani- 
fest. Again,  to  his  grief,  and  to  the  regret  of  his  numerous  auditors, 
his  promised  course  of  lectures  must  be  put  off.  The  bleak  climate  of 
the  Bavarian  capital  was,  at  that  season  especially,  little  propitious  to 
one  labouring  under  such  a  disorder  ;  and  most  unfortunately,  towards 
the  close  of  the  month  a  calamitous  event  occurred,  whichj  while  it 
threw  the  whole  German  church  into  mourning,  and  convulsed  West- 
phalia and  the  Rhenish  provinces  to  their  centre,  filled  the  soul  of 
Mochler  with  a  disquietude  and  dismay,  that  operated  most  prejudi- 
ciously  on  his  health — the  imprisonment  of  the  venerable  Archbishop  of 
Cologne,  on  the  20th  of  November,  1837,  is  the  event  to  which  I 
allude. 

This  act  of  reckless  and  violent  tyranny,  which  put  the  seal  to  that 
long  series  of  intrigues,  machinations,  and  oppressions,  that  for  five-and^ 
twenty  years  had  been  directed  against  the  Catholic  Church  in  Prussia, 
Moehler  appreciated  in  all  its  vast  importance.  He  saw  the  evils  with 
which  it  was  fraught,  the  fearful  and  general  persecution  against  the 
German  Church,  that  it  seemed  to  portend  ;  and  yet  with  a  prophetic 
eye  he  discerned  the  good  that  Providence  Vrould  one  day  bring  out  of 
that  evil — the  triumph  and  regeneration  of  that  Church,  so  long  be- 
trayed, insulted,  and  oppressed.  These  apprehensions  and  these  hopes 
he  has  recorded  in  two  remarkable  essays,  which  he  published  in  Feb* 
ruary,  1838,  in  the  Universal  Gazette,  of  Augsburg ;  the  last  which  he 
ever  wrote — the  last  effusions  of  that  heart,  which,  amid  the  languor  of 
sickness,  yet  beat  quick  and  strong  to  all  that  concerned  the  glory  of 
its  God. 

At  this  time,  the  Prussian  commissary,  Bruggemann,  v/ho  was  sent 
to  Rome  on  a  diplomatic  mission  from  the  court  of  Berlin,  received  in- 
structions to  hold  an  interview  with  Moehler,  on  his  passage  through 
Munich,  and  to  tender  to  him,  in  the  name  of  his  sovereign,  a  preben- 
dal  stall  in  the  cathedral  of  Cologne,  and  if  he  pleased,  a  professorship 
at  Bonn.  The  reader  will  observe,  that  this  was  the  third  attempt  made 
by  the  Prussian  government  to  enlist  the  professorial  services  of  Moeh- 
ler. What  could  be  the  meaning  of  these  repeated  endeavours  on  the 
part  of  a  hostile  government,  to  obtain  for  one  of  its  universities  the 
greatest  theologian  of  Germany  ?     How  do  these  attempts  agree  with 


MEMOIR   OP  DR.  MOEHLER.  83 

^he  Well-known  policy  of  a  government,  that  by  every  species  of  intrigues 
machination,  encroachment,  and  crafty  tyranny,  had  endeavoured  to 
Protestantize  its  Catholic  subjects,  and  which  in  some  parts  of  its  domi- 
nions, like  Silesia,  had  too  well  succeeded  in  its  endeavours — and  that 
at  the  very  moment  when  it  made  this  proposal  to  Moehler,  had  torn 
from  his  diocese,  and  plunged  into  prison,  an  illustrious  prelate,  for  hav» 
ing  courageously  unmasked  and  defeated  its  designs  ?  To  the  honour 
of  the  Prussian  government,  it  must  be  said,  that  it  was  its  pride  and 
boast  to  fill  its  universities  with  eminent  men ;  and  that  hostile  as  it 
vi^as  to  Catholicism,  its  respect  and  love  for  learning  exceeded  that  hos- 
tility. Thus  in  the  very  heyday  of  Hermesianism,  it  appointed  its  great 
antagonist  Klee,  to  a  theological  chair  at  Bonn  ;  and  in  its  conflict  with 
the  Archbishop  of  Cologne,  it  artfully  pointed  to  the  nomination  of  this 
eminent  divine,  as  a  proof  that  it  wished  to  give  no  exclusive  encou- 
ragement to  any  particular  school  of  theology. 

But  at  the  conjuncture  at  which  we  have  arrived,  the  Prussian  go= 
vernment  had  a  peculiar  inducement  to  make  the  proposal  whereof  I 
speak.  The  general  discontent  that  reigned  in  its  Catholic  provinces, 
the  ever-growing  indignation  of  Catholic  Germany  at  the  treatment 
they  had  experienced,  and  the  precarious  relations  v/herein  Prussia 
stood  with  Belgium  and  France — neighbours  to  whom  her  fatal  policy 
had  unbarred  her  own  weakness  and  disunion;  this  state  of  thino-s  ren- 
dered the  redress  of  public  v/rongs,  and  the  allaying  of  public  irritation 
in  her  Catholic  dominions,  a  matter  of  the  most  imperious  necessity. 

In  this  posture  of  affairs,  as  a  professor  of  theology  must  needs  exer- 
cise great  influence  over  the  rising  members  of  the  priesthood,  and  in 
an  ecclesiastical  question  over  the  lay  members  also  of  the  university,  a 
sort  of  political  importance  now  attached  to  a  theological  chair  at  Bonn. 
And  unless  the  Prussian  government  were  prepared  to  close  the  door 
irrevocably  against  all  justice  and  conciliation,  it  could  not  have  select- 
ed a  man,  who  by  his  high  reputation  and  zealous  attachment  to  the  in- 
terests of  the  Church,  as  well  as  by  his  amiable  and  conciliatory  dispo- 
sition, was  fitter  than  the  subject  of  this  memoir  to  be  the  medium  of 
any  safe  and  honourable  negotiation. 

The  offer  of  M.  Bruggeman,  Moehler,  however,  immediately  declin- 
ed. This  refusal  was  dictated  not  only  by  the  precarious  state  of  his 
health,  as  well  as  by  the  distracted  condition  of  affairs  in  the  Rhenish 
province,  but  also  by  a  feeling  of  attachment  to  Bavaria.  This  feel- 
ing  his  Bavarian  majesty  delicately  appreciated,  by  conferring  on  him 
the  knightly  order  of  St,  Michael. 

His  health  seemed  to  rally  for  a  while,  so  as  to  enable  him  for  a  few 
weeks  to  resume  the  delivery  of  his  lectures  ;  but  towards  the  end  of 


84  MEMOIR  OF  DR.  MOEHLER. 

January  a  violent  catarrh  ensued,  which  soon  terminated  in  inflarama' 
tion  of  the  chest. 

The  following  account  of  his  last  illness  is  from  the  pen  of  an  eye- 
witness, and  friend  ;  and  the  tone  of  mournful  earnestness,  wherein  it 
is  written,  must  challenge  the  sympathy  of  every  reader. 

"  The  experience  of  late  j^ears,"  says  the  anonymous  biographer, 
"  convinced  the  physicians  that  the  injurious  influence  of  the  Munich 
climate,  combined  with  the  arduous  duties  of  the  professorial  charge, 
afforded  no  certain  prospect  of  the  preservation  of  Moehler's  life  ;  and 
that  it  was  only  by  changing  his  abode  for  some  milder  climate,  any 
chance  for  his  recovery  existed.  The  King  of  Bavaria,  informed  of  the 
condition  of  the  illustrious  patient,  and  anxious  to  preserve  a  life  so 
valuable  to  Church  and  State,  nominated  Moehler,  by  a  decree  dated 
March,  1838,  to  the  just  vacant  dignity  of  Dean  in  Wurzburg.  Moehler 
was  deeply  affected  by  this  mark  of  his  sovereign's  delicate  attention 
and  forethought ;  yet  his  joy  was  not  unalloyed.  He  had  entered  with 
uncommon  ardour  on  the  professorial  career,  for  which  heaven  had  fa- 
voured him  with  the  highest  qualifications,  and  wherein  his  efforts  had 
been  blessed  with  the  most  signal  success.  The  very  idea  of  the  aban- 
donment of  that  career,  had  inspired  him  with  the  deepest  melancholy. 
He  anticipated  something  more  than  a  mere  change  of  employment. 
To  a  friend,  who  congratulated  him  on  the  promotion  to  his  new  dig- 
nity, he  expressed  himself  in  the  following  remarkable  words  ;  'I  have 
often  observed  in  history,'  said  he,  '  that  men  whom  God  hath  highly 
favoured  in  life.  He  often  on  the  eve  of  their  separation  from  this  world, 
invested  with  the  glimmer  of  some  temporal  honour.  I  cannot,  with- 
out being  guilty  of  great  ingratitude,  deny  that  Providence  hath  loaded 
me  with  many  favours  ;  but  the  prognostic  which  I  here  advert  to,  may 
now  be  realized  in  me  also.'  This  anticipation,  alas  !  was  too  soon 
verified ;  that  very  day  the  fever  returned ;  a  week  later,  suddenly  at 
night,  catarrh  and  the  critical  symptom  of  hoarseness  ensued,  and  then 
a  few  days  afterwards  the  physicians  observed  all  the  signs  of  a  violent 
hectic  fever.  His  nights  especially,  were  attended  with  great  suffering; 
on  the  seventh  of  April,  he  felt  himself  again  better,  and  desired  that 
for  his  entertainment  a  favourite  book  of  travels  should  be  read  to  him. 
This  was  done,  not  without  a  fearful  presentiment,  that  that  wish  was 
the  prelude  to  another  and  a  more  distant  journey,  and  so  it  happened. 
At  the  beginning  of  Holy  Week,  the  fever  assumed  the  character  of  ty- 
phus, and  the  mind  of  the  patient  from  time  to  time  slightly  wandered 
in  delirium.  Feeling  his  end  approach,  he  again,  on  the  tenth  of  April, 
prepared  by  the  reception  of  the  sacraments  for  appearing  before  his 
Almighty  Judge.     The  sacraments  appeared  to  exert  a  beneficial  influ- 


MEMOIR  OF  DR.    MOEHLER.  85 

tince  on  liis  health,  for  on  the  following  day  he  felt  much  relieved,  and 
hope  began  to  revive  in  the  bosom  of  his  friends.  But  he  no  longer 
looked  forward  to  recovery,  and  on  the  same  day  he  made  his  last  tes- 
tamentary arrangements  in  regard  to  his  temporal  concerns.  The  fol- 
lowing night  dispelled  all  hopes  of  a  change  for  the  better.  On  the 
morning  of  the  twelfth  of  April,  he  felt  great  oppression  at  his  chest,  he 
became  somewhat  restless ;  the  heavy  ice-cold  sweat-drops  gathered 
about  his  brow  and  temples  ;  the  last  struggle  had  come  on.  His  con- 
fessor. Dr.  Aloysius  Buchner,  (now  a  prebendary  at  Passau,)  never  left 
his  side.  At  one  o'clock  in  the  afternoon,  he  awoke  from  a  gentle 
slumber,  clasped  both  hands  to  his  head,  and  exclaimed,  "  Ah  !  now  I 
have  seen  it — now  I  know  it — now  I  would  like  to  write  a  book, — this 
must  be  written  down, — but  now  it  is  gone."  He  then  laid  himself 
calmly  down,  a  look  of  serene  and  winning  love  passed  again  over  his 
countenance,  as  if  the  soul  were  evidently  making  an  effort  gently  to 
sever  the  last  bonds  of  life.  He  then  gasped  violently  three  times,  and 
the  soul  bursting  her  fetters,  sprang  upwards  to  her  God.  The  sad 
event  took  place  on  Maundy  Thursday,  the  12th  of  April,  1838,  at  half 
past  two  o'clock  in  the  afternoon.  His  remains  were  interred  on  Holy 
Saturday,  the  14th  day  of  April ;  and  his  death  was  mourned  by  his 
king,  deeply  bewailed  by  his  friends,  and  regretted  by  all."* 

Thus  died  this  celebrated  man,  in  the  midst  of  his  career,  at  a  crisis 
go  eventful  for  religion,  and  at  a  moment  when  he  could  be  so  ill  spared 
by  the  Church  and  by  his  country.  His  career,  though  brief,  had  been 
eminently  useful  as  well  as  brilliant ;  and  his  life,  though  not  full  of 
years,  had  been  replete  with  good  works.  He  might,  at  the  close  of  his 
course,  exclaim  with  the  great  apostle,  "  Bonum  certamen  certavi,  cur- 
sum  consummavi,  fidem  servavi,  reposita  est  mihi  corona  justitiae." 
*' Happy,  saith  the  Scripture,  are  they  who  die  in  the  Lord!"  And 
happy,  thrice  happy,  we  may  add,  are  they,  who  die,  before  the  enemy 
hath  snatched  from  their  hands  the  fruit  of  their  morning's  toil  !  And 
when  we  are  tempted  to  lament  the  untimely  end  of  this  great  luminary 
of  the  Church,  we  should  assuage  our  sorrow  with  the  reflection,  how 
infinitely  more  enviable  was  his  fate,  than  that  of  his  celebrated  con- 
temporary— the  once  great  Gamaliel  in  the  Church  of  France.  For, 
whereas  death,  we  may  confidently  hope,  brought  to  one  the  garland  of 
eternal  life,  existence  hath  cast  over  the  other,  the  blight  and  desolation 
of  death.  In  abandoning  the  glorious  mansions  of  the  Church  for  those 
bleak  and  desolate  regions,  where  the  grisly  phantoms  of  erring  fancy 


*  See  memoir  by  anonymous  biographer,  p.  27. 


86  MEMOIR  OF  DR.    MOEHLER. 

dwell,  that  unhappy  spirit  hath  abaiidooed,  too,  the  sweet  recollections 
of  early  days,  and  the  sacred  ties  of  friendship,  and  the  merit  and  the 
glory  of  all  his  victories  over  heresy  and  unbelief,  and  the  inestimable 
peace  of  the  soul ;  in  a  word,  all  the  earthly  charms,  and  all  the  hea- 
venly hopes,  that  cheer  and  sustain  existence,  and  solace  and  sweeten 
death.  And  as  a  great  writer  once  said,  that  the  fall  of  the  rebel  arch- 
angel cast  a  sadness  over  all  creation,  whereof  the  traces  are  even  now 
perceptible;  so  the  fall  of  this  mighty  spirit  hath  saddened  the  Church, 
in  this  the  morning  of  her  reviving  hope  and  joy. 

Moehler's  countenance,  deportment,  and  manner,  were  perfectly  indi- 
cative of  his  moral  and  intellectual  qualities.  The  perfect  harmony  or 
equilibrium  of  his  mental  powers  was  expressed  in  the  serenity  of  his 
countenance,  in  the  modulations  of  a  most  pleasing  voice,  and  in  the 
dignity  of  his  carriage.  The  same  exquisite  sense  of  justice — the  same 
aversion  from  all  exaggeration,  which  characterized  his  writings,  were 
perceptible  in  his  conversation.  Yet,  though  endowed  with  this  natural 
benignity  of  temper,  which,  in  him,  was  exalted  and  sanctified  by  mo- 
tives of  Christian  charity,  he  was  not  slow  to  the  perception  of  defects 
of  character ;  and  whenever  the  meaner  passions  crossed  his  path,  his 
instinctive  abhorrence  would  find  vent  in  the  sallies  of  a  subdued,  yet 
pungent  satire. 

His  personal  appearance  has  thus  been  described  by  one  of  his  bio- 
graphers :  "  Tall  in  stature,  he  was  of  a  slight  and  delicate  frame  ;  his 
outward  bearing  was  most  decorous  and  dignified  :  his  features  were 
delicate,  regular,  and  prepossessing ;  in  his  large,  dark  eye,  beamed  a 
gentle  fire,  which  shed  over  a  pallid  countenance  an  indescribable  charm- 
His  voice,  like  his  bodily  frame,  was  weak  and  slender,  yet  harmonious^ 
his  pronunciation  was  pure,  without  the  alloy  of  any  peculiar  dialect. 
Whoever,  therefore,  saw  him  for  the  first  time,  was  ever  most  agreea- 
bly prepossessed  with  his  general  appearance."* 

During  the  first  years  of  his  professorship,  and  before  he  had  quite 
thrown  off  some  of  the  lax  opinions  already  adverted  to,  he  was  not  so 
assiduous  in  prayer,  nor  so  diligent  in  the  celebration  of  the  holy  sacri- 
fice, as  might  be  desired.  Then  too  exclusively  occupied  with  science'^ 
he  did  not  seek  out  with  sufficient  ardour  that  heavenly  wisdom,  with- 
out which,  all  human  learning,  like  the  grass  of  the  field  without  the  re- 
freshing dew,  will  soon  become  arid  and  unprofitable. 

A  friend  concluded  at  that  time  all  his  letters  to  him  with  an  earnest 
exhortation  to  the  habit  of  frequent  prayer.    These  exhortations,  as  well 

*  Lebensskizze,  p.  28. 


MEMOIR  OF  DR.  MOEHLER.  87 

as  the  diligent  perusal  of  the  writings  of  the  holy  fathers,  which  are  no 
less  povvertul  iu  cherishing  the  feelings  of  piety,  than  in  confirming  and 
enlivening  faith,  wrought,  under  the  Divine  blessing,  the  happiest  change 
in  Moehler's  devotional  exercises  ;  for,  in  subsequent  years,  he  never 
let  a  day  pass  without  celebrating  the  holy  sacrifice,  and  with  a  tender- 
ness  of  devotion,  that  excited  universal  edification. 

With  the  laborious  duties  of  the  professorial  office,  he  combined,  to 
some  extent,  the  functions  of  the  sacred  ministry  ;  and  to  many  of  the 
academic  youth  he  acted  as  spiritual  director. 

Not  content  with  personally  discharging  the  obligations  of  his  sacred 
calling  with  the  strictest  fidelity,  and  an  irreproachable  purity  of  con- 
duct, he  strove  by  example  and  conversation,  as  well  as  by  his  writings 
and  his  lectures,  to  stem  the  tide  of  corruption  that  had  burst  into  the 
Swabian  Church,  and  was,  it  is  confidently  asserted,  the  means  of  guard- 
ing many  a  young  clergyman  against  the  evil  counsels  and  evil  prac- 
tises of  the  anti-celibate  party. 

His  zeal  for  the  glory  of  God  and  the  interests  of  His  Church,  while 
it  was  the  animating  and  sustaining  principle  of  all  his  intellectual  ex- 
ertions, often  communicated  itself  with  electrical  effect  to  his  youthful 
auditors.  Yet  that  zeal,  which  consumed  him  for  the  house  of  his  Lord, 
w-as  exceeded,  if  possible,  by  a  spirit  of  mildness,  modesty,  and  humi- 
lity— qualities  which,  while  they  endeared  him  to  Heaven,  made  him, 
too,  the  favourite  with  men. 

Adorned  with  all  the  sacerdotal  virtues,  he  possessed  at  the  same  time 
a  winning  amiability  of  manner,  that  caused  his  society  to  be  courted 
by  men  of  various  ranks  and  professions,  and  even  of  the  most  opposite 
religious  and  political  principles.  Protestants  as  well  as  Catholics,  lay- 
men as  well  as  churchmen,  consulted  him  personally  or  by  letter  on 
every  variety  of  subject, — rehgious,  political,  literary,  or  domestic  ;  and 
had  his  life  been  prolonged,  he  would  probably  have  become  one  of  the 
most  influential  men  in  Germany. 

Having  thus  briefly  described  the  moral  character  of  this  remarkable 
man,  it  remains  for  me  to  sum  up  his  intellectual  qualities. 

He  was  distinguished  for  an  uncommon  clearness,  precision,  and 
vigour  of  ratiocination,  that  shows  how  well  he  had  profited  by  the  ex- 
ample of  those  Attic  masters,  to  whom  his  youth  had  been  so  sedulously 
devoted.  His  plan  is  to  let  his  adversary  bring  forward  his  strongest 
arguments,  and  dispose  them  in  the  most  advantageous  order ;  then, 
without  stopping  to  refute  him  in  detail,  he  wrings  from  him  some  re- 
luctant concession,  or  forces  him  unconsciously  into  some  false  position, 
whereby  he  is  enabled  at  a  single  stroke  to  shake  or  overthrow  the  whole 
system  of  his  antagonist's  reasoning. 


88  MEMOIR  OF  DR.  MOEHLER. 

In  depth  of  reflection  and  comprehensive  grasp  of  generalization,  he 
equals  Frederic  Schlegel ;  and  if  inferior  to  him  in  the  fervour  of  a 
poetic  imagination,  he  yet  possesses,  partly  from  nature,  partly  from  the 
severer  training  of  theological  discipline,  a  superior  force  and  precision 
of  reasoning.  Like  the  great  writer  to  whom  I  have  compared  him, 
Moehler  was  eminently  endowed  with  the  faculty  called  by  critics  dia- 
thesis— the  faculty  of  seizing  on  the  main  points  of  his  subject,  divesting 
it  of  its  subordinate  or  accessory  parts,  and  in  a  few  bold  strokes  trac- 
ing a  perfect  outline. 

The  learning  of  Moehler  was  most  profound  and  various.  Though 
he  died  at  the  premature  age  of  forty-three,  he  yet  had  mastered  every 
branch  of  theological  science  ;  and  in  patristic  literature  and  the  writ- 
ings of  the  schoolmen,  as  also  in  the  works  of  the  Reformers,  and  the 
later  Protestant  divines  of  various  sects,  he  was  pre-eminently  versed. 
His  acquaintance  with  profane  history  and  modern  literature  was  most 
extensive  ;  and  his  acquirements  in  classical  philology  were  so  great, 
as  to  call  forth  the  astonishment  and  admiration  of  the  most  learned 
professors  in  that  faculty. 

His  style  reflects  the  calm,  equable  dignity  of  his  soul ;  clear,  flow- 
ing, and  stately  :  if  it  seldom  rises  to  eloquence,  it  never  sinks  into  dry- 
ness, or  loses  itself  in  obscurity. 

Yet  all  these  high  intellectual  endowments  were  rendered  still  more 
effective,  because,  as  was  above  said,  they  were  tempered,  chastened, 
exalted,  and  sanctified  by  an  amiable  modesty,  a  deep,  unaffected  hu- 
mility, a  glowing  zeal,  and  a  piety  serenely  bright,  that  like  a  light 
within  a  beautiful  vase,  brought  out  all  those  mental  ornaments  into 
bolder  relief.* 

•*  As  it  may  be  interesting  to  the  reader  to  hear  the  opinion  entertained  of  this  re- 
markable man,  by  those  who  are  far  more  competent  than  myself  to  pronounce  a 
judgment  on  his  merits,  I  will  here  subjoin  the  following  critical  remarks  from  some 
of  the  ablest  literary  and  theological  periodicals  in  Germany.  My  own  opinion,  it  is 
just  to  premise,  was  formed  before  I  had  seen  the  passages  in  question. 

From  the  Historisch-politische  Blatter. 
"  As  in  life  he  was  full  of  the  most  tender-hearted  mildness  and  forbearance,  full 
of  an  unpretending  modesty  and  kindliness  of  feeling,  which  won  him  the  hearts  of  all 
men  ;  so  his  moral  character  was  reflected  in  his  literary  labours.  Free  from  the  arro- 
gance and  cold-heartcdness  of  an  idle  science,  his  bosom  glowed  with  a  pure  and 
mild  enthusiasm,  and  the  calm  and  unruffled  clearness  of  his  spirit  was  evinced,  as 
with  the  eye  of  thoughtful  sensibility,  he  contemplated  the  agitated  scenes  of  history, 
and  their  chequered  phenomena,  so  calculated  to  mislead  and  confuse  the  judgment. 
Gifted  with  an  untiring  industry,  and  with  a  penetrative  mind,  that,  amid  the  mass  of 
details,  never  lost  sight  of  the  whole,  he  yet,  in  his  humble  modesty,  never  forgot  the 
deficiencies  and  the  narrowness  of  all  human  science.  All  one-sided  exaggeration — all 
passionate  attacks,  grated  on  him  as  a  discord  ;  and  all  merit  he  would  acknow- 
ledge, and  present  to  it  with  a  cheerful  broW  and  feeling  heart,  the  homage  of  his 
praise."— vol.  x.  p.  564-5. 


MEMOIR  OF  DR.  MOEHLER.  89 

In  a  communication  which  Dr.  Reithmayr  has  had  the  kindness  to 
make  to  me,  he  writes  as  follows  :  "  Brief  as  was  the  period  of  Moeh- 
ler's  liibom-s  in  Munich,  yet  it  is  difficult  to  describe  the  good  he 
wrought,  and  the  seed  for  still  greater  good  which  he  sowed.  Power- 
ful as  his  influence  over  Southern  Germany  had  become,  great  as  was 
his  authority,  honoured  as  was  his  name,  and  mighty  as  was  the  impulse 
he  had  given  to  the  public  mind,  he  was  yet  far  from  entertaining  the 
thought  of  wishing  to  form  a  school,  in  so  far  as  we  thereby  under- 
stand a  certain  peculiar  theological  system,  whether  its  nature  consist 
in  a  special  theoretical  method,  or  in  the  adoption  and  more  precise  de- 
velopment of  certain  opinions.  His  faith  was  of  a  much  too  positive 
kind ;  he  was  too  removed  from  all  hollow  speculation  ;  and  his  whole 
intellectual  cultivation  was  too  strongly  historical,  and  he  was  withal 
too  modest,  to  wish  to  bring  his  own  person  thus  prominently  forward, 
or  to  stamp  upon  other  minds  the  impress  of  his  own  individual  con- 
ceptions. If  anything  can  be  said  to  characterize,  or  distinguish  in 
any  degree  his  auditors  and  admirers,  it  is  a  certain  idealism  in  the 
treatment  of  science,  an  enthusiasm  for  the  institutes  and  interests  of 
the  Church,  abhorrence  of  all  sectarianism,  and  a  closer  attachment  to 
the  mother  Church  of  Rome." 

The  new  school  of  German  Catholic  divines  is  characterized  by  the 
union  of  great  patristic  learning  and  high  philosophic  speculation  ;  by 
severe  orthodoxy  and  warm  attachment  to  the  Church,  coupled  with  a 
singular  spirit  of  conciliation  and  tenderness  in  the  treatment  of  con- 
troversy towards  the  erring  brethren.  This  spirit  is  of  course  modified 
according  to  the  peculiar  temper  and  genius  of  different  individuals  ; 
but  such  is  the  general  characteristic  of  the  new  school. 

The  more  celebrated  theological  contemporaries  of  Moehler  were 
Klee,  Dollinger,  Drey,  Hirscher,  and   Veith  ;  and  among  his  scholars, 


From    the   Conversations-Lexicon. 

"  If  we  combine  in  a  single  focus  all  the  particular  traits  of  this  remarkable  man, 
we  shall  find  that  his  most  eminent  peculiarity  consisted  in  the  utter  abandonment 
of  that  pretension,  after  which  so  man}'  strive,  to  be  the  head  of  a  sect,  or  even  a 
school.  Moehler  devoted  his  faculties  purely  and  entirely  to  the  objective  and  divinely, 
established  institution  of  the  Church.  To  this  service  he  gave  up  his  whole  benig — 
his  high  natural  endowments — his  penetration  of  intellect — his  often  overpowering 
logic,  and  his  great  erudition.  And  as  he  made  it  the  business  of  his  life,  to  set  forth 
the  Church  in  all  her  truth  and  beauty,  so  the  Church,  in  her  turn,  transfigured  his 
whole  existence,  and  made  him  that  model  of  purity,  humility,  and  conscientiousness, 
— that  mirror  of  all  human  and  sacerdotal  virtues,  which  called  forth  the  enthusiastic 
admiration  of  all,  who  had  the  good  fortune  to  come  into  nearer  or  remoter  inter- 
course  with  him."— No  xxi,  p.  700,  vol.  iii.  Supplement  to  Eighth  Edition.  Leipzick. 
1840.  .f         .  i-i- 


90  MEMOIR  OF  DR.   MOEHLER, 

Staudenmaicr,  Ruhn,  Hefcle,  and  Reithmayr,  have   attained  to  great 
eminence. 

Klee  has  treated  every  branch  of  theology.  His  works  are  charac- 
terized by  vast  erudition,  great  metaphysical  depth,  and  a  consummate 
power  of  dialectic.  This  very  acute  thinker  and  eminently  learned  man, 
will  ever  exercise  the  greatest  influence  in  the  school ;  but  as  he  Avas 
deficient  in  grace  of  style  and  power  of  imagination,  his  influence  will 
be  less  perceptible  in  the  great  republic  of  letters.*  DoUinger,  whose 
excellent  Church  History  is  known  to  the  English  reader  from  Dr. 
Cox's  elegant  translation,  combines  extraordinary  learning  in  theology 
and  canon  law,  with  great  historical  research,  critical  acumen,  and 
clearness  of  method  and  style.  Drey  has  proved  himself  a  very  learn- 
ed and  philosophic  apologist  for  Christianity.  Of  Hirschcr  I  can  speak 
with  less  confidence,  as  I  possess  but  little  acquaintance  with  his  writ- 
ings. He  cultivates  chiefly  moral  theology,  and  unites,  it  is  said,  un- 
common unction  of  feeling  to  originality  of  thought  and  extent  of  learn, 
ing.  Some  prejudices,  however,  which  he  has  still  retained,  tend  some- 
what to  impair  the  influence  his  genius  and  piety  would  otherwise  com- 
mand. Veith  has  distinguished  himself  more  particularly  in  pastoral 
theology,  and  combines  in  an  eminent  degree  eloquence,  deep  thought, 
and  high  asceticism.  Ruhn  is  distinguished  for  great  depth  of  philoso- 
phic speculation  ;  and  Staudenmaier  displays  great  fertility  of  ideas 
and  amenity  of  feeling.  Hefele  and  Reithmayr,  both  as  scholars  and 
thinkers,  bid  fair  to  tread  in  the  footsteps  of  their  illustrious  master. 

The  number  and  excellence,  too,  of  the  theological  periodicals  and 
smaller  essays  and  treatises,  as  well  as  of  the  more  extended  works,  that 
now  appear  in  Catholic  Germany,  evince  the  vigour  and  productiveness 
of  her  religious  genius.  Divine  Providence,  when  He  suffered  the 
German  Church  to  be  despoiled  of  her  temporal  riches  and  political 
greatness,  repaid  her  with  all  the  abundance  of  moral  and  intellectual 
wealth. 


*  With  Professor  Klee  the  writer  of  these  pages  was  most  intimately  acquainted. 
He  was  a  most  amiable  and  excellent  clergymen,  and  delightful  companion.  He  in- 
formed the  writer,  that  he  had  read  all  the  works  of  the  fathers,  and  some  of  them 
twice  over.  With  the  writings  of  the  mediaeval  divines,  he  possessed  still  greater 
acquaintance  than  Mocliler.  He  was  uncommonly  well  versed  in  history,  had  read 
all  the  Greek  and  Roman  classics,  and  was  familiar  with  the  best  prod  uctions  of 
English,  French,  and  Italian  Literature.  He  succeeded  Moehler  in  the  professorship 
of  theology  at  the  University  of  Munich  ;  but  after  one  year's  residence  in  that  city 
he  died,  at  the  age  of  forty-three.  His  loss,  like  that  of  his  predecessor,  will  be  felt 
in  Germany  for  long  years  to  come. 


1 


MEMOIR  OF  DR.   MOEHLER.  91 

• 
Last  year,  in  the  public  cemetery  of  Munich,  a  beautiful  Gothic  sepulchral  monu- 
ment was  erected  over  the  spot  where  Moehler's  remains  lie  interred.  Moehler  is  re- 
presented in  a  knccluig  posture,  and  robed  in  sacerdotal  garments.  His  likeness  is 
said  to  be  admirably  caught.  On  one  side  is  represented  the  Blessed  Virgin,  holding^ 
the  Divine  Infant,  who  graciously  extends  his  arm  to  bless  the  priest,  sunk  down  in 
adoration  before  him.  On  the  other  side  is  Moehler's  guardian  angel,  presenting  to 
the  Divine  Infant  certain  writings  of  the  deceased.  The  monument  is  decorated 
with  other  beautiful  devices,  allusive  to  the  life  and  writings  of  this  great  man.  It 
bears  the  following  appropriate  inscription : — 

JOHANNES  ADAMUS  MOEHLER. 

S.     THEOLOGIZE    DOCTOR    ,    ET    PROFESSOR    P.     O.    IN 

UNIVERSITATE    TUBINGENSI  :    ET    MONACENSI  . 

CAPIT.    CATHEDR.    WIRCEBURG  :    DECANUS   DESIGN   : 

ORDIN  :    ST.    MICHAEL    PRO     MERITIS    EQUES. 

NATUS    IGERSHEMII   IN    WUERTEMBERGA. 

PRIDIE    NON.    MAJAS    1796. 

DEFENSOR    FIDEI. 

LITERARUM    DECUS.    ECCLESI^    SOLAMEN. 

OBIIT    MONACmi.    PRIDIE    IDUS.       APRIL    1838» 


'! 


i^i 


INTRODUCTION. 
PART   I. 

NATURE,    EXTENT,    AND    SOURCES    OF    SYMBOLISM. 

By  Symbolism  we  understand  the  scientific  exposition  of  the  doctrinal 
differences  among  the  various  rehgious  parties  opposed  to  each  other, 
in  consequence  of  the  ecclesiastical  revolution  of  the  sixteenth  century, 
as  these  doctrinal  differences  are  evidenced  by  the  public  confessions 
or  symbolical  books  of  those  parties.     From  this  definition  it  follows  : 

First,  that  Symbolism  has  directly  and  immediately  neither  a  pole- 
mical nor  apologetical  aim.  It  has  only  to  give  a  statement,  to  furnish 
a  solid  and  impartial  account,  of  the  differences  which  divide  the  above- 
mentioned  Christian  communities.  This  exposition,  doubtless,  will 
indirectly  assume,  partly  a  defensive,  partly  an  offensive,  character  5 
for  the  personal  conviction  of  the  writer  will  involuntarily  appear,  and 
be  heard,  sometimes  in  the  tone  of  adhesion  and  commendation,  some- 
times in  the  tone  of  reproof  and  contradiction.  Still,  the  mere  ex^- 
planatory  and  narrative  character  of  Symbolism  is  thereby  as  little 
impaired,  as  that  of  the  historical  relation,  in  which  the  historian  con- 
ceals not  his  own  personal  opinion  respecting  the  personages  brought 
forward  and  the  facts  recounted.  The  claims  of  a  deeper  science, 
especially,  cannot  be  satisfied  unless  the  exposition  occasionally  assume, 
in  part  a  polemical,  in  part  an  apologetical,  character.  A  bare  narra- 
tive of  facts,  even  when  accompanied  with  the  most  impartial  and  most 
solid  historical  research,  will  not  suffice  5  nay,  the  individual  proportions 
of  a  system  of  doctrine  must  be  set  forth,  in  their  mutual  concatenation 
and  their  organic  connection.  Here,  it  will  be  necessary  to  decom- 
pose a  dogma  into  the  elements  out  of  which  it  has  been  formed,  and 
to  reduce  it  to  the  ultimate  principles  whereby  its  author  had  been  de- 
termined ;  there,  it  will  be  expedient  to  trace  the  manifold  changes 
which  have  occurred  in  the  dogma  :  but  at  all  times  must  the  parts  of 


04  INTRODUCTION. 

the  system  be  viewed  in  their  relation  to  the  whole,  and  be  refef I'cd  to 
the  fundamental  and  all-pervading  idea.  During  this  analytic  processj 
' — without  which  a  true,  profound,  and  vivid  apprehension  of  the  essen- 
tial nature  of  the  different  confessions  is  absolutely  impossible, — the 
relation  of  these  to  the  gospel,  and  to  Christian  reason,  must  necessa-^ 
rily  be  brought  out ;  and  the  conformity  of  the  one,  and  the  opposition 
of  the  other,  to  universally  acknowledged  truths,  must  follow  as  a  mat- 
t3r  of  course.  In  this  way,  indeed.  Symbolism  becomes  the  most  cogent 
apology,  or  allusive  refutation,  without  designing  to  be,  in  itself,  either 
the  one  or  the  other. 

Secondly,  in  the  definition  we  have  given,  the  limits  and  extent  of 
our  course  of  Symbolism  have  been  expressed.  For,  as  they  are  only 
those  ecclesiastical  differences  that  sprang  out  of  the  convulsions  of  the 
sixteenth  century,  that  form  the  subject  of  our  investigations,  so  all 
those  religious  communities  that  have  arisen  out  of  earlier  exclusion  or 
voluntary  secession  from  the  Church,  even  though  they  may  have  pro- 
tracted  their  existence  down  to  our  times,  will  necessarily  be  excluded 
from  the  range  of  our  inquiries.  Hence,  the  course  of  doctrinal  dis' 
putes  in  the  Oriental  Church  will  not  engage  our  attention.  The 
religious  ferment  of  the  sixteenth  century,  and  the  ecclesiastical  contro- 
versies which  it  produced,  are  of  a  totally  different  nature  from  the 
contest  which  divides  the  Western  and  Eastern  Churches.  The 
controversy,  agitated  in  the  West,  regards  exclusively  Christian  an- 
thropology ;  for  it  will  be  shown,  that,  whatever  other  things  may  be 
connected  with  this,  they  are  all  mere  necessary  deductions  from  the 
answer,  given  to  the  anthropological  question  mooted  by  the  Reformers. 
The  controversy,  on  the  other  hand,  agitated  in  the  East,  has  reference 
to  Christology  ;  for  it  would  be  strange  indeed,  if  the  orthodox  Greek 
Churchj  whose  dispute  with  the  Catholic  regards  no  doctrine  of  faith, 
were  alone  to  claim  attention  ;  while  the  Nestorians  and  the  Mono- 
physites,  who  are  separated  from  Catholics,  orthodox  Greeks,  and 
Protestants,  by  real  doctrinal  differences,  were  to  be  excluded  from  the 
inquiry.  But  the  special  objects  of  our  undertaking  neither  occasion 
nor  justify  so  extended  a  ^discussion.  An  account  of  these  doctrinal 
differences  has,  moreover,  appeared  to  us  uncalled  for,  since  even  the 
most  abridged  ecclesiastical  history  furnishes,  respecting  all  these  phe- 
nomena, more  information  than  is  requisite  for  practical  purposes.  In 
fact,  no  present  interest  conducts  us  to  the  Oriental  Church  and  its 
various  subdivisions;  for,  although  the  ancient  disagreement  of  these 
communities  with  the  Catholic  and  Protestant  Churches  still  continues, 
it  is  at  present  without  real  and  vital  influence. 

On  the   other  hand,    the    doctrinal   peculiarities  of   the  Lutheran 


INTRODUCTION.  93 

and  Refofmed  Churches,  in  opposition  to  the  Catholic  Church,  as  well 
as  to  each  other,  must  be  set  forth  with  the  utmost  precision,  and  in 
every  possible  bearing,  as  must  also  be  the  positions  of  the  Catholic 
Church  against  the  negations  of  the  two  former.  It  might,  indeed, 
appear  proper  to  presuppose  a  general  acquaintance  with  the  Catholic 
dogmas,  as  asserted  and  maintained  against  the  Reformers,  in  the  same 
way  as  Plank,  in  his  Comparative  View  of  the  Churches,  has  presup- 
posed  the  knowledge  of  the  Lutheran  system  of  doctrine.  But,  as  the 
tenets  of  Protestants  have  sprung  only  out  of  opposition  to  Catholic 
doctrine,  they  can  be  understood  only  in  this  opposition  :  and,  therefore, 
the  Cat^iolic  thesis  must  be  paralleled  with  the  Protestant  anti-thesis, 
and  compared  with  it  in  all  its  bearings,  if  the  latter  would  be  duly  ap- 
preciated. On  the  other  hand,  the  Catholic  doctrine  will  then  only 
appear  in  its  true  light,  when  confronted  with  the  Protestant.  The 
present  comparative  view  of  the  differences  between  the  Christian  con- 
fessions, is  besides,  as  indicated  in  the  Preface,  destined  for  Protestant 
readers  also  ;  but  that  these  on  an  average  possess  more  than  a  super- 
ficial acquaintance  with  Catholic  doctrine,  we  cannot  here  reasonably 
suppose. 

The  various  sects  which  have  grown  out  of  the  Protestant  Church, 
like  the  Anabaptists  or  Mennonites,  the  Quakers,  Methodists,  and  Swe- 
denborgians,  could  the  less  pass  unnoticed  by  us,  as  they  only  further 
developed  the  original  Protestantism,  and  have  in  part  alone  consistently 
carried  out  its  principles,  and  pushed  them  to  the  farthest  length. 
Hence,  although  all  these  sects  did  not  spring  up  in  the  sixteenth  cen- 
tury, we  still  regard  them,  as  in  their  inward  purport,  belonging  to  that 
age. 

The  Socinians  and  Arminians,  also,  will  claim  our  attention.  These 
appear,  indeed,  as  the  opposite  extreme  to  primitive  Protestantism. 
For,  while  the  latter  sprang  out  of  a  strong,  but  one-sided,  excitement 
of  feelings,  the  former,  as  in  the  case  of  the  Socinians,  either  originated 
in  a  one-sided  direction  of  the  understanding  ;  or,  as  in  the  case  of  the 
Arminians,  terminated  in  such  a  course,  completely  rejecting  the  fun- 
damental doctrines  of  the  Reformation  ;  so  that  in  them  one  extreme 
was  replaced  by  another,  while  Catholicism  holds  the  just  medium  be- 
tween the  two.  Whether,  moreover,  the  Socinians  are  to  be  numbered 
among  Protestant  sects,  is  a  matter  of  dispute  among  the  Protestants 
themselves.  It  is,  however,  really  unquestionable,  that  Socinianism 
ought  not  to  be  looked  upon  as  an  appendage  to  orthodox  Protestantism, 
as  was  strongly  pointed  out  by  us,  when  we  just  now  called  the  So- 
cinian  conception  of  Christianity  the  precise  opposite  to  the  old  Protes- 
tant view.    But,  as  the  Protestants  have  not  yet  succeeded  in  dismissing 


©6  INTRODUCTION. 

the  Rationalists  from  their  community  (to  use  the  language  of  Mr. 
Hahn),  we  do  not  see  why  they  should  now,  at  least,  refuse  admittance 
to  the  Socinians.  Nay,  every  one  who  abandons  the  Catholic  Church, 
who  only  ceases  to  be  a  Catholic,  whatever  in  other  respects  may  be 
the  doctrines  which  he  believes,  or  refuses  to  believe,  though  his  creed 
may  stand  ever  so  low  beneath  that  of  the  Socinians,  is  sure  to  find 
the  portals  of  the  Protestant  Church  thrown  open  to  him  with  joy.  It 
would  therefore  not  be  praiseworthy  on  our  parts,  if  in  the  name  of 
Protestants  we  were  to  exercise  an  act  of  intolerance,  and  deny  to  the 
Socinians  the  gratification  of  seeing,  in  one  writing  at  least,  the  object 
of  their  ancient  desire  attained.  On  the  other  hand,  the  doctrines  of 
the  Rationalists  cannot  be  matter  of  investigation  here,  because  they 
form  no  separate  ecclesiastical  community,  and  we  should  have  to  set 
forth  only  the  views  of  a  thousand  different  individuals,  not  the  tenets 
of  a  church  or  sect.  They  have  no  symbol,  and  therefore  can  claim 
no  place  in  our  Symbolism.  Rohr  has,  indeed,  put  forth  such  a  one, 
and  Bretschneider  has  passed  on  it  no  unfavourable  judgment  ;  but 
that  it  has  been  in  any  place  adopted  by  any  one  community,  we  have 
not  learned. 

Still  less  could  any  notice  be  taken  of  the  Saint-Simonians,  for  they 
are  not  even  to  be  numbered  among  Christian  sects.  In  order  that  a 
religious  party  may  be  deemed  worthy  of  that  place  of  honour,  it  is  at 
least  requisite  that  it  should  revere  Christ,  as  Him  through  whom  man- 
kind have  attained  to  their  highest  degree  of  religious  culture  ;  so  that 
all  which,  from  Him  downwards,  has  been  thought  or  felt  in  a  rehgious 
spirit,  should  be  regarded  only  as  the  further  expansion  of  what,  in 
germ  at  least.  He  had  imparted  to  His  followers.  Hence,  the  Carpo- 
cratians  are  by  no  means  to  be  included  in  the  class  of  Christian  sects, 
because  they  placed  Christ  merely  on  a  level  with  Orpheus,  Pytha- 
goras, Socrates,  and  Plato.  The  same  honour  must  be  refused  to  the 
Mohammedans  also,  because  they  exalt  the  Arabian  prophet  above 
Christ,  although  the  latter  they  still  revere  as  a  Divine  envoy.  The 
same  now  holds  good  of  the  Saint-Simonians.  According  to  them, 
Christianity,  Uke  heathenism,  comprises  only  a  one-sided  conception  of 
the  religious  idea.  It  is,  indeed,  accoidingto  their  principles,  a  neces- 
sary  point  of  transition,  but  still  only  a  point  of  transition,  to  attain  to 
what  they  please  to  term  absolute  religion  ;  in  which  every  preceding 
form,  as  a  mere  transitory  phase,  is  abolished.  As  they  have  thus  ex- 
alted themselves  above  Christianity,  they  have  thereby  absolutely 
excluded  themselves  from  her  pale. 

Thirdly,  the  definition  we  have  given  establishes  the  limits,  within 
which  the  characterization  of  the  different  ecclesiastical  communities, 


INTRODUCTION.  97 

that  fall  vvithin  the  compass  of  the  present  work,  must  be  confined. 
Treating  only  of  doctrinal  differences,  it  is  the  object  of  the  present 
work  solely  to  unfold  the  distinctive  articles  of  belief,  and  to  exclude 
all  liturgical  and  disciplinary  matters,  and,  in  general,  all  the  non-essen- 
tial ecclesiastical  and  political  points  of  difference  ;  although,  even  thus, 
the  peculiarities  of  the  communities  to  be  described  must  find  a  general 
explanation  in  our  Symbolism.  In  this  respect,  Symbolism  is  distin- 
guished from,  the  science  of  comparative  liturgy,  ecclesiastical  statistics, 
&c.  It  is  only  in  a  few  cases  that  an  exception  from  this  principle  has 
appeared  admissible. 

Fourthly  and  lastly,  the  sources  are  here  pointed  out  from  which 
Symbolism  must  draw.  It  is  evident  that  the  public  confessions,  or 
symbols,  of  the  ecclesiastical  communities  in  question,  must,  above  all, 
be  attended  to,  and  hence  hath  the  science  itself  derived  its  name. 
Other  sources,  meanwhile,  which  offer  any  desirable  explanation,  or 
more  accurate  decisions,  in  reference  to  the  matters  in  hand,  must  not 
be  neglected.  To  liturgies,  prayers,  and  hymns,  also,  which  are  pub- 
licly used,  and  are  recognized  by  authority.  Symbolism  may  accord- 
ingly appeal ;  for  in  these  the  public  faith  is  expressed.  In  appealing 
to  hymns,  however,  great  prudence  is  necessary,  as  in  these  the  feeling 
and  the  imagination  exert  a  too  exclusive  sway,  and  speak  a  peculiar 
language,  which  has  nothing  in  common  with  dogmatic  precision. 
Hence,  even  from  the  Lutheran  church-songs,  although  they  comprise 
much  very  serviceable  to  our  purpose,  and  some  peculiar  Protestant 
doctrines  are  very  accurately  expressed  in  them,  as  also  trom  Catholic 
lays,  hymns,  and  the  like,  we  have  refrained  from  adducing  any 
proofs. 

That  even  those  writings  of  the  Reformers,  which  have  not  obtained 
the  character  of  public  confessions,  must  be  of  great  importance  to  our 
inquiries  into  Symbolism,  must  be  perfectly  clear.  Reference  must 
especially  be  m.ade  to  these,  when  the  internal  signification  and  the 
worth  of  Protestant  dogmas  is  to  be  apprehended.  In  the  same  way, 
Catholic  theologians  of  acknowledged  orthodoxy,  and,  above  all,  the 
history  of  the  Council  of  Trent,  offer  many  satisfactory  and  fuller  elu- 
cidations of  particular  decisions  in  the  Catholic  formularies.  Yet  the 
individual  opinion  of  one  or  more  teachers  belonging  to  any  confession 
must  not  be  confounded  with  the  doctrine  of  the  confession  itself ;  a 
principle  which  must  be  extended  even  to  the  Reformers,  so  that  opin- 
ions  which  may  be  found  in  their  writings,  but  have  not  received  any 
■express  public  sanction,  must  not  be  noted  down  as  general  Protestant 
tenets.  Between  the  use,  however,  of  Catholic  writers  and  of  the  Re- 
formers, for  the  purpose  of  proof  and  illustration  in  this  Symbolism,  a 


915  JNTRODUCriON. 

very  observable  difference  exists.  The  importance  of  the  matfef  Witi 
render  deeper  insight  into  this  difference  necessary.  The  relation^ 
namely,  wherein  the  Reformers  stand  to  the  religious  belief  of  their 
followers,  is  of  a  very  peculiar  nature,  and  totally  different  from  that 
of  Catholic  teachers  to  Catholic  doctrine.  Luther,  Zwingle,  and  Cal- 
vin, are  ike  creators  of  those  religious  opinions  prevalent  among  their 
disciples ;  while  no  Catholic  dogma  can  be  referred  to  any  theologian 
as  its  author.  As  in  Luther  the  circle  of  doctrines,  which  constitute 
the  pcculiar'moral  life  of  the  Protestant  communities,  was  produced 
v/ith  the  most  independent  originality  ;  as  all  who  stand  to  him  in  a 
spiritual  relation,  like  children  to  their  parents,  and  on  that  account 
bear  his  name,  draw  from  him  their  moral  nurture,  and  live  on  his  ful- 
ness ;  so  it  is  from  him  we  must  derive  the  most  vivid,  profound,  and 
certain  knowledge  of  his  doctrines.  The  peculiar  emotions  of  his  spirit, 
out  of  which  his  system  gradually  arose,  or  which  accompanied  its 
rise ;  the  higher  views,  wherein  often,  though  only  in  passing,  he  em- 
braced all  its  details,  as  well  as  traced  the  living  germ,  out  of  which 
the  whole  had  by  degrees  grown  up  ;  the  rational  construction  of  his 
doctrine  by  the  exhibition  of  his  feelings  ;  all  this  is  of  high  significancy 
to  one,  who  will  obtain  a  genuine  scientific  apprehension  of  Protes- 
tantism, as  a  doctrinal  system,  and  who  will  master  its  leading,  funda- 
mental principle.  The  Protestant  articles  of  faith  are  so  livingly 
interwoven  with  the  nature  of  their  original  production  in  the  mind  of 
Luther,  and  with  the  whole  succession  of  views,  which  filled  his  soul, 
that  it  is  utterly  impossible  to  sever  them.  The  dogma  is  equally  sub- 
jective with  the  causes,  which  co-operated  in  its  production,  and  has  no 
other  stay  nor  value  than  what  they  afford.  Doubtless,  as  we  have 
before  said,  we  shall  never  ascribe  to  the  Protestant  party,  as  such, 
what  has  not  been  received  into  their  symbolical  writings.  But  although 
we  must  never  abandon  this  principle,  yet  we  cannot  confine  ourselves 
to  it.  For  this  religious  party  was  generally  satisfied  with  the  results 
of  that  process  of  intellectual  generation  whereby  its  doctrines  had  been 
produced  ;  and,  separating  by  degrees  those  results  from  their  living  and 
deepest  root,  it  rendered  them  thereby  for  the  most  part  unintelligible 
to  science  ;  as  the  bulk  of  mankind  are  almost  always  contented  with 
broken,  unsubstantial,  and  airy  theories.  But  it  is  for  science  to  restore 
the  connexion  between  cause  and  effect,  between  the  basis  and  the 
superstructure  of  the  edifice  ;  and,  to  discharge  this  task,  the  writings 
of  Luther,  and,  in  a  relative  degree,  of  the  other  Reformers,  are  to  be 
sedulously  consulted. 

It  is  otherwise  with  individual  Catholic  theologians.     As  they  found 
the  dogmas,  on  which  they  enlarge,  which  they  explain,  or   illustrate^ 


INTRODUCTION.  99 

mready  pre-existing,  we  must  in  their   labours  accurately  discriminate 
between  their  special  and  peculiar  opinions,  and  the  common  doctrines 
declared  by  the  Church,  and  received   from    Christ  and  the   apostles. 
As  these  doctrines  existed  prior  to  those  opinions,  so  they  can  exist  after 
them,  and  can  therefore  be  scientifically  treated  without  them,  and  quite 
independently  of  them.     This   distinction  between  individual  opinion 
and  common   doctrine  pre-supposes  a  very  strongly  constituted   com- 
munity, based  at  once  on  history,  on  life,  on  tradition,  and  is  only  pos- 
sible in  the  Catholic  Church.     But,  as  it  is  possible,  so  also  it  is  neces- 
sary ;  for  unity  in  its  essence  is  not   identity.     In   science   as  in  life, 
such  scope  is  to  be  afforded  to  the  free  expansion  of  individual  exertion, 
as  is  compatible  with  the  existence  of  the  common  weal ;   that  is  to  say, 
so  far  as  it  is  not  in  opposition  to  it,  nor  threatens  it  with  danger  and 
destruction.     According  to  these  principles  the   Catholic  Church    ever 
acted  ;  and  by  that  standard  we  may  estimate  not  only  the  oft-repeated 
charge,  that,  amid  all  their  vaunts  of  unity,  Catholics  ever  had  divisions 
and  various  disputes  among  the/nselves,  but  also  the  Protestant  habit  of 
ascribing  to  the  whole  Church  the  opinions  of  one  or  more  individuals. 
Thus,  for  instance,  it  would  argue  a  very  defective  insight  into  the  na- 
ture of  Catholicism,  if  any  one  were  to  give  out,  as  the  doctrine  of  the 
Church,   Augustine's   and   Anselra's   exposition  of  original    sin,  or  the 
theory  of   the   latter  respecting  the    vicarious  atonement  of  Christ,  or 
Anthony  Gunther's  speculative  inquiries  on  those  dogmas.     These  are 
all  very  laudable  and  acute  endeavours  to  apprehend,  as  a  conception  of 
reason,  the  revealed  doctrine,  which  alone  is  binding  upon  all  ;  but  it  is 
clear  that  it  wouM  be  gross  ignorance  to  confound  them  with  the  teach- 
ing  of  the  Church  itself.     For  a  time,  even  a  conception  of  a  dogma,  or 
an  opinion,  may  be  tolerably  general,  without,  however,  becoming   an 
integral  portion  of  a  dogma,  or  a  dogma  itself.     There  are  here  eter- 
nally changing  individual  forms  of  an  universal  principle,  which  may 
serve  this  or  that  person,  or  a  particular  period  for  mastering  that  uni- 
versal principle  by  way  of  reflection  and  speculation — forms  which  may 
possess  more  or  less  of  truth,  but  whereon  the  Church   pronounces  no 
judgment  ;  for  the  data    for  such  a  decision   are    wanting  in  tradition, 
and  she  abandons  them   entirely  to  the  award  of  theological    criticism. 
From  what  has  been  said,  it  follows  that  such  a  distinction  as  we 
speak  of  between  dogma  and  opinion   must   be  extremely  difficult  for 
Protestants,     As  their  whole  original  system  is  only  an  individuality 
exalted  into  a  generality  ;  as  the  way  in   which   the  Reformers  con- 
ceived  certain  dogmas,  and  personally  thought  and  lived  in  them,  per- 
fectly coincided,  in  their  opinion,  with  those  dogmas   themselves ;  so 
their  followers  have  inherited  of  them   an  irresistible  propensity  every- 


ICO  INTRODUCTION. 

where  to  identify  the  two  things.  In  Luther,  it  was  the  inofdi* 
nate  pretension  of  an  individuaHty,  which  wished  to  constitute  itself 
the  arbitrary  centre,  round  which  all  should  gather, — an  individuality 
which  exhibited  itself  as  the  universal  man,  in  whom  every  one  was 
to  be  reflected, — in  short,  it  was  the  formal  usurpation  of  the  place  of 
Christ,  who  undoubtedly  as  individual  represents  also  redeemed  hu- 
manity,— a  prerogative  which  is  absolutely  proper  to  Him,  and)  after 
Him,  to  the  universal  Church,  as  supported  by  Him.  In  modern  times, 
when  the  other  opposite  extreme  to  the  original  Reformation  has  in 
many  tendencies  found  favour  u  ith  the  Protestants,  not  only  are  all  the 
conceivable  individualities  and  peculiarities,  which  can  attach  them- 
selves to  dogma,  willingly  tolerated,  but  even  all  the  peculiar  Christian 
dogmas  are  considered  only  as  doctrines,  which  we  nmst  tolerate,  and 
leave  to  individuals  who  may  need  them  for  their  own  personal  wants  ; 
so  that,  if  Luther  raised  his  own  individuality  to  the  dignity  of  a  gener- 
ality, the  generality  is  now  debased  into  a  mere  individuality,  and  thus 
the  true  relation  of  the  one  to  the  other  can  never  be  established.  In 
the  consistent  progress  of  things,  every  one  considered  himself,  in  a 
wider  circle,  the  representative  of  humanity,  redeemed  from  error  at 
least — as  a  sort  of  microcosmic  Christ.  But  in  order  that  this  phe- 
nomenon might  not  appear  too  strange,  for  it  is  no  easy  matter  to  re- 
concile one  Christ  with  the  other,  an  expedient  of  compromise  was  dis- 
covered, by  leaving  to  each  one  his  own- — that  is  to  say,  by  permitting 
him  to  be  his  own  Redeemer,  and  to  represent  himself,  as  also  to  con- 
sider the  extreme  points,  wherein  all  individuals  concur,  as  representing 
redeemed  humanity.  The  common  property  of  Protestants  could  only 
now  consist  of  some  abstract  formulas,  which  must  be  acceptable  to 
very  many  non-Christians.  As  every  one  wished  to  pass  for  a  Christ,  the 
true  Christian,  the  real  scandal  to  the  world,  necessarily  vanished ;  for  as 
each  one  redeemed  himself,  there  was  no  longer  a  common  Redeemer. 
To  this  we  may  add  the  following  circumstances,  whereby  was  form- 
ed that  peculiar  kind  of  individuality,  which  the  Protestants  would  fain 
confound  with  the  universal  principles  of  the  Catholic  Church.  Pro- 
testantism arose  partly  out  of  the  opposition  to  much  that  was  undeni- 
ably bad  and  defective  in  the  Church  ;  and  therein  consists  the  good 
it  has  achieved,  although  this  was  by  no  means  peculiar  to  it,  since 
hostility  to  evil  upon  Church  principles  existed  before  it,  and  has  never 
ceased  to  exist  beside  it.  Protestantism,  too,  sprang  partly  out  of  the 
struggle  against  peculiar  scientific  expositions  of  doctrine,  and  against 
certain  institutions  in  ecclesiastical  life,  which  we  may  comprehend 
under  the  expression  of  a  mediaeval  individuality  ;  but  a  change  in  this 
respect  was  the  object  of  man}-  zealous  churchmen  since  the  latter  half 


INTRODUCTION.  101 

of  the  fourteenth  century.  As  the  contest  grew  in  vehemence,  it  came 
to  pass,  as  passion  views  every  thing  in  a  perverse  hght,  that  matters 
took  such  a  shape  in  the  eyes  of  the  Reformers,  as  if  the  whole  pre- 
existing Church  consisted  of  those  elements  of  evil,  and  of  those  indi- 
vidual peculiarities — as  if  both  constituted  the  essence  of  the  Church. 
This  opinion  having  now  been  formed,  the  two  things  were  further  set  forth 
in  the  strongest  colours  of  exaggeration  ;  for  in  this  course  of  proceeding 
there  was  a  manifest  advantage,  since  with  such  weapons  the  Catholic 
Church  was  most  easily  combated.  Accordingly,  among  the  Refor- 
mers, we  very  frequently  find  (if  we  except  some  rare  but  gratifying 
avowals  in  Luther's  writings,)  not  only  the  necessary  distinction  be- 
tween the  dogmas  of  the  Church,  and  the  individual  views  or  con- 
ceptions of  particular  writers  and  periods  of  time,  entirely  overlooked, 
but  the  latter  so  pointedly  brought  forward,  that  the  former  not  seldom 
sink  totally  into  the  back-ground.  The  nature  of  the  origin  of  any  in- 
stitution determines  in  general  its  duration.  If,  accordingly,  Protes- 
tants would  enter  into  the  distinction  in  question ;  if,  in  their  estimate 
of  Catholicism,  they  would  look  only  to  what  was  universally  received, 
what  was  laid  down  in  her  public  formularies,  and  leave  all  the  rest  to 
history  ;  then  as  their  first  rise  would  have  been  impossible,  their  sepa- 
rate existence  even  now  would  be  essentially  endangered.  The  com- 
plaint here  adverted  to,  a  complaint  which  has  so  often  been  made  by 
Catholics,  appears,  therefore,  to  be  so  intimately  interwoven  with  their 
whole  opposition  against  Protestantism,  that  it  is  only  by  the  cessation 
of  that  opposition  the  complaint  will  ever  be  set  aside. 

Though  from  this  it  will  be  evident,  that,  in  the  course  of  our  sym- 
bolical inquiries,  an  use  is  to  be  made  of  the  works  of  the  Reformers, 
which  cannot  be  made  of  those  of  any  Catholic  writer,  we  must  never- 
theless now  draw  attention  to  some  peculiar  difficulties  attending  the 
use  of  Luther's  and  Melancthon's  writings.  Luther  is  very  variable  in 
his  assertions.  He  too  often  brings  forward  the  very  reverse  of  his 
own  declarations,  and  is,  in  a  surprising  degree,  the  sport  of  momentary 
impressions  and  transient  moods  of  mind.  He  delights  also  in  ex- 
aggerations, willingly  runs  into  extremes,  and  likes  what  are  called 
energetic  expressions,  in  which  oftentimes,  when  taken  by  themselves, 
his  true  meaning  is  certainly  not  easy  to  be  discovered.  The  most  ad- 
visable course,  under  these  circumstances,  is,  by  a  careful  study  of  his 
writings,  to  learn  the  key-note  which  pervades  the  whole  :  individual 
passages  can  in  no  case  be  considered  as  decisive  in  themselves  ;  and  a 
sort  of  average  estimate,  therefore,  naturally  recommends  itself  to  our 
adoption.  With  Melancthon  we  have  fewer  difficulties  to  encounter. 
He,  indeed,  is  involved  in  contradictions  of  greater  moment  than  Lu- 


102  INTRODUCTION. 

thor,  but,  for  that  very  reason,  he  lightens  for  us  the  task  of  separating 
in  his  works  the  genuine  Protestant  elements  from  their  opposites.  In 
this  respect,  his  reforming  career  may  be  accurately  divided  into  two  dis- 
tinct parts.  In  the  first,  being  yet  a  young  man,  little  familiar  with 
theological  studies,  and  versed  only  in  classical  literature,  he  was  by 
decrees  so  subjugated  in  religious  matters  by  the  personal  influence  of 
Luther,  as  to  embrace  without  any  qualification  his  way  of  thinking ; 
and  it  was  in  this  period  that  the  first  edition  of  his  most  celebrated 
work,  the  Loci  Theologici,  appeared.  When  his  ripening  talents,  his 
more  extended  theological  learning,  and  a  more  enlarged  experience  of 
life,  had  pointed  out  to  him  the  abyss  before  which  he  had  been  con- 
ducted, he  receded  by  degrees,  but  yet  was  never  able  to  attain  to  a  de- 
cided independence  of  mind  ;  for,  in  the  flower  of  his  years,  he  had 
given  himself  up  to  foreign  influences  that  confined  and  deadened  his 
spirit.  He  now,  on  one  side,  vacillated  without  a  compass  between 
Catholicism  and  Lutheranism  ;  on  another  side,  between  Lutheranism 
and  Calvinistic  opinions.  Hence,  we  have  felt  no  difl[iculty  in  making 
use  only  of  his  above-mentioned  work  in  the  edition  described  :  and  in 
opposition  to  those,  who  may  be  of  another  opinion,  we  appeal  to  the 
controversies  that  have  been  agitated  among  the  Lutherans  respecting 
the  Corpus  PhiUppicum,  and  to  the  final  settlement  of  the  question.  In 
respect  to  Zwingle  and  Calvin,  there  are  no  such  diflSculties  ;  as  the 
former  for  the  most  part  has  only  an  historical  importance,  and  the  lat- 
ter is  ever  uniform  with  himself. 


INTRODUCTION.  103 


PART    II. 

SYMBOLICAL      WRITINGS     OF     CATHOLICS      AND      PROTESTANTS. 


i. — The  Catkolic  Formularies. 

Before  we  proceed  to  the  treatment  of  our  subject,  we  must  inquire 
into  the  public  confessions  of  Catholics  as  well  as  Protestants.  It  is  a 
matter  of  course  that  those  formularies  only  are  here  understood,  where- 
in the  peculiar  and  opposite  doctrines  of  the  two  confessions  are  set 
forth  ;  and  not  by  any  means  those,  wherein  the  elder  class  of  Protes- 
tants, in  accordance  with  Catholics,  have  expressed  a  common  belief. 
The  Apostolic,  Nicene,  and  Athanasian  Creeds,  and  in  general  all  tlie 
doctrinal  decrees,  which  the  first  four  general  councils  have  laid  down 
in  respect  to  the  Trinity,  and  to  the  person  of  Christ,  those  Protestants, 
who  are  faithful  to  their  Church,  recognize  in  common  with  Catholics  i 
and  on  this  point  the  Lutherans,  at  the  commencement  of  the  Augs- 
turg  confession,  as  well  as  in  the  Smalcald  articles,  solemnly  declared 
their  belief.  Not  less  explicit  and  public  were  the  declarations  of  the 
Reformed.  These  formularies  constitute  the  common  property  of  the 
separate  Churches — the  precious  dowry  which  the  overwise  daughters 
carried  away  with  them  from  the  maternal  house  to  their  new  settle- 
ments ;  they  cannot  accordingly  be  matter  of  discussion  here,  where  we 
have  only  to  speak  of  the  disputes  which  occasioned  the  separation,  but 
not  of  those  remaining  bonds  of  union,  to  which  the  severed  yet  cling. 
We  shall  first  speak  of  those  writings,  wherein,  at  the  springing  up  of 
dissensions,  the  Catholic  Church  declared  her  primitive  domestic  law.s. 

1.  The  Council  of  Trent.  Soon  after  the  commencement  of  the  con- 
troversies, of  which  Luther  was  the  author,  but  whereof  the  cause  lay 
bidden  in  the  whole  s|.irit  of  that  age,  the  desire  from  many  quarters 
was  expressed,  and  1  v  the  Emperor  Charles  V.  warmly  represented  to 
the  Papal  court,  (.'  at  a  general  council  should  undertake  the  settlement 
of  these  disputes.  But  the  very  complicated  nature  of  the  matters  them- 
selves, as  well  as  numerous  obstacles  of  a  peculiar  kind,  which  have 
seldom  been  impartially  appreciated,  did  not  permit  the  opening  of  the 
council  earlier  than  the  year  1545,  under  p(pe  Paul  III.  After  several 
long  interruptions,  one  of  which  lasted  te  i  years,  the  council,  in  the 
year  1563,  under  the  pontificate  of  Pius  IV.,  was,  on  the  close  of  the 


104  INTRODUCTION. 

twenty-fifth  session,  happily  concluded.  The  decrees  regard  dogma 
and  discipline.  Those  regarding  the  former,  are  set  forth,  partly  in 
the  form  of  treatises,  separately  entitled  decreium  or  dochlna,  partly  in 
the  form  of  short  propositions,  called  canones.  The  former  describe, 
sometimes  very  circumstantially,  the  Catholic  doctrine  ;  the  latter  de- 
clare in  terse  and  pithy  terms  against  the  prevailing  errors  in  doctrine. 
The  disciplinary  ordinances,  with  the  title  Decretum  de  Reformalione, 
will  but  rarely  engage  our  attention. 

2.  The  second  writing,  which  we  must  here  name,  is  the  Tridentine 
or  Roman  catechism,  with  the  title  Catechismus  Romanus  ex  Decreio 
Concilii  Tridenlini.  The  fathers  of  the  Church,  assembled  at  Trent, 
felt,  themselves,  the  want  of  a  good  catechism  for  general  use,  although 
very  serviceable  works  of  that  kind  were  then  not  altogether  wanting. 
These,  even  during  the  celebration  of  the  council,  increased  to  a  great 
quantity.  None,  however,  gave  perfect  satisfaction  ;  and  it  was  re- 
solved, that  one  should  be  composed  and  published  by  the  council  itself. 
In  fact,  the  council  examined  the  outline  of  one  prepared  by  a  com- 
mittee ;  but  this,  for  want  of  practical  utility  and  general  intelligibleness, 
it  was  compelled  to  reject.  At  length,  when  the  august  assembly  was 
on  the  point  of  being  dissolved,  it  saw  the  necessity  of  renouncing  the 
publication  of  a  catechism,  and  of  concurring  in  the  proposal  of  the 
Papal  legates,  to  leave  to  the  Holy  See  the  preparation  of  such  a  work. 
The  holy  father  selected,  for  this  important  task,  three  distinguished 
theologians,  namely,  Leonardo  Marino,  archbishop  of  Lanciano  ;  Egidio 
Foscarari,  bishop  of  Modena  ;  and  Francisco  Fureiro,  a  Portuguese 
Dominican.  They  were  assisted  by  three  cardinals,  and  the  celebrated 
philologist,  Paulus  Manutius,  who  was  to  give  the  last  finish  to  the 
Latin  diction  and  style  of  the  work. 

It  appeared  in  the  year  1566,  under  pope  Pius  IV.,  and,  as  a  proof  of 
its  excellence,  the  various  provinces  of  the  Church, — some  even  by  nu- 
merous synodal  decrees, — hastened  publicly  to  introduce  it.  This 
favourable  reception,  in  fact,  it  fully  deserved,  from  the  pure  evangelical 
spirit  which  was  found  to  pervade  it  ;  from  the  unction  and  clearness 
with  which  it  was  written,  and  from  that  happy  exclusion  of  scholastic 
opinions,  and  avoidance  of  scholastic  forms,  which  was  generally  de- 
sired. It  was,  nevertheless,  designed  merely  as  a  manual  for  pastors  in 
the  ministry,  and  not  to  be  a  substitute  for  children's  catechisms,  al- 
though the  originally  continuous  form  of  its  exposition  was  afterwards 
broken  up  into  questions  and  answers. 

But  now  it  may  be  asked,  whether  it  possess  really  a  symbolical 
authority  and  symbolical  character  ?  This  question  cannot  be  answered 
precisely  in  the  affirmative  ;   for,  in  the  first  place,  it  was  neither  pub- 


INTRODUCTION.  105 

lished,  uor  sanctioned,  but  only  occasioned,  by  the  Council  of  Trent. 
Secondly,  according  to  the  destination  prescribed  by  the  Council  of 
Trent,  it  was  not,  like  regular  formularies,  to  be  made  to  oppose  any 
theological  error,  but  only  to  apply  to  practical  use  the  symbol  of  faith 
already  put  forth.  Hence,  it  answers  for  other  wants,  and  is  accord- 
ingly constructed  in  a  manner  far  different  from  public  confessions  of 
faith.  This  work,  also,  does  not  confine  itself  to  those  points  of  belief 
merely,  which,  in  opposition  to  the  Protestant  communities,  the  Catho- 
lic Church  holds ;  but  it  embraces  all  the  doctrines  of  the  Gospel  ;  and 
hence  it  might  be  named  (if  the  usage  of  speech  and  the  peculiar  objects 
of  all  formularies  were  compatible  with  such  a  denomination,)  a  confes- 
sion of  the  Christian  Church  in  opposition  to  all  non-Christian  creeds. 
If,  from  the  reason  first  stated,  the  Roman  catechism  be  devoid  of  a 
formal  universal  sanction  of  the  Church,  so  it  wants,  from  the  second 
reason  assigned,  all  the  internal  qualities  and  the  special  aim  which  for- 
mularies are  wont  to  have.  In  the  third  place,  it  is  worthy  of  notice, 
that  on  one  occasion,  in  a  controversy  touching  the  relation  of  grace  to 
freedom,  the  Jesuits  asserted  before  the  supreme  authorities  of  the 
Church,  that  the  catechism  possessed  not  a  Symbolical  character  ;  and 
no  declaration  in  contradiction  to  their  opinion  was  pronounced. 

But,  if  we  refuse  to  the  Roman  catechism  the  character  of  a  public 
confession,  we  by  no  means  deny  it  a  great  authority,  which,  even  from 
the  very  circumstance  that  it  was  composed  by  order  of  the  Council  of 
Trent,  undoubtedly  belongs  to  it.  In  the  next  place,  as  we  have  said, 
it  enjoys  a  very  general  approbation  from  the  teaching  Church,  and 
can  especially  exhibit  the  many  recommendations,  which  on  various 
occasions  the  sovereign  pontiffs  have  bestowed  on  it.  We  shall  accord- 
ingly often  refer  to  it,  and  use  it  as  a  very  important  voucher  for  Catholic 
doctrine  ;  particularly  where  the  declarations  of  the  Council  of  Trent 
are  not  sufficiently  ample  and  detailed. 

3.  The  Professio  Fidel  Tridentina,  stands  in  a  similar  relation. 

4.  Shortly  after  the  times  of  the  Council  of  Trent,  and  in  part 
during  its  celebration,  there  arose  within  the  Catholic  Church  doctrinal 
controversies,  referring  mostly  to  the  relation  between  grace  and  free- 
dom, and  to  subjects  of  a  kindred  nature ;  and  hence,  even  for  our 
purposes,  they  are  not  without  importance.  For  the  settlement  of  the 
dispute,  the  Apostolic  See  saw  itself  forced  to  issue  several  constitutions, 
wherein  it  was  obliged  to  enter  into  the  examination  of  the  matter  in 
debate.  To  these  constitutions  belong  especially  the  bulls,  published 
by  Innocent  X.,  against  the  five  propositions  of  Jansenius,  and  the  bull 
Unigenitus,  by  Clement  XI.  We  may  undoubtedly  say  of  these  con- 
stitutions, that  they   possess  no  symbolical  character,  for  they  only 


106  INTRODUCTION. 

note  certain  propositions  as  erroneous,  and  do  not  set  forth  the  doctrine 
opposed  to  the  error,  but  suppose  it  to  be  already  known.  But  a  formu- 
lary of  faith  must  not  merely  reject  error  ;  it  must  state  doctrine.  As 
the  aforesaid  bulls,  however,  rigidly  adhere  to  the  decisions  of  Trent, 
and  are  composed  quite  in  their  spirit ;  as  they  moreover  have  refer- 
ence to  many  important  questions,  and  settle,  though  only  in  a  negative 
way,  these  questions  in  the  sense  of  the  above-named  decrees  ;  we 
shall  occasionally  recur  to  them,  and  illustrate  by  their  aid  many 
a  Catholic  dogma. 

It  is  evident  from  what  has  been  said,  that  the  Catholic  Church,  in 
fact,  has,  in  the  matters  in  question,  but  one  writing  of  a  symbolical  au- 
thority. All  that,  in  any  respect,  may  bear  such  a  title,  is  only  a  de- 
duction from  this  formulary,  or  a  nearer  definition,  illustration,  or 
application  of  its  contents,  or  is  in  part  only  regulated  by  it,  or  in  any 
case  obtains  a  value  only  by  agreement  with  it,  and  hence  cannot,  in 
point  of  dignity,  bear  a  comparison  with  the  original  itself 

II. — The  Lutheran  Formularies. 

The  first  symbolical  book  of  the  Lutherans  is  the  Augsburg  confes- 
sion :  it  owes  its  rise  to  the  following  circumstances.  The  schism  in  the 
Church,  which  had  proceeded  from  Wittenburg,  had  already  engaged 
the  attention  of  several  diets  ;  but  the  decrees,  framed  against  it  at 
Worms,  in  the  year  1521,  appeared  impracticable  at  Spires,  in  the  year 
1526,  and  three  years  later  led  to  a  very  critical  dissension,  in  the  as- 
sembly of  princes  which,  in  March,  1529,  was  again  convoked  at  the 
last-mentioned  place.  Those  states  of  the  empire,  which  had  protested 
against  the  demand  to  give  no  further  extension  to  Luther's  Reforma- 
tion, and  had  expressed  a  decided  repugnance  to  tolerate,  as  the 
Catholic  party  proposed,  those  Catholic  peculiarities  of  doctrine  and  prac- 
tice yet  subsisting  in  their  dominions,  now  formed  close  leagues  with  each 
other  ;  and  nineteen  articles,  framed  at  Schwabach,  composed  the  doc- 
trinal basis  of  the  association,  without  the  recognition  whereof  no  one 
could  become  a  member.  At  Torgau,  the  above-mentioned  articles  were 
confirmed.  Out  of  these  elements  was  formed  the  Augsburg  Confession. 

Charles  V.  summoned  a  diet  to  be  held  at  Augsburg,  in  the  year 
1530,  which,  after  an  impartial  and  earnest  examination  of  the  doctrine 
of  either  party,  was  to  secure  peace  to  the  Church  and  the  empire. 
This  laudable  object  was  in  no  other  way  to  be  attained,  than  by  let- 
ting the  Protestant  states  set  forth  their  doctrinal  views,  and  allege 
what  they  found  offensive  in  the  rites  and  discipline  of  the  Church,  as 
hitherto  practised.  Melancthon  received  a  commission  to  state  in  a  brief 


INTRODUCTION.  107 

essay,  afterwards  called  the  Augsburg  Confession,  the  opinions  of 
his  party  ;  for  Luther  was  generally  deemed  unfit  for  the  office  of 
pacification. 

Although  the  author  of  this  confession  had  altered,  in  many  respects, 
the  articles  of  Schwabach  and  Torgau,  and  on  the  whole  had  very  much 
softened  down,  and  really  improved,  the  assertions  of  Luther,  yet  much 
was  still  wanting  to  make  it  acceptable  to  Catholics.  Hence,  a  refuta- 
tion of  the  Protestant  confession,  that  had  been  read  out,  was  composed, 
and  in  like  manner  delivered  before  the  assembly  of  the  princes.  But 
this  also  failing  to  carry  conviction  to  the  minds  of  the  Lutheran  states, 
Melancthon  wrote  an  apology  for  his  confession,  which,  although  no  pub- 
lic use  could  be  made  of  it  at  the  diet,  was  yet  subsequently  honoured 
as  the  second  symbolical  writing  of  the  Lutherans. 

The  object  of  the  emperor  to  restore  peace  and  concord  in  Germany, 
was  not  attained,  although  special  conferences  between  the  most  pacific 
and  moderate  theologians  of  the  two  parties  were  still  instituted  at 
Augsburg.  On  several  articles,  indeed,  they  came  to  an  understanding; 
but,  as  the  conciliation  had  been  forced  by  circumstances,  it  remained 
merely  outward  and  apparent.  All  hope,  meanwhile,  had  long  been 
fixed  on  a  general  council,  and  such  a  one  was  now  convoked  for 
Mantua,  by  Pope  Paul  III.  Even  the  Protestant  states  received  an  in- 
vitation to  attend  it  ;  and,  in  the  year  1537,  Smalcald  was  selected  by 
them,  in  order,  among  other  things,  to  confer  with  each  other,  and  with 
the  imperial  and  Papal  deputies,  Held  and  Vorstius.  Lather  had  previ- 
ously been  charged  with  drawing  up  the  propositions,  which  were  to 
express  the  Protestant  sentiments,  from  the  basis  of  some  subsequent 
reunion,  and  note  down  the  points,  which  might  perhaps  be  conceded 
to  the  Catholics.  At  Smalcald,  these  propositions  received  the  sanction 
of  the  Protestant  princes,  as  well  as  of  several  theologians,  summoned 
for  advice.  These  propositions  were,  indeed,  never  employed  for  the 
purpose  designed  ;  for,  from  a  concurrence  of  obstacles,  occasioned  by 
the  circumstances  of  the  time,  the  council  was  not  assembled.  The 
Lutherans,  however,  had  thus  another  opportunity  of  expressing  their 
opinions  in  regard  to  the  Catholic  Church  ;  and,  under  the  name  of  the 
Smalcald  articles,  a  place  among  the  Protestant  symbolical  books  was 
conceded  to  this  essay  of  Luther's. 

Already,  during  these  manifestoes  against  the  Catholics,  the  seeds  of 
a  great  inward  conflict  were  laid  among  those  to  whom  Luther  had 
given  his  name  and  his  doctrine  ;  yet  it  was  only  after  his  death  that 
these  seeds  were  really  brought  to  maturity.  The  subject  of  the  dis- 
pute, and  the  persons  engaged  in  it,  will  be  noticed  in  the  course  of  the 
present  work  ;  but  we  cannot  here  refrain  from  observing,  that,  after 


108  INTRODUCTION. 

long  and  stormy  dissensions,  it  was  Andrew,  chancellor  of  Tubingen,  to 
whom  the  honour  eminently  belongs  of  discovering  a  formulary,  which, 
in  opposition  to  the  attempted  innovations,  so  expressed  itself  in  favour 
of  the  genuine  orthodoxy,  as  to  be  every  where  received  for  the  only 
correct  exposition  of  the  Lutheran  faith, — which  consolidated  concord 
for  ever,  and  secured  the  orthodox  doctrine  against  future  falsifications. 
After  long  and  very  doubtful  efforts,  which  taxed  his  patience  to  the 
severest  lengths,  this  person  at  last  succeeded,  with  the  aid  of  Chem- 
nitz (a  highly  respectable  theologian  of  Brunswick.)  in  establishing,  in 
the  year  157T,  the  intended  formulary.  It  is  commonly  called  the 
Formulary  of  Concord,  or  sometimes  the  Bergen  Boole,  from"  the  monas- 
tery Bergen,  in  the  vicinity  of  Magdeburg,  where  the  above-mentioned 
theologians,  aided  by  Sellnecker,  put  the  finishing  hand  to  the  work. 
This  Confession  consists  of  two  pieces, — a  short  outline  of  the  ortho- 
dox doctrine,  called  the  Epitome,  and  a  very  diffuse  exposition  of  the 
same,  which  is  commonly  cited  under  the  name  of  the  Solida  Decla- 
ratio.  Moreover,  this  writing,  however  much  conceived  in  the  spirit  of 
Luther's  original  doctrines,  and,  singularly  enough,  even  because  it 
was  so  conceived,  was  by  no  means  universally  accepted. 

Lastly,  to  the  aforesaid  symbolical  writings  must  be  added  the  larger 
and  the  smaller  catechism  of  Luther, — called,  by  the  Epitome,  the  Bible 
of  the  Laily.  These  two  catechisms  in  themselves,  though,  as  we  may 
conceive,  they  comprise  the  contents  of  the  Lutheran  formularies,  were 
not  intended  to  be  symbolical  books  ;  yet  it  has  pleased  the  Lutheran 
Church  so  to  revere  them. 

III. — The  Calvinistic  and  Zwinglian  Formularies. 

If  the  symbolical  books  of  the  Lutheran  confession  were  adopted  by 
all  the  particular  Churclies  that  embraced  the  views  of  the  Wittenberg 
Reformers, — a  fact  which  only  in  regard  to  the  Formulary  of  Concord 
admits  of  an  exception, — the  Reformed  communities,  on  the  other  hand, 
possess  no  confessions  received  Vvith  the  like  general  respect.  The  rea- 
son is  to  be  sought,  partly  in  Zwingle's  conception  of  the  doctrine  of 
the  holy  Eucharist,  which  too  deeply  wounded  the  profounder  religious 
feelings  of  the  sixteenth  century,  to  gain  a  permanent,  or  even  a  very 
extensive,  reception,  and  partly  in  Calvin's  doctrine  of  predestination, 
which,  revolting  as  it  was  to  the  sense  of  Christians,  could  not  in  like 
manner  penetrate  into  all  the  Reformed  Churches.  Hence,  as  no 
general  harmony  existed  among  the  Reformed  communities,  no  such 
general  harmony  could  possibly  be  expressed  in  a  common  formulary. 
Add  to  this  the  peculiar  circumstancesof  the  Anglican  Church,  wherein 


INTRODUCTION.  109 

the  divine  institution  of  episcopacy  was  asserted  against  the  Presby- 
terian system  of  the  other  partisans  of  Zwingle  and  Calvin,  and  wherein 
consequently,  in  accordance  with  this  view,  a  liturgy  more  approximat- 
ing to  that  of  the  Catholic  Church  was  introduced. 

Thus  it  happened  that  nearly  every  Reformed  national  Church  had 
its  own  formulary,  or  even  several  formularies  differing  from  each  other. 
The  more  remarkable  are  the  following  : 

1.  The  Confessio  Tetrapolitana,  which  was  presented  by  the  four 
cities, — -Strasburg,  Constance,  Memniingen,  and  Lindau, — 'to  the  diet 
of  Augsburg,  in  the  year  1530,  but  was  not  attended  to  by  that  assem- 
bly, because  the  Protestant  states  refused  these  cities,  on  account  of 
their  leaning  to  the  Zwinglian  view  of  the  Lord's  supper,  admission  into 
their  league.  The  above-mentioned  cities  having,  some  years  later, 
out  of  pure  political  motives,  subscribed  to  the  Augsburg  confession,  the 
Confessio  Tetrapolitana  was,  in  a  short  time,  abandoned  by  every  one. 

2.  The  three  Helvetic  Confessions.  The  Helvetic  Confession,  that 
stands  at  the  head  of  the  collection  of  the  Reformed  symbolic  writings, 
(accordingly  the  first,)  was,  in  the  year  1.536,  composed  by  Henry 
Bullinger  and  Leo  Judas,  Myconius  and  Simon  Grynaeus  ;  but,  in  the 
year  1566,  was  revised  and  published  in  the  name  of  all  the  Helvetic 
Churches,  those  of  Basle  and  Neufchatel  excepted.  The  second  con- 
fession is  the  first  we  have  named,  but  in  its  original  form.  The  third 
is  the  Confession  of  Miihlhausen,  published  by  Oswald  Myconius,  in 
the  year  1532  ;  it  is  also  denominated  the  Confession  of  Basle. 

3.  The  Thirty-nine  Articles, — the  formulary  of  the  Anglican  Church. 
In  the  year  1553,  under  king  Edward  VL,  forty-two  articles  had  been 
composed,  probably  by  Cranmer,  Archbishop  of  Canterbury,  and  Rid- 
ley, Bishop  of  London,  as  the  Confession  of  the  English  Church.  But 
under  Elizabeth  they  were,  in  the  year  1562,  reduced  to  Thirty. nine 
Articles,  and  were  confirmed  by  a  London  synod. 

4.  The  French  Calvinists  framed  their  confession  of  faith  in  a  synod 
at  Paris,  which  A.ntoine  de  Chantieu,  a  Calvinistic  preacher  at  Paris, 
had,  on  a  bidding  to  that  effect,  convoked. 

5.  The  disciples  of  Calvin  in  the  Netherlands  received,  in  the  year 
1562,  a  confession  of  faith,  composed  in  the  French  tongue  by  Guy  de 
Bres  and  Hadrian  Saravia,  with  the  aid  of  several  other  co-operators, 
and  soon  after  translated  into  Flemish.  But  these  men  not  having  been 
publicly  charged  with  this  undertaking,  this  formulary  obtained  only 
by  degress  a  symbolical  authority ;  which  (especially  after  the  synod 
held  at  Dort,  in  the  year  1.574,  had,  with  the  exception  of  a  few  unim- 
portant particulars,  given  it  their  sanction,)  could  not  fail  to  occur. 

6.  Far  more  celebrated  and  more  notorious,  however,  were  the  de- 


U&  iNTRODtJCTloNi 

crees  of  another  Calvinistic  synod,  held  likewise  at  Dort,  in  the  years 
1618  and  1619.  Calvin's  rigid  theory  of  predestination  could  not  long 
be  maintained,  without  encountering  opposition  even  in  the  bosom  of* 
the  Reformed.  This  lay  in  the  very  nature  of  things.  But  the  ma- 
jority  of  Calvinists  showed  themselves  as  little  inclined  to  suffer  one 
of  the  fundamental  dogmas  of  their  Church  to  be  called  in  question,  as 
did  the  Lutherans  in  Germany.  Hence,  when  Arminius,  a  preacher  in 
Amsterdam,  and,  after  the  year  1603,  a  professor  in  Leyden,  together 
with  other  men  of  a  similar  way  of  thinking,  called  in  doubt  Calvin's 
opinions,  (and  these  again  were  vehemently  defended  by  his  colleague 
Gomar,)  a  very  eventful  contest  arose, — the  settlement  whereof  the 
above-mentioned  synod  attempted,  while  in  reality  it  only  confirmed 
the  dissension.  The  Arminians,  or  Remonstrants,  though  very  much 
persecuted,  maintained  themselves  as  a  distinct  sect.  Meanwhile,  the 
decrees  of  Dort  met  with  a  very  favourable  reception  out  of  Holland, 
even  in  Switzerland,  among  the  Calvinists  in  France,  and  in  other 
parts ;  while  in  England  they  were  formally  rejected,  and  in  other 
countries  were  not  approved  of. 

7.  Frederick  HI.,  Count  Palatine  on  the  Rhine,  who  renounced  the 
Lutheran  for  the  Calvinistic  creed,  and  forced  upon  his  subjects  his 
own  cherished  opinions,  caused,  in  the  year  1562,  a  catechism  to  be 
composed,  which  has  also  been  included  in  the  number  of  Calvinistic 
symbolical  books.  It  is  commonly  called  the  Heidelberg  or  Palatine 
Catechism,  and  has  met  with  so  much  approval,  that  many  reformed 
communities  have  adopted  it  as  a  school-book. 

8.  The  Protestant  princes  mostly  entertained  the  same  view  of  their 
prerogative  as  the  Count  Palatine  Frederick,  and  thought  they  were 
bound  to  decide  for  their  subjects  all  religious  controversies,  and  to 
make  their  own  individual  opinions  the  property  of  all.  On  his  death, 
this  prince  was  succeeded,  in  the  year  1576,  by  his  son  Lewis,  who  in 
his  turn  expelled  the  Calvinistic  preachers,  and,  together  with  the  Lu- 
theran creed,  re-established  the  Lutheran  service ;  until  his  successor, 
Frederick  IV.,  in  the  year  1582,  a  second  time  restored  the  peculiar 
doctrines  and  practices  of  Calvinism,  and  inflicted  on  the  ministers  and 
professors  of  the  again  outlawed  confession  the  same  fate,  which,  under 
his  predecessor,  those  of  Calvinism  had  sustained.  Even  the  decrees 
of  Dort  were  obliged  to  be  believed  in  the  Palatinate.  The  like  oc- 
curred in  the  principality  of  Anhalt.  John  George,  from  the  year 
1586,  Prince  of  Anhalt-Desau,  believed  it  his  duty  to  purge  his  land 
from  Luther's  opinions  and  institutions,  and  to  enforce  the  introduction 
of  Calvinism.  In  the  year  1597,  appeared  a  formulary,  comprised  in 
twenty-eight  articles  ;  and  no  other  alternative  was  left  to  the  preachers, 


INTRODUCTION.  Ill 

but  subscription,  or  banishment  from  the  country.  When^  however, 
Prince  John,  in  the  year  1644,  assumed  the  reins  of  government,  he  re= 
estabhshed,  by  as  violent  means,  the  Lutheran  confession.  In  Hesse- 
Cassel,  after  the  Landgrave  Maurice  had  changed  his  creed,  the 
Calvinistic  confession,  indeed,  was  enforced,  and  the  preachers  of 
Lutheran  orthodoxy  were  deposed ;  yet  (a  circumstance  which  must 
excite  great  astonishment)  no  special  symbolical  book  was  proposed  to 
the  acceptance  of  believers.  Perhaps  such  a  formulary  would  not  hSye 
failed  to  appear,  had  not  belief  in  the  doctrinal  decisions  of  Dort  been, 
shortly  afterwards,  ordained. 

9.  On  the  other  hand,  the  Margrave  of  Brandenburg,  John  Sigis- 
mund,  on  abandoning  the  Lutheran  for  the  Calvinistic  Church,  was 
unable  to  refrain  from  the  pleasure  of  publishing  a  special  formulary* 
It  is  known  under  the  name  of  the  Confession  of  the  Marches. 

10.  Lastly,  we  must  observe,  that  the  altered  confession  of  Augsburg 
not  only  possesses  a  symbolical  authority  in  the  German  Calvinistic 
Churches,  but  is  in  general  highly  esteemed  by  all  Calvinists.  Me- 
lancthon,  in  fact,  approximated  in  his  latter  years  to  the  Calvinistic 
view  of  the  Lord's  supper  5  and,  for  that  reason,  introduced  into  the 
editions  of  this  confession,  revised  by  him  from  the  year  1540,  certain 
alterations,  which  must  the  more  recommend  it  to  Calvinists,  as  unin- 
structed  persons,  at  least,  might  be  led  to  suppose,  that  Calvin's  opinion 
was  favoured  by  the  primitive  orthodoxy  of  the  Lutheran  Church. 
More  details  on  this  subject  hereafter.  On  the  confessions  of  Poland, 
Hungary,  Thorn,  and  other  places,  as  we  learn  nothing  of  a  peculiar 
nature  from  them,  it  is  unnecessary  here  to  dwell  at  any  length. 

The  symbolical  writings  of  the  smaller  Protestant  sects,  or  those 
other  books  whence  their  system  of  belief  can  be  derived,  it  will  be 
more  proper  to  notice  in  the  chapters  devoted  to  the  consideration  of 
those  sects. 


BOOK    I. 

THE  DOCTRINAL  DIFFERENCES 

AMONG    CATHOLICS,    LUTHERANS, 

AND   THE  REFORMED. 


PART   L 


OTF1<'ERKXCES    IN    DOCTRINE    RESPECTING    THE    PRIMITIVE    STATE    OF 
MAN    AND    THE    ORIGiN    OF   EVIL. 


§  I  .-—Primitive  State  of  Man,  according-  to  the  Catholic  Doctrine. 

In  proportion  as  we  consider  the  history  of  mankind,  or  even  of  indi- 
vidual man,  from  the  Catholic  or  Protestant  point  of  view,  very  different 
conclusions  will  in  part  be  formed  respecting  our  common  progenitor- 
conclusions  which  will  affect  the  destinies  of  his  whole  race,  even  to 
their  passage  into  the  next  life :  and  even  the  first  degrees  of  that  life 
take  a  very  different  form,  according  as  we  regard  them  in  the  light 
either  of  Catholic  or  of  Protestant  doctrine. 

The  parties,  indeed,  originally  were  not  conscious  of  the  full  extent 
of  their  divisions ;  for  ecclesiastical,  like  political,  revolutions,  are  not 
conducted  according  to  a  preconcerted,  fully  completed  system  :  but,  on 
the  contrary,  their  fundamental  principles  are  wont  to  be  consistently 
unfolded  only  in  and  by  practical  life,  and  their  heterogeneous  parts  to 
be  thereby  only  gradually  transformed.  Hence,  at  the  commencement 
of  the  ecclesiastical  revolution  of  the  sixteenth  century,  reflection  was 
not  immediately  directed  towards  the  origin  of  our  kind,  nor  even  to  its 
passage  into  eternity  ;  for  a  more  minute  explanation  of  these  articles 
of  doctrine  appeared  in  part  to  possess  but  a  very  subordinate  interest, 
8 


114  EXPOSITION  OF  DOCTRINAL  DIFFERENCES 

and  many  points  seemed  only  brought  forward  to  fill  up  the  breaches  w 
the  general  system  of  belief.  The  great  contest,  which  now  engages 
our  attention,  had  rather  its  rise  in  the  inmost  and  deepest  centre  of 
human  history,  as  it  turned  upon  the  mode  whereby  fallen  man  can  re- 
gain fellowship  with  Christ,  and  become  a  partaker  of  the  fruits  of 
redemption.  But  from  this  centre  the  opposition  spread  backward  and 
forward,  and  reached  the  two  terms  of  human  history,  which  were 
necessarily  viewed  in  accordance  with  the  changes  introduced  in  the 
central  point.  The  more  consistently  a  system  is  carried  out,  and  the 
more  harmoniously  it  is  framed,  the  more  will  any  modification  in  its 
fundamental  principle  shake  all  its  parts.  Whoever,  therefore,  in  its 
centre  assailed  Catholicism,  whose  doctrines  are  all  most  intimately 
intertwined,  was  forced  by  degrees  to  attack  many  other  points,  alsoy 
whose  connection  with  those  first  combated,  was  in  the  beginning 
scarcely  imagined. 

We  could  now  have  started  from  the  real  centre  of  all  these  disputes, 
and  have  shown  how  all  doctrines  have  been  seized  and  drawn  into 
its  circle  ;  and  undoubtedly  the  commencement  of  our  work  would 
have  much  more  excited  the  interest  of  the  reader,  bad  we  immediately 
placed  him  in  the  midst  of  the  contest,  and  enabled  him  to  survey  the 
entire  field,  which  the  battle  commands.  But  we  conceive  that  the 
controverted  doctrines  may  be  stated  in  a  simpler  and  more  intelligible 
manner,  when  we  pursue  the  contrary  course,  and,  by  following  the  clue 
presented  by  the  natural  progress  of  human  history,  bring  under  notice 
these  doctrinal  differences.  Hence,  we  begin  with  the  original  state 
of  man,  speak  next  of  his  fall,  and  the  consequences. thereof,  and  then 
enter  on  the  very  central  ground  of  the  controversy,  as  we  proceed  to 
consider  the  doctrine  of  the  restoration  of  man  from  his  fall  through 
Christ  Jesus.  We  shall  afterwards  point  out  the  influence  of  the  con- 
flicting doctrines,  respecting  the  origin  and  nature  of  the  internal  life 
of  those  united  with  Christ,  on  their  external  union  and  communion 
with  each  other,  and  thus  be  led  to  enlarge  on  the  theory  and  essence 
of  this  outward  communion,  according  to  the  views  of  the  different 
confessions  ;  and  we  shall  conclude  with  the  passage  of  individuals 
from  this  communion,  existing  on  earth,  to  that  of  the  next  world,  as 
well  as  with  the  lasting  mutual  intercourse  between  the  two. 

The  first  point,  accordingly,  which  will  engage  cur  attention,  is  the 
primitive  state  of  man. 

Fallen  man,  as  such,  is  able,  in  no  otherwise,  save  by  the  teaching  of 
divine  revelation,  to  attain  to  the  true  and  pure  knowledge  of  his  origi- 
nal condition  ;  for  it  was  a  portion  of  the  destiny  of  man,  when  aliena- 
ted from  his  God,  to  be  likewise  alienated  from  himself,  and  to  know 


BETWEEN  CATHOLICS  AND  PROTESTANTS.  115 

with  certainty,  neither  what  he  originally  was,  nor  what  he  became. 
In  determining  his  original  state,  we  must  especially  direct  our  v^ew  to 
the  renewal  of  the  fallen  creature  in  Christ  Jesus ;  because,  as  regene- 
ration consists  in  the  re-establishment  of  our  primeval  condition,  and 
this  transformation  and  renewal  is  only  the  primitive  creation  restored, 
the  insight  into  what  Christ  hath  given  us  back  affords  us  the  desired 
knowledge  of  what  in  the  origin  was  imparted  to  us. 

This  course  has  been  at  all  times  and  by  all  parties  pursued,  when 
the  original  condition  of  man  was  to  be  traced. 

As  regards  the  Catholic  dogma,  this  embraces  the  whole  spiritual  as 
well  as  corporeal  existence  of  the  Paradisaic  man,  extending  not  only  to 
his  pre-eminent  endowments  of  soul  and  body,  but  to  those  gifts  which 
he  possessed  in  common  with  all  men,  so  far  at  least  as  the  doctrinal 
controversies  of  the  sixteenth  century  required  a  special  explanation,  on 
this  latter  point.  Accordingly,  in  the  higher  portion  of  his  nature,  he 
is  described  as  the  image  of  God,  that  is  to  say,  as  a  spiritual  being, 
endowed  with  freedom,  capable  of  knowing  and  loving  God,  and  of 
viewing  everything  in  him.*  As  Adam  had  this  divine  similitude  in 
common  with  the  whole  human  race,  the  distinction,  which  he  enjoyed 
herein,  consisted  in  his  being  what  the  simple  expression  of  the  Coun- 
cil of  Trent  denominates,  just  and  holy  ;  in  other  words,  completely 
acceptable  to  God.f  Or  as  the  school  says,  in  language,  however,  not 
quite  expressive  enough,  "  His  inferior  faculties  of  soul,  and  bodily  im- 
pulses, acted  unresistingly  under  the  guidance  of  his  reason,  and  there- 
fore every  thing  in  him  was  in  obedience  to  reason,  as  his  reason  was 
in  obedience  to  God  ;"  and  accordingly  he  lived  in  blessed  harmony 
with  himself  and  with  his  Maker.  The  action  of  the  faculties  and  im- 
pulses of  the  body  was  in  perfect  accord  with  a  reason  devoted  to  God, 
and  shunned  all  conflict  with  her :  it  was,  moreover,  coupled  with  the 
great  gift  of  immortality,  even  in  man's  earthly  part,  as  well  as  with  an 
exemption  from  all  the  evils  and  all  the  maladies,  which  are  now  the 
ordinary  preludes  to  death.:]: 

I  *  Catechism,  ex  docret.  Concil.  Trident.  ed.Col.  1565,  p.  33.  "  Quodadanimam 
pertinet,  earn  ad  imaginem  et  similitudinem  suam  formavit  (Deus,)  liberumque  ei  tri- 
buit  arbitriiim  :  omncs  prEeterca  motus  animi  atque  appetitiones  ita  in  cS,  tcmperavit, 
ut  rationis  impcrio  nunquam  non  parerent.  Turn  originalis  justitiae  admirabile  do- 
num  addidit,"  etc. 

t  Concil.  Trident.  Sess.  v.  decret.  de  peccat.  origin.  The  council  says  only, 
"  Justitiam  et  sanctitatem,  in  qua,  constitutus  fuerat." 

I  Catechism,  ex  decret.  Concil.  Trident,  p.  33.  "  Sic  corporc  eifectum  et  consti- 
tutum  efRnxit,  ut  non  quidem  naturae  ipsius  vi,  sed  divino  beneficio  immortalis  esset 
et  iinpassibilis."  Very  well,  observes  St.  Augustine  (de  Genes,  ad  ht.  vi.  c.  25) 
'*  Aljud  est,^on_posse^nwri,  diudj)ossejion  mo^    etc. 


116  EXPOSITION  OF  DOCTRINAL  DIFFERENCES 

The  ideal  moral  slate,  in  which  Adam  existed  in  paradise,  the  theo- 
logians of  antiquity  knew  by  the  name  of  "  original  justice  ;"  on  the 
notion  and  nature  whereof  it  will  be  proper  to  make  some  further  re- 
marks, partly  of  an  historical  kind,  in  order  to  explain  the  opposition, 
which,  in  this  artitle  of  doctrine,  the  Ci  tholic  Church  has  had  to  en- 
counter from  the  Protestants. 

The  essential  and  universal  interest  of  the  Christian  religion,  in  de- 
termining the  original  condition  of  our  common  progenitor,  is,  by  the 
above-stated  brief  doctrine  of  the  Church,  amply  satisfied.  Herein  con- 
sists the  interest — on  one  hand  to  guard  against  evil  in  the  world  being 
attributed  to  a  Divine  cause,  and  the  dogma  of  the  supreme  holiness 
of  God,  the  creator  of  the  world,  being  disfigured  ;-— and  on  the  other 
hand,  to  establish  on  a  solid  basis  the  principle  of  a  totally  unmerited 
redemption  from  the  fall — that  practical  fundamental  doctrine  of  Chris- 
tianity— by  most  earnestly  inculcating,  that  God  had  endowed  the  first 
man  with  the  noblest  gifts,  and  that  thus  it  was  only  through  his  own 
deep  self-guiltiness  he  fell.  Upon  both  points,  however,  there  exist 
more  stringent,  and  by  no  means  superfluous,  definitions  of  the  Church. 
Theologians,  likewise,  taking  as  their  standard  the  ecclesiastical  doc- 
trine, clearly  based  as  it  is  on  Scripture  and  tradition,  and  following 
certain  hints  which  particular  passages  of  holy  writ,  and  some  dogmas, 
appear  to  furnish,  have  endeavoured  to  fathom  m^re  deeply  the  nature 
of  original  justice  ;  and  the  Church  has  viewed  with  pleasure  the  atten- 
tion and  love  bestowed  on  the  consideration  of  the  holy  work,  and  per- 
mitted, within  the  determined  limits  which  revelation  itself  has  marked 
out,  the  freest  scope  to  speculation. 

When  the  Church  attributes  to  Adam,  in  his  original  state,  holiness 
and  justice,  she  by  no  means  merely  means,  that  he  was  unpolluted 
with  any  alloy  adverse  to  God,  or  contrary  to  his  natural  impulse  and 
bearing  to  God,  but,  what  is  far  more,  that  he  stood  in  the  most  interior 
and  the  closest  communion  with  his  Maker.  Now,  it  is  an  universal 
truth,  holding  good  of  all  even  the  highest  orders  and  circles  of  intel- 
lectual creatures,  that  such  a  relation  to  God,  as  that  of  the  paradisaic 
man,  is  no  wise  to  be  attained  and  upheld  by  natural  powers  ;  that  con- 
•sequently  a  special  condescension  of  the  Almighty  is  required  thereto  ; 
in  short,  that  no  finite  being  is  holy,  save  by  the  holy  and  sanctifying 
spirit ;  that  no  finite  being  can  exist  in  a  living  moral  communion  with 
the  Deity,  save  by  the  communion  of  the  self-same  holy  spirit.  This 
lelation  of  Adam  to  God,  as  it  exalted  him  above  human  nature,  and 
made  him  participate  in  that  of  God,  is  hence  termed  (as  indeed  such 
a  denomination  is  involved,  in  the  very  idea  of  such  an  exaltation)  a 
supernatural  gift  of  divine  grace,  superadded  to  the  endowments  of  na- 


BETWEEN  CATHOLICS  AND  PROTESTANTS.  117 

Uire.  Moreover,  this  more  minute  explanation  of  the  dojima,  concern- 
ing the  original  holiness  and  justice  of  Adam,  is  not  merely  a  private 
opinion  of  theologians,  but  an  integral  part  of  that  dogma,  and  hence, 
itself  a  dogma.* 

The  following  observation  will  not,  perhaps,  appear  unimportant.  So  ' 
often  as  from  a  mere  philosophical  point  of  view, — we  mean  to  say,  so 
often  as  without  regard  to,  or  knowledge  of,  revealed  truth, — the  rela- 
tion of  the  human  spirit  to  God  hath  been  more  deeply  investigated, 
men  have  seen  themselves  forced  (o  the  adoption  of  a  homousia,  or 
equality  of  essence  between  the  divine  and  the  human  nature  ;  in  other 
words,  to  embrace  pantheism,  and,  with  it,  the  most  arrogant  deitication 
of  man.  How,  on  the  other  hand,  the  doctrinal  system  of  the  Catholic- 
Church  obviates  the  objections  of  pantheism,  and,  while  filled  with  the 
spirit  of  humility,  satisfies  those  cravings  after  a  more  profound  science, 
which  a  profane  pantheistic  philosophy  vainly  endeavours  to  supply,  is 
apparent  from  what  has  been  above  stated.  What  man,  as  a  creature, 
by  the  energy  of  his  own  nature  abandoned  to  itself,  was  unable  to 
attain,  is  conferred  on  him  as  a  grace  from  his  Creator.  So  exceed- 
ingly great  is  the  goodness  and  love  of  God  ! 

The  blessing  above  described,  which  knit  the  bonds  of  an  exalted, 
holy,  and  happy  communion  between  God  and  the  paradisaic  man,  is 
founded  on  the  supposition  that  a  struggle  would  by  degrees  have  natu- 
rally arisen  between  the  sensual  and  the  spiritual  nature  of  man,  cha- 
racterised by  many  theologians  as  that  power,  whereby  the  sensual  and 
supersensual  parts  of  Adam  were  maintained  in  undisturbed  harmony. 
The  same  divines  necessarily  suppose,  that  on  Adam  the  supernatural 
gifts  were  bestowed  simultaneously  with  his  natural  endowments  ;  that 
is  to  say,  that  both  were  conferred  at  the  moment  of  his  creation. f 


*  Popes  Pius  V.  and  Gregory  XIII.  have  condemned  the  following  propositions  : 
"  Art.  XXI.  Humanoe  natures  sublimatio  et  exaltatio  in  consortium  diviuEe  naturce  de- 
bita  fuit  integntatl  primse  conditionis,  ac  proinde  naturalis  dicenda  est,  non  super- 
naturalis.  Art  xxvi.  Integritas  conditionis  non  fuit  indcbita  naturae  humanee  cxal. 
tatio,  sed  naturalis  ejus  conditio." 

The  opinion  put  forth  in  the  earlier  editions  of  this  work,  that  the  doctrine  of  the 
donum  supernaturale  primi  hominis,  though  generally  received  among  theologians, 
and  grounded  in  the  whole  Catholic  sj'stem,  had  not,  however,  received  a  formal 
sanction  from  the  Church,  must  now  be  corrected. 

t  Thorn.  Summa,  P.  i.  q.  95,  art.  1.  "  Manifcstum  est,  quod  ilia  subjcctio  corpo- 
ris ad  animam,  et  inferiorum  virium  ad  rationem,  non  crat  naturalis ;  alioquin  post 
pcccatum  mansisset,  cum  etiam  in  dsemonibus  data  naturalia  post  peccatum  manse- 
rint.  Ex  quo  datur  intelligi,  si  deserente  gratia  soluta  est  obediontia  carnis  ad  ani- 
mam, qu<:>d  per  gratiam  in  anima  existentem  inferiora  ci  subdebantur."     Bcllarmine 


118  EXPOSITION  OF  DOCTRINAL  DIFFERENCES 

Other  theologians,  on  the  other  hand,  distinguishing  undoubtedly 
between  justice  and  holiness,  prefer  the  opinion  that  Adam  was  crea- 
ted as  a  sound,  pure,  unpolluted  nature  (with  tlie  harmonious  relation 
of  all  his  parts  ;)  and  that  he  was  favoured  with  the  supernatural  gift 
of  a  holy  and  blessed  communion  with  God  at  a  later  period  only,  to 
wit,  when  he  had  prepared  for  its  reception,  and  by  his  own  efforts  had 
rendered  himself  worthy  of  its  participation.  This  latter  opinion  pos- 
sesses the  advantage  of  more  accurately  distinguishing  between  the  two 
orders  of  nature  and  grace,  and  is  moreover  recommended  by  the  fact, 
that  what  nature  is  in  itself,  and  what  it  is  enabled  to  accomplish  of 
itself,  is  pointed  out  with  great  clearness.  That  the  spiritual  nature  of 
man,  as  being  in  its  essence  the  image  of  God,  hath  the  faculty  and  the 
aptitude  to  know  and  to  love  Him  ;  na}-  that,  to  a  certain  extent,  it  is 
of  itself  really  capable  of  loving  Him,  and  that  the  desire  after  the  full 
union  with  the  Deity  is  a  want  inherent  in  his  very  nature,  are  truths 
very  well  pointed  out  in  this  theory.  Thus  the  natural  and  necessary 
points  of  contact  for  the  higher  communications  of  grace  are  here  very 
finely  brought  out.  The  same  opinion  also  distinguishes  Adam's  ori- 
ginal justice  from  his  internal  sanctity'  and  acceptance  before  God,  con- 
sidering the  former  to  be  the  attribute  of  pure  nature,  as  it  came  from 
the  hand  of  the  Creator  ;  the  latter  to  be  only  the  gift  of  supernatural 
grace.  The  advocates  of  this  opinion  are  thus  in  a  condition  success- 
fully to  prove,  that  it  was  not  the  creation  as  such,  which  gave  occasion 
to  any  incongruity  in  the  relation  of  man  to  God, — any  interruption  of 
the  former's  freedom  ;  but  that  every  such  incongruity,  every  such  dis- 
turbance, had  its  rise  only  in  the  abuse  of  freedom.  (Compare  Sect. 
V.)  Further,  this  theory  significantly  implies,  that  without  any  antago- 
nism of  evil,  man  could  yet  have  attained  to  the  consciousness  of  his 
own  nature  and  the  wants  extending  beyond  it,  as  well  as  of  the  mani- 
festations of  Divine  favour  and  grace — a  doctrine  which  is  of  the  high- 
est importance.  Lastly,  the  possible  condition  of  man  after  his  fall, 
and  the  course  of  his  conversion  and  regeneration,  are  here  prefigured. 

Moreover,  both  these  opinions  regard  the  justice  and  sanctity  of 
Adam  as  accidental  qualities.  The  Council  of  Trent  has  not  pronounced 
itself  either  for  or  against  either  of  them,  but  has  employed  such  ex- 


(de  grat.  primi  horn.  c.  v.)  adds  :  "  Ex  hoc  loco  aperte  discimus,  homincm  in  puris 
naturalibus  conditum  habiturum  fuisse  rebellionem  iliam  camis  ad  Fpiritum,  quam 
nunc  post  amissum  justitioe  originalis  donum  omncs  experimur.  Quandoquidem 
obcdicntia  camis  ad  spirltum  non  fuit  in  prime  homine  naturalis  et  gratuita.  Proinde 
justitia  originalis  divinitus  homini  collata  non  conservavit  solum,  sed  attulit  et  fecit 
rectitudinem  partis  inferioris." 


BETWEEN  CATHOLICS  AND  PROTESTANTS,  119 

pressions,  that  both  may  co-exist  within  the  pale  of  the  Church.  The 
first  declaration  of  the  council,  regardinn;  our  great  progenitor,  was 
couched  in  the  following  terms  :  "  the  justice  and  sanctity,  wherein  he 
^Adam)  was  created''''  {conditus.)  This  form  was  afterwards  in  so  far 
modified,  that,  instead  of  the  word  "  created,"  that  of  "  established  " 
{constitutus)  was  selected.* 

§  II. — The  Lutheran  doctrine  on  man's  original  state. 

Luther  by  no  means  called  in  question  the  fact  that  Adam  was 
positively  holy  and  just.  On  the  contrary,  he  was  totally  unacquainted 
with  the  later  negative  conceptions  of  a  state  of  mere  innocency — aa 
indifference  between  good  and  evil,  wherein  the  paradisaic  man  is  re- 
presented to  have  existed ;  and  was  accordingly  far  removed  from 
those  opinions,  which  make  the  doctrine  of  the  fall  a  foolishness,  and 
make  the  human  race  adopt  a  course,  which  is  the  necessary  entrance 
into  evil,  in  order  to  serve  as  a  transition  to  a  self-conscious  return  to 
good.f  Unhappily  he  fell  into  other  errors,  which,  considered  in  their 
consequences,  outweigh  at  least  those  we  have  mentioned. 

Respecting  original  justice,  Luther  brought  no  new  and  peculiar 
views  into  vogue.  He  only  selected,  out  of  the  rich  store  of  theories 
which  the  fruitfulness  of  scholasticism  had  produced,  the  one  which 
seemed  most  favourable  to  bis  own  opinions,  handled  it  with  no  great 
dexterity,  and,  in  the  form  which  it  assumed  under  his  hands,  inter- 
wove it  in  such  a  way  into  his  whole  system  of  doctrine,  that  the  lat- 
ter, without  it,  cannot  be  at  all  understood.  Hence,  it  is  only  later 
that  its  full  importance  in  the  whole  Lutheran  system  will  become  per- 
ceptible. Against  those  theologians,  who  called  Adam's  acceptablencss 
before  God,  supernatural,  Luther  asserted  it  to  be  natural ;  and  in  op- 
position to  the  schoolmen,  who  regarded  it  as  accidental,  he  conceived 
it  to  be  essential  to  human  nature — an  integral  and  constitutive  part  of 


*  Pallavic.  hist.  Concil.  Trident,  lib.  vii.  e.  9.  p.  275,  ed.  Antw.  1675.  He  says 
this  change  was  made  at  the  suggestion  of  Pacecus.  "  Paceco  monente,  non  esse 
citra  eontroversiam,  an  Adamus  interiorem  sanctitatem  obtinuerit  primo  quo  creatus 
fuit  memento ;  unde  patet,  quam  infirma  a  qtiibusdam  deducatur  probatio  ad  id  affii- 
mandum  ex  verbis  concilii,  quffi  nunc  extant." — Sess.  v.  deeret.  de  peccat.  origin. 

t  A  Trial  of  Adam  was  doubtless  necessary,  that  man  should  mak?  his  own  de. 
cision,  and  thereby  attain  to  a  complete  self-consciousness  of  the  good  which  he  al- 
ready possessed,  and  especially  of  his  freedom  ;  but  the  fall  was  by  no  means  ncces- 
eary.  Undoubtedly  the  fall  brought  about  the  self-conscious  and  free  possession  of 
truth  and  goodness,  because,  by  God's  grace,  even  evil  must  conduce  towards  the 
promotion  of  good.  But  the  bare  assertion  that  the  fall  was  necessary,  exalts  evil 
itself  into  goodness. 


120  EXPOSITION  OF  DOCTRINAL  DIFFERENCES 

the  same  ;  esse  dc  nahird,  de  essentia  hominis.*  He  meant  to  say,  the 
pure  nature  of  man,  as  it  sprang  forth  at  the  omnipotent  word  of  the 
Creator,  comprised  absolutely  in  itself  all  the  conditions  to  render  it 
pleasing  unto  God;  that  the  various  parts  of  Adam's  nature,  by  the 
peculiar  energ)^  inherent  in  them,  were  maintained  in  the  most  beauti- 
ful harmony,  and  the  whole  man  preserved  in  his  due  relation  to  God, 
The  religious  faculty,  especially  of  the  first  man,  in  virtue  of  an  inborn 
fulness  of  energy,  expanded  itself  in  a  way  acceptable  to  the  Deity,  so 
that,  without  any  supernatural  aid,  he  truly  knew  God,  believed  in  Him, 
loved  Him  perfectly,  and  was  holy.  The  religious  and  moral  disposi- 
tion of  Adam,  together  with  its  practical  development,  the  Reformers 
called  the  image  of  God,  M'ithout  drawing  any  distinction  between  the 
bare  faculty  itself,  and  the  exercise  of  that  faculty  in  correspondency 
to  the  divine  will.  From  the  very  fact  that  Adam  possessed  this  fac- 
ulty, he  was,  according  to  them,  truly  religious,  truly  pious,  devoted  in 
all  things  to  God  and  His  holy  will,  and  perfectly  united  with  Him.f 
Catholic  theologians,  on  the  other  hand,  distinguished  very  exactly  be- 
tween the  one  and  the  other  ;  so  that,  to  determine  rightly  the  distinc- 
tion, they  commonly  termed  the  religious  faculty,  "the  image  of  God;" 
but  the  pious  exertion  of  that  facult}^  "  the  likeness  unto  God.":|:    We 

*  Luth.  in  Genes,  c.  iii.  Op.  ed.  Jen.  torn.  i.  p  83.  "  Quarre  statuamus,  justitiam. 
non  esse  quoddam  donum,  quod  ab  extra  acccderet,  scparatumque  a  natura  hominis 
[so  the  schoolmen  never  expressed  themselves],  sed  fuisse  vere  naturalem,  ut  natura 
Adae  esset  diligere  Deum,  credere  Deo,  cognoscere  Deum,"  etc. 

t  Apul.  de  peccat.  origin.  §  7,  p.  56.  "  Itaque  justitia  originalis  habitura  erat  sequale 
tcmperamentum  qualitatum  corporis,  sed  etiam  haec  dona  :  notitiam  Dei  certiorem,  ti- 
morcm  Dei,  fiduciam  Dei,  aut  certe  rectitudinem,  ct  vim  ista  cfficiendi.  Idque  testatur 
scriptura,  cum  inquit,  hominem  ad  iinaginem  et  similitudiaem  Dei  conditum  esse.  Quod 
quid  est  aliud,  nisi  in  homine  hanc  sapientiam  et  justitiam  cfEgiatum  esse,  quae  Deum 
apprchenderct,  et  in  qua  reluceret  Deus,  hoc  est,  homini  dona  esse  data  notitiam  Dei, 
timorem  Dei,  fiduciam  erga  Deum  et  similia."  They  thus  understand  by  what  God 
gave  to  Adam,  as  well  real  acts  of  the  spirit  (timorem  Dei,  fiduciam)  as  the  faculty 
for  these  (vim  ista  eSiciendi).  Very  remarkable  is  Gerhard's  assertion,  that  according 
to  the  Lutheran  doctrine  the  divine  image  in  man  is  not  any  thing  substantial,  but 
merely  a  condition  of  human  substance,  a  quality  of  it.  (Joann.  Gerhard,  loci  theolog. 
ed.  Cotta,  17C5,  tom.  iv.  p.  249,  seq.  Compare  ejusdem  Confess.  Cathol.  lib.  ii.  art. 
XX.  c.  2,  p.  349.)  It  is  observable  he  refutes  himself  by  saying,  that  conscience  in 
man  is  still  a  remnant  of  the  divine  image.  As  he  adds,  conscience  is  not  to  be  ex- 
plained from  any  supernatural  action  of  God  on  man,  so  it  follows  it  must  be  a  sub- 
stantial faculty  of  the  latter,  and  consequently  such  the  image  itself.  But  he  says 
tlie  latter  is,  "  concreata  humanse  substantise  intcgritas,  pcrfcctio  ac  rectitudo,  et  pro. 
inde  in  categoria  qualitatis  collocanda."  Loci  theol.  lib.  c.  p.  268,  Comp.  Chcninit 
loc.  theol.  pt.  I.  p.  217,  ed.  1615. 

+  Bellarm.  de  grat-  prim.  horn,  c  ii.  lib.  c  p.  7.  "  Imago,  quae  est  ipsa  natura 
mentis  et  voluntatis,  a  solo  Deo  fieri  potuit  :  similitudo  autcm,  qua;  in  virtutc  ct  pre 


BETWEEN  CATHOLICS  AND  PROTESTANTS.  121 

shall  later  see  what  mighty  consequences  were  involved  in  these,  at  the 
first  view,  trifling  doctrinal  difTerences,  that  seemed  merely  to  concern 
the  schools ;  and  we  must,  in  the  meanwhile,  prepare  ourselves  to  ex- 
pect, on  the  part  of  Luther,  a  most  singular  doctrine  respecting  origi- 
nal sin.  Moreover,  the  non-distinction  adverted  to,  had  partly  its  foun- 
dation in  the  endeavour  of  the  Reformers  to  be  in  their  teaching  very 
practical  and  generally  intelligible.  Hence  they  avoided,  with  as  much 
care  as  possible,  all  distinctions  and  abstract  expressions,  as  a  scholastic 
abuse,  but  thereby  frequently  fell  into  a  strange  and  most  pernicious 
confusion  of  ideas. 

The  second  main  point  of  difference  between  the  two  confessions,  in 
the  matter  under  discussion,  is  the  doctrine  of  free-will.  Luther  as- 
serted (and  he  would  have  this  assertion  maintained  as  an  article  of 
faith),  that  man  is  devoid  of  freedom;  that  every  (pretended)  free  ac- 
tion is  only  apparent ;  that  an  irresistible  divine  necessity  rules  all 
things,  and  that  every  human  act  is  at  bottom  only  the  act  of  God.* 
Melancthon  taught  the  same.  He  also  comprised  all  things  in  the 
circle  of  an  unavoidable  necessity  and  predestination,  declared  the 
doctrine,  that  God  is  the  sole  agent,  to  be  a  necessary  part  of  all  Chris- 
tian science,  for  thereby  the  wisdom  and  cunning  of  human  reason 
were  duly  repressed  and  condemned,  and  he  repeatedly  insisted,  that 
the  word  "  freedom  of  election  "  was  unknown  to  Scripture,  and  that 


bitate  consistit,  a  nobis  quoque,  Deo  adjuvante,  perficitur."  God  can  give  us  no  ac- 
tions. Further  on  Bellannine  says  :  "  Ex  his  igitur  tot  patrum  testimoniis  cogimur 
admittcre,  non  esse  omnino  idem  imaginem  et  simihtudinem,  sed  imaginem  ad  na- 
turam,  similitudinem  ad  virtutes  pertincre."  The  well-known  passage  in  Genesis 
may,  or  may  not,  bear  such  an  interpretation  ;  but  the  distinction  has  a  value  in  it- 
self, independently  of  all  scriptural  interpretation. 

*  Luther,  de  servo  arbitrio  adv.  Erasm.  Rotcrod.  0pp.  ed.  Lat.  Jen.  tom.  iii.  f  ^70. 
"  Est  itaque  et  hoc  imprimis  necessarium  et  salutare  Christiano  nosse,  quod  Deus 
nihil  praescit  contingentcr,  sed  quod  omnia  incommutabili  et  seternEl  infallibilique 
voluntate  et  providet,  et  proponit,  et  facit.  Hoc  fulmine  sternitur  et  conteritur  peni- 
tus  liberum  arbitrium.  Ideo  qui  liberum  arbitrium  volunt  assertum,  debent  hoc  ful- 
men  vel  negare  vel  dissimulare,  aut  alia  ratione  a  se  abigere.''  (fol.  171.)  "  Ex  quo 
sequitur  irrcfragabiliter,  omnia  qua3  facimus,  etsi  nobis  videntur  mutabiliter  et  con- 
tingentcr fieri  et  fiant,  et  ita  etiam  contingentcr  nobis  fiant,  revera  tamen  fiunt  ne- 
cessario  et  immutabilitcr,  si  voluntatem  Dei  spcctes."  (fol.  177.)  "  Alteram  para- 
doxon  :  quidquid  fit  a  nobis,  non  libero  arbitrio,  sed  mera  necessitate  fieri."  The 
book  closes  with  these  words  (fol.  238).  "  Ego  vero  hoc  libra  non  contuli.  sed 
asserui  et  assero,  ac  penes  nullum  volo  esse  judicium,  sed  omnibus  suadeo,  ut  prass- 
tent  obsequium."  The  Solida  Declaratio  (ii.  de  libero  arbitrio,  p.  639)  sanctions  this 
book,  and  especially  approves  what  it  says  "  de  absoluta  necessitate  contra  omnes 
sinistras  suspicioncs  et  corruptelas,"  and  thus  concludes  :  "  Ea  hie  repetita  esse  volu- 
mus,  et  ut  diligenter  legantur,  et  e.xpetantur  omnes  hortamur." 


122  EXPOSITION  OF  DOCTIHNAL  DIFFERENCES 

its  meaning  must  be  rejected  by  the  judgment  of  the  spiritual  man. 
He  added,  that  this  expression,  like  the  very  pernicious  word,  "  reason," 
to  which  he  declared  equal  hostility,  had  been  introduced  through  phi- 
losophy into  the  Christian  Church.  From  no  other  cause  did  he  deem 
himself  so  well  justified  in  daring  to  apply  to  the  professors  of  the  theo- 
logical faculties  in  the  middle  age, — the  so-called  schoolmen, — the 
terms  sophists,  theologues,  and  the  like,  as  on  account  of  their  crime 
in  having  established  among  Christians  the  doctrine  of  human  free-will 
so  firmly,  that,  as  he  complained,  it  was  scarcely  any  longer  possible 
to  root  it  out.*  Perceiving,  after  more  diversified  experience,  and  ma- 
turer  reflection,  especially  after  the  controversy  with  the  Catholics,  the 
prodigious  abyss  into  which  such  a  doctrine  must  precipitate  the  Church, 
he  subsequently  abandoned,  and  even  combated  it."]"  On  the  other 
hand  we  are  unacquainted  with  any  such  recantation  on  the  part  of 
Luther ;  and  the  formulary  of  concord  gives  an  express  sanction  to 
the  writing  of  the  latter  against  Erasmus.  This  doctrine  of  Jhe  servi- 
tude of  the  human  will  has  had  the  greatest  weight ;  and  its  influence, 
according  to  Melancthon's  assurance,  pervades  even  the  whole  religious 
system  of  the  Lutherans. :}: 

In  regard  to  the  original  constitution  of  the  human  body,  both  con- 
fessions are  agreed ;  and  if  the  Lutheran  formularies  speak  not  ex- 
pressly of  that  property  of  Adam's  body,  whereby,  if  he  had  never 
sinned,  he  would  have  remained  exempt  from  death,  this  silence  is  to 
be  ascribed  to  the  total  absence  of  all  controversy  on  the  matter. § 


*  Melancth.  loc.  Theol.  ed.  August,  1821.  "  Sensim  irrepsit  philosophia  in  Chris, 
tianismum,  et  receptum  est  impium  de  libero  arbitrio  dogma.    Usurpata  est  vox  liberi 

arbitrii,  a  divinis  Uteris,  a  sensu  et  judicio  spirittis  alienissima additum  est  e  Plato- 

nis  philosophia.  vocabulum  rationis  cnque  perniciosissiminn.  (p.  10  )  In  qufEstionem 
vocatur,  sitnc  libera  voluntas  et  quatenus  libera  sit  ?  Respons.  Quandoquidcm  om- 
nia, quae  cvcniunt  necessario  juxta  divinam  praedestinationem  eveniunt,  nulla  est 
voluntatis  nostrse  libertas."  (p.  12.) 

t  This  he  did  in  the  editions  of  the  Loci  Theologici,  dating  from  the  year  1535. 
It  is  a  remarkable  fact,  that  he  now  reproaches  the  schoolmen  with  having  taught 
the  doctrine  of  an  absolute  necessity,  but  observes  a  total  silence  respecting  himself 
and  Luther,  while  in  the  earlier  editions  of  the  same  work  he  had  charged  these  very 
schoolmen  with  an  arrogant  assertion  of  the  tenet  of  free-will.  ''Et  quod  aspcrior 
paulo  scntentia  de  prasdestinatione  vulgo  videtur,  debemus  illi  impire  sophislarum 
theologise,  quse  inculcavit  nobis  contingcntiam  et  libcrtatem  voluntatis  nostrae,  ut  a 
veritate  scripturae  molliculae  aures  abhorreant."  This  is  the  language  of  the  first  edi- 
tion :  but  on  the  other  hand,  in  the  editions  from  the  year  1535  down  to  1543,  we  read 
as  follows  :  "  Valla  et  plerique  alii  non  recte  detrahunt  volimtati  hominis  libcrtatem." 
Who  are  then  these  plerique  ?  A  vast  number  of  such  indecencies  do  we  meet  with 
in  the  writings  of  the  Reformers.  In  the  editions  dating  from  the  year  1 543,  this  doc- 
trine is  referred  to  the  Stoics.    "  Haec  imaginatio  orta  ex  Stoicis  disputationibus,"  etc. 

X  Melancth.  1.  c.  p.  13.     "  In  omnes  disputationis  nostrae  partes  incidct." 

§  Cf.  Gerhardi  loc.  theolog.  torn.  iy.  p.  268  (loc.  ix.  c.  iv.  §  99). 


BETWEEN  CATHOLICS  AND  PROTESTANTS.  123 

§  III. — The  Calvinistic  doctrine  on  the  primitive  state  of  man. 

In  enlarging  on  the  spiritual  condition  of  the  paradisaic  man,  Calvin, 
by  representing  it,  with  Luther,  as  one  devoid  of  supernatural  graces, 
set  himself  up  in  opposition  to  the  Catholic  Church  ;  but,  by  expressly 
ascribing  to  the  first  man  the  gift  of  free-will,  he  equally  opposed  the 
Lutherans.*  In  other  respects,  we  find  in  this  article  no  difference  of 
doctrine ;  and  the  same  remark  will  hold  good  of  the  confessions  of 
the  reformed  Churches. f  In  respect  to  the  injurious  consequences  pro- 
duced by  the  sin  of  our  first  parent  on  his  corporeal  existence,  and  that 
of  his  posterity,  most  of  the  formularies  of  the  reformed  expressly 
teach,  with  Calvin,  that  death  is  the  fruit  of  Adam's  transgression.:}: 

But  the  question  here  occurs,  how  Calvin  could  feel  himself  justified 
in  attributing  free-will  to  Adam,  when,  in  common  with  Zwinglc,  he 
completely  shared  Luther's  doctrine  touching  a  divine  necessity  of  all 
occurrences,  and  even  pushed  this  opinion  to  the  extremest  verge. 
Conscious  of  this  discrepancy,  he  observes  undoubtedly,  that  the  ques- 
tion as  to  the  mysterious  predestination  of  God  is  here  unseasonably 
mooted ;  for  the  matter  at  issue  is  not  what  could  have  happened,  but 
how  man  was  originally  constituted. §  In  despite  of  this  express  de- 
mand, to  hold  the  two  doctrines  distinct, — that  of  a  divine  necessity, 
of  an  absolute  eternal  destiny,  which  enchains  and  holds  all  things  to- 
gether, and  that  of  the  freedom  of  man,  prior  to  his  fall,  we  are  at  a 


*  Calvin.  Institution.  1.  i.,  c.  15.  §  8.  fol.  55.  ed.  Gen.  1559.  "  Animam  hominis 
Deus  mente  instruxit,  qua  bonum  a  malo,  justum  ab  injusto  discemeret ;  ac  quid  se- 
quendum  vel  fugiendum  sit  praeeunte  rationis  luce  videret ;  unde  partem  banc  direc 
tTicem  TO  i-yy:fAovuov  dixcrunt  Philosophi.  Huic  adjunxit  voluntatem,  penes  quam 
est  electio.  His  prfBclaris  dotibus  excelluit  prima  hominis  conditio,  ut  ratio,  intelli- 
gentia,  prudentia,  judicium  non  modo  ad  tcrrenae  vitas  gubernationem  suppetcrent, 
sed  quibus  transcenderent  usque  ad  Deum  ad  EEternam  felicitatem.  In  hac  mtegritate 
libero  arbitrio  pollcbat  homo,  quo  si  vellet  adipisci  posset  aetemam  vilam." 

tHelvet.  i.  c.  vii.  (Corpus  libr.  symbol,  eccles.  reform,  ad  August.  1817)  p.  IG  :  ii. 
p.  95 ;  iii.  p.  103.  Yet  without  any  minuter  definition  they  merely  say,  man  was 
created  after  God's  image,  and  except  in  the  first  Helvetic  Confession,  they  make  no 
mention  of  free-will.  The  Scottish  Confession  (art.  ii.  1.  c  p.  145)  accords  to  Adam 
freedom :  the  Gallic  and  the  Anglican  are  silent  on  the  subject ;  and  the  Belgic 
again  concedes  this  gift  to  the  first  man  (c.  xiv.  p.  128).  These  are  diiFerences  which 
may  be  easily  accounted  for. 

t  Helvet.  i.,  c.  viii.  1.  c  p.  17;  Belg.  c.  xiv.  178.  "Quo  (peccato)  se  morti  cor. 
porali  et  spiritual!  obnoxium  reddidit." 

§  Calvin.  1.  c.  §  8.  "  Hie  enim  intempestive  quaestio  ingeritur  de  occulta  prn?des. 
tinatione  Dei:  quia  nonagitur,  quid  accidere  potuerit,  necne,  sed  qualis  fucrit  hommis 
natura." 


124  EXPOSITION  OF  DOCTRINAL  DIFFERENCES 

loss  to  discover  how  this  claim  can  be  satisfied  ;  for  these  two  doctrines 
are  in  fact  incompatible ;  and  with  the  adoption  of  the  one,  the  other 
must  be  abandoned  ;  unless  to  the  word  "  freedom  "  a  notice  be  at- 
tached, which  in  reality  destroys  its  very  existence.  And  such  is 
really  the  case ;  for,  as  we  shall  have  occasion  to  show,  Calvin,  evi- 
dently after  Luther's  example,  makes,  not  inward  necessity,  but  out- 
ward constraint,  the  opposite  to  freedom.*  On  the  other  hand,  Me- 
lancthon  has  expressad  hirasalf  op3:ily  aai  honastly  on  the  mutu- 
al correlativeness  of  these  two  articles  of  doctrine,  and  declared 
that,  from  that  very  correlativeness  they  should  be  simultaneously 
treated. •{■ 

We  shall  find,  moreover,  that  Calvin  even  teaches  an  eternal,  immu- 
table predestination  of  the  fall  of  the  first  man ;  an  opinion  which  is 
certainly  quite  incompatible  with  the  proposition,  that  Adam  was  free, 
that  is  to  say,  could  have  avoided  sinning.  Hence  it  has  happened 
that,  though  some  symbolical  writings  of  the  reformed  communities 
have  with  Calvin  expressly  ascribed  free-will  to  Adam,  others  have 
judged  it  more  expedient,  in  what  they  teach  respecting  the  paradisaic 
man,  to  pass  this  matter  over  in  silence  ;  and  this  was  evidently  the 
most  consistent  course. 

We  think  it  still  proper  to  direct  attention  to  the  internal  reasons, 
which  Calvin  alleged  in  behalf  of  the  doctrine  of  an  absolute  ne- 
cessity destructive  of  all  human  freedom,  partly  because  it  will 
then  follow,   that  it    ought   not,  at  least  absolutely  and  immediately,:}: 


*  Luther,  de  servo  arbitrio  ad  Erasm.  Roterod.  1.  i.  fol.  171.  "  Optarim  sane  aliud 
melius  vocabulum  dari  in  hac  disputatione.  quam  hoc,  Necessitas,  quod  non  recte 
dicitur,  neque  de  divina,  neque  de  humana  voluntate :  est  enim  nimis  ingratae  et  in- 
congTuas  significationis  pro  hoc  loco,  quandani  velut  coactionem,  et  omriino  id  quod 
contrarium  est  voluntati,  ingerens  intellectui  :  cum  tamen  non  hoc  velit  causa  ista 
quce  agitur.  Voluntas  enim,  sive  divina  sive  humana,  nulla  coactione,  sed  mera 
lubentia  vol  cupiditate  quasi  vere  libera,  facit  quod  facit,  sive  bonum  sive  malum. 
Sed  tamen  immutabilis  est  voluntas  Dei,  quae  nostram  voluntatem  mutabilem  guber- 
nat,  ut  canit  Boetius  :  '  stabilisque  manens  das  cuncta  moveri.'  "  This  is  a  very  in- 
appropriate citation,  forManlius  Torquatus  Boethius  was  no  believer  in  Luther's  doc- 
trine of  necessity. 

t  Melancth.  loc.  theolog  p.  13.  "  Sed  ineptus  videar,  qui  statim  initio  opcris  de 
asperrimo  loco,  de  praedestinatione  disseram.  Quamquam  quid  attinetin  compendio, 
primo  an  postremo  loco  id  agam,  quod  in  omnes  disputationis  nnstrcR  -partes  incidet." 

t  Calvin  (Instit.  rel.  Christ,  lib.  i.  c.  16,  n.  8)  takes  notice  of  this  parallel,  and  ob- 
serves as  follows :  "  Non  enim  cum  stoicis,  necessitatem  comminiscimur  ex  pcrpetuo 
causarum  nexu  et  implicita  quadam  serie,  quas  in  natura  contineatur :  sed  Dcum 
constituimus  arbitrum  ac  modcratorem  omnium,  qui  pro  sua  sapicntia  ab  ultima  aeter- 
nitate  decrevit  quod  factorus  esset,  et  nunc  sua  polentia,  quod  decrevit,  exsequitur." 


BETWEEN  CATHOLICS  AND  PROTESTANTS.  125 

to  be  confounded  with  the  Vagan  fatum,  and  partly  because  a  know- 
ledge of  this   reasoning  will    be  of  importance  in  later  investigations. 
If  Mslancthon,   after  indulging  in  harsh  assertions,   could  assign  no 
other  practical  ground  for  this  doctrine,  than  that  the  relation   of  man 
towards  God    adverted  to  was   very  useful  towards  subduing*  human 
arrogance,  Calvin  on  the  other  hand  observed,  that  the  knowledge   not 
merely  that  God  guided  the  affairs  of  the  world  in  small,  as  in  great 
things,  but  that  nothing  whatever  could  occur  without  the  express  ordi- 
nance of  God  (desiinante  Deo,)  comprised  a  very  abundant  source  of 
consolation  ;   for  it  is  only  in  this  way  man  feels  himself  secure  in  the 
hands  of  an  all- wise,  all-ruling,  powerful  and  indulgent  Father.f    Hence, 
the  idea  of  a  Divine  permission,  and  such  a  conduct  of  things,  that  ulti- 
mately every  thing,  even  evil,  in  the  world,  conduces  to  the  benefit  of 
those  who  serve  God,  did  not  satisfy  him.     He  believed  the  elect  inse- 
cure, and   the  notion  of  a  divine  providence  not  sufficiently  defined, 
unless,  for  example,  the  assaults  of  the  enemy  on  an  elect  were  abso- 
lutely willed  and  ordained  by  God.     Moreover,  even  the  public  confes- 
sions of  the  reformed  occasionally  adopt  this  view,  which  Calvin  here 
enforces,  of  the  providential  guidance  of  all   things,  mitigating,  con- 
siderably, however,  this  opinion,  and  evincing  a  very  laudable  dread  of 
stamping  on  their  articles  the  harsh  spirit  of  Calviii  %     By  the   latter, 
however,  as  well  as  by  his  disciple  Theodore  Beza,§  the  opinions  adverted 


A  special  defence  against  the  charore  of  fatalism,  laid  to  Calvin's  doctrine,  was  writ- 
ten by  Beza.  Abstcrsio  calumniarum,  quibas  as|)ersus  est  Joan.  Calvinus  a  Tille- 
mano  Hcshusio,  a  Lutheran  professor  in  Heidelberg,  p.  208,  seq. 

*  Melanct.  lib.  c.  "  Multum  enim  omnino  refcrt  ad  premendam  damnandaraque 
humanae  rationis  turn  sapicntiam,  turn  prudentiam,  constanter  credere,  quod  a  Deo 
fiant  omnia." 

t  Calv.  Instit.  rel.  Christ,  lib.  i.  c.  17,  §  3.  Yet  Luther,  in  this  matter,  had  pre- 
pared the  way  for  him  with  some  hnits.  Luther,  de  servo  arbitrio.  Opp.  torn.  iii. 
fol.  171.  b.  "  Ultra  dico,  non  modo  quam  ista  sint  vera,  de  quo  infra  latiuscx  scrip- 
turis  dicetur,  varum  etiam,  quam  religiosum,  pium  et  nccessarium  sit,  ea  nosse  ;  his 
enim  ignoratis,  neque  fides,  neque  ullus  Dei  cultus  consistere  potest.  Nam  hoc  csset 
vere  Dcum  ignorare,  cum  qua,  ignorantid,  salus  stare  ncquit,  ut  notum  est-  Si  enim 
dubitas,  aut  contemnis  nosse,  quod  Deus  omnia,  non  contingenter,  sed  necessario  et 
immutabiliter  praesciat  et  velit,  quomodo  poteris  ejus  promissionibus  credere,  certo 
fidere,  ac  niti  ?  Cum  enim  promittit,  certum  oportet  te  esse,  quod  sciat,  possit  et 
velit  prjEstare,  quod  promittit ;  alloqui  eum  non  vcracem,  nee  fidelem  aestimabis,  quae 
est  incredulitas  et  summa  impietas  et  negatio  Dei  altissimi." 

X  Confess.  Belgic.  c.  xiii.  in  Augusti.  Corp.  libror.  symbol,  eccles.  reform,  p. 
177,  seq. 

§  Tlieod.  BezcE  quaestionum  et  respons.  christian,  lib.  ed.  4to.  1573,  p.  105.  (N.  B. 
Place  where  printed  is  not  named.)  "  Qujbso,  expone,  quid  providentiam  appcllas  ? 
Resp.    Sic  appello  non  illam  modo  vim  inenarribilem,   qua,  fit,  ut  Deus  omnia  ab 


126  EXPOSITION  OF  DOCTRINAL  DIFFERENCES 

to,  respecting  divine  providence,  were  held  with  such  tenacity,  and  carried 
out  with  such  consistency,  that  they  found  it  a  matter  of  extreme  diffi- 
culty to  convince  the  world,  nay,  in  despite  of  all  their  eloquence  and 
dialectic  art,  they  utterly  failed  to  convince  very  many,  that  they  did 
not  in  fact  refer  all  evil  to  God.  We  are  bound  to  enter  more  fully  into 
the  investigation  of  this  subject. 

§  IV. — On  the  cause  of  moral  evil. 

In  all  the  more  important  doctrinal  manuals  and  polemical  writings 
of  the  sixteenth  and  seventeenth  centuries — in  the  works  of  Bellarmine, 
Becanus,  Chemnitz,  Gerhard,  and  others,  nay,  even  in  several  pubUc 
confessions,  the  reader  meets  with  a  special  and  copious  chapter,  bearing 
the  title  of  the  present  section.  As,  in  the  second  and  third  centuries  of 
the  Church,  no  writer  could  enlarge  on  the  religious  concerns  of  his 
times  without  entering  upon  the  question,  "  whence  is  evil ;"  so  the 
same  question  was  now  again  most  anxiously  investigated ;  and  it  soon 
became  apparent  that  the  opposition  between  Catholicism  and  Protest- 
antism could  not  be  duly  appreciated,  and  that  the  inmost  essence  of 
the  latter  would  remain  eternally  misconceived,  if  the  different  replies 
which  had  been  made  to  that  question,  were  not  well  considered- 
No  subject  in  the  first  times  of  the  Reformation  so  embittered  the 
Catholics  against  the  authors  of  that  revolution,  as  their  doctnne 
respecting  the  relation  wherein  the  Deity  stands  to  moral  evil.  It  was 
precisely  on  this  account  the  Catholic  Church  laid  down  again,  with  so 
much  earnestness  and  emphatic  energy,  the  proposition,  that  man  was 
created  with  the  endowment  of  freedom,  in  order  that,  without  any 
restriction,  and  without  subterfuge,  the  guilt  of  evil  in  the  world  might 
fall  on  the  head  of  man.  For  the  denial  of  free  will  on  the  part  of  Lu- 
ther, Melancthon,  Zvviugle,  and  Calvin,  was  calculated  to  excite  an 
appiehcnsion,  that,  in  consequence  thereof,  the  Catholic  doctine  of 
God's  perfect  sanctity,  to  whom  sin  is  an  abomination,  would  be 
thrown  into  the  shade ;  and,  on  the  other  hand,  that  even  the  most 
vicious  man  would  be  thus  sheltered  from  all  responsibility.  And,  in 
fact,  jMelancthon,  in  his  commentary  on  the  epistle  to  the  Romans,  in 
the  edition  of  the  year  1525,  had  the  hardihood  to  assert,  that  God 
wrought  all  things,  evil  as  well  as  good  ;  that  He  was  the  author  of  Da- 
vid's adultery,  and  the  treason  of  Judas,  as  well  as  of  Paul's  conversion. 

aetemo  prospexerit,  omnibusque  futuris  sapientissime  provident,  sed  imprimis  decre- 
turn  illud  aeternum  Dei  sapienlissimi  simul  et  potentissimi,  ex  quo  quicquid  fuit, 
fuit ;  quicquid  est,  est ;  et  quicquid  futurum  est,  erit,  prout  ipsi  ab  aetemo  decernere 
libuit." 


BETWEEN  CATHOLICS  AND  PROTESTANTS.  127 

Now,  howsoever  strange  and  prejudiced  a  notion  an  individual  may- 
have  formed  of  the  errors  of  the  CathoHc  Church,  we  ask  him,  would 
he  dare  to  assert,  that  all  these  errors  put  together  can  outweigh  the 
single  enormity  here  uttered  by  Melancthon  ?  And  yet  Chemnitz,  to 
whom  we  are  indebted  for  the  original  passages  in  question  (for  in  the 
later  editions  of  Melancthon's  aforesaid  work  they  have  disappeared) — ■ 
Chemnitz,  as  we  say,  excuses  his  teacher,  Melancthon.  And  how  does  he 
excuse  him  ?  In  so  complicated  a  matter,  he  says,  among  other  things,  all 
in  the  beginning  could  not  be  systematically  and  properly  treated,  more 
especially^  as,  on  the  part  of  Catholics,  the  doctrine  of  free-will  had  been 
exaggerated.*  Just  as  if  the  question  "  whence  is  evil  ?"  had  only  in 
the  sixteenth  century  first  excited  attention  ; — just  as  if  holy  writ  left 
us  all  in  doubt  how  that  question  was  to  be  answered  ; — just  as  if  in 
the  second  and  third  centuries  the  question  had  not  been  really  settled 
by  the  Church  !  However,  in  this  matter,  Melancthon  merely  spoke 
after  Luther,  as  the  writing  of  the  latter  against  Erasmus  will  show. 
But  it  was  Melancthon's  assertion  the  Council  of  Trent  had  in  view, 
when  it  anathematized  the  proposition,  that  God  works  evil  as  well  as 
good,  and  that  it  is  not  in  the  power  of  man  to  abstain  from  wick- 
edness-f 

In  proportion,  however,  as  the  notions  which  the  Saxon  Reformers, 
especially  Melancthon,  had  entertained  respecting  free-will,  became 
purer,  they  abandoned  the  opinion  that  God  was  the  author  of  evil ;  and 
the  last-named  writer  had  even  the  couraffe  to  revoke  in  the  Auorsburii 
confession  his  former  doctrine.^  The  later  formularies  of  the  Lu- 
therans are  in  perfect  accordance   with  this  amelioration  in  opinion. § 

*  Martin.  Chemnit.  loc.  theol.  ed.  Leyser.  1615.  P.  i.  p,  173.  The  words  of  Me- 
lancthon are  :  "  Haec  sit  certa  sententia  a  Deo  fieri  omnia,  tam  bona,  quam  mala 
Nos  ilicimus,  non  solum  permittere  Dcum  creaturis,  ut  operentur,  sed  ipsum  omnia 
propric  agere,  ut  sicut  fatentur,  propriam  Dei  opus  fuisse  Pauli  vocationem,  ita  fate- 
antur,  opera  Dei  propria  esse,  sive  quae  media  vocantur,  ut  comedere,  sive  quas  mala 
sunt,  ut  Davidus  adulterium  ;  constat  enim  Deum  omnia  facere,  non  permissive,  sed 
potenter,  i.  e.  ut  sit  ejus  proprium  epus  Judas  proditio,  sicut  Pauli  vocatio." 

t  Sess.  vi.  Can.  vi.  "  Si  quis  dixerit,  non  esse  in  potestate  hominis,  vias  suas  ma- 
las  facere,  sed  mala  opera  ita  ut  bona  Dcum  operari,  non  permissive  solum,  sed  etiam 
proprie  et  per  se,  adeo  ut  sit  proprium  ejus  opus  non  minus  proditio  Judse,  quam  voca- 
tio Pauli,  anathema  sit." 

t  Art.  XIX.  p.  81.  "  De  causi  peccati  decent,  quod  tametsi  Deus  creat  et  con- 
servat  naturam,  tamen  causa  peccati  est  voluntas  melorum,  videlicet  diaboli  ct  im- 
piorum,  quae,  non  adjuvante  Deo,  avertit  se  a  Deo,  sicut  Christus  ait  (Joan.  viii.  44 :) 
cum  loquitur  mendacium,  ex  ipso  loquitur." 

§  Solid,  declar.  I.  §  5,  p  613.  "  Hoc  extra  controversiam  est  positum,  quod  Deus 
non  sit  causa,  creator,  vel  auctor  peccati,  sed  quod  opera  et  raachinationibus  sata- 
noe,  per  unum  hominem  (quod  est  diaboli)  in  mundum  sit  introductum." 


128  EXPOSITION  OF  DOCTRINAL  DIFFERENCES 

But  it  was  quite  otherwise  with  the  Swiss  Reformers,  who  remained 
obstinately  addicted  to  their  errors.  The  importance  of  the  subject 
calls  upon  us  to  describe  at  greater  length  the  nature  of  their  opinions. 
In  his  writing  on  Providence,  addressed  to  the  Landgrave  Philip  of 
Hesse  (anno  1530,)  Zwingle  asserts,  that  God  is  the  author,  mover,  and 
impeller  to  sin ;  that  also  He  makes  the  sinner  :  that  by  the  instru- 
mentality of  the  creature  He  produces  injustice  and  the  like.*  In 
numberless  places  Calvin  uses  the  expression,  man,  at  the  instigation 
of  God,  doeth  what  it  is  unlawful  to  do  ;  by  a  mysterious  divine  inspi- 
ration, the  heart  of  man  turneth  to  evil ;  man  falleth  because  the  provi- 
dence of  God  so  ordaineth.f  If  these  principles  fill  us  with  just 
detestation,  they  were  pushed  still  further  by  Theodore  Beza  ;  although 
what  he  brought  forward  was  only  deduction,  and  indeed  a  necessary 
deduction,  from  the  doctrines  just  adduced.  This  leader  of  the 
Reformed,  after  Calvin's  death,  is  not  satisfied  with  repeating,  that  God 
incites,  impels,  and  urges  to  evil ;  but  he  even  adds,  that  the  Almighty 
creates  a  portion  of  men  as  His  instruments,  with  the  intent  of  working 
evil  through  them.:}: 

The  reasoning  attempted  in  support  of  these  notions  is  quite  of 
a  character  with  them.     In  order  to  show  that  God,  although  he  urge 

*  Zwingli  de  providentia,  c.  vi.  Opp.  torn.  i.  (without  date  or  place)  fol.  365,  b. — 
"  Unum  igitur  atquc  idem  facinus,  puta  adulterium  aut  homicidium,  quantum  Dei 
auctoris,  motoris,  impulsoris  opus  est,  crimen  non  est,  quantum  autem  hominis  est, 
crimen  ac  scelusest."  fol.  36G,  a.  "Cum  movet  (Deus)  ad  opus  aliquod,  quod  perfi- 
cienti  instrumento  fraudi  est,  sibi  tamen  non  est  ipse  enim  libere  movet,  neque  instru- 
mento  facit  injuriara,  cum  omnia  sint  magis  sua,  quam  cujusque  artificis  sua  instru- 
mcnta,  qulbus  non  facit  injuriam,  si  nunc  limam  in  malleum,  et  contr^  malleum  in 
limam  convcrtat.  Movet  ergo  latronem  ad  occidendum  innocentem,  etiamsi  unpara- 
tum  ad  mortem." 

t  Calvin  institut  lib.  iv.  c.  18,  §  2.  "  Homo  justo  Dei  impulsu  agit  quod  sibi  non 
licet."  Lib.  iii.  c.  23,  §  8.  "  Cadit  igitur  homo,  Dei  providentia  sic  ordinante." 
With  this  proposition  Calvin  found  himself  in  a  singular  situation.  On  one  hand,  he 
held  the  maintenance  of  it  as  theoretically  necessary,  and  practically  useful;  and, 
on  the  other,  he  was  extremely  incensed  if  any  attempted  to  deduce  from  it  the  con- 
sequences which  it  involved.  I  have  scarcely  ever  read  any  work  clothed  in  coarser 
language,  than  the  reply  which  Calvin  made  to  an  anonymous,  but  very  learned,  theo- 
jogian,  who  in  fourteen  theses  had  condensed  all  contained  in  the  doctrine  of  Calvin 
respecting  the  origin  of  evil,  and  then  furnished  copious  illustrations  on  each  article. 
We  find  the  writing  and  the  reply  in  "  Calumniae  nebulonis  cujusdam,  etc.  Joannis 
Calvlni  ad  easdem  responsio."  Genev.  1558.  Calvin  concludes  liis  reply  with 
these  words:  "  Compescat  tc  Deus,  Satan.     Amen." 

{  Beza  Aphorism,  xxii.  "  Sic  autera  agit  (Deus)  per  ilia  instrumenta,  ut  non 
tantuni  sinat  ilia  agerc,  ncc  tantum  moderetur  eventum,  sed  etiam  incitet,  impellat, 
moveat,  regat,  atque  adco,  quod  omnium  est  ma.\imum,  et  creat,  ut  per  ilia  agat, 
quod  consiituit." 


BETWEEN  CATHOLICS  AND  PROTESTANTS.  129 

to  wicked  actions,  doth  nevertheless  not  sin,  but  only  man,  Zwingle 
observes  :  God,  as  the  just  one,  is  subject  to  no  law  ;  for  it  is  written, 
the  law  is  not  given  for  the  just !  Thus,  should  God  make  an  angel 
or  a  man  transgress  the  law  {cum  transgressor  urn  facit,)  He  himself  doth 
not  transgress  it ;  but  the  creatures,  whom  the  law  oppresses  and 
accuses.*  A  more  pitiable  train  of  reasoning  it  would  be  impossible 
to  invent,  whether  we  consider  the  notion  which  Zwingle  here  gives  of 
the  just  man,  (for,  according  to  the  meaning  of  the  passage  in  St.  Paul 
adverted  to,  the  just  man  is  in  himself  the  living  moral  law,  and  there- 
fore does  not  stand  in  a  mere  extraneous  relation  to  its  precepts,  but 
bears  them  in  himself  and  constantly  fulfils  them,)  or,  whether  we  look 
to  the  essence  of  the  Deity,  from  whose  wisdom  and  holiness  the  moral 
law  is  only  an  emanation,  and  which  in  pure  and  eternal  glory  He 
realizes ;  or,  whether,  lastly,  we  contemplate  the  moral  law  in  itself 
alone,  which  Zwingle,  however  much  he  may  incidentally  exalt  it,  treats 
as  an  arbitrary,  and  merely  positive  code.f 

The  Reformer  of  Zurich  completely  destroys  the  objectiveness  of 
evil,  and  has  not  a  perception  of  a  holy  moral  government  of  the  world, 
even  in  those  passages  where  he  seems  to  speak  in  such  a  sense.  For 
these  reasons  he  did  not  perceive,  that,  if  God  were  to  impel  to  the 
transgression  of  a  moral  law  given  by  Himself,  He  would  then  be  in 
contradiction  with  Himself,  and  would  violate  His  own  nature,  and  not 
merely  an  outward  rule  ;  that  is  to  say,  the  Reformer  did  not  see  that 
his  theory  destroyed  the   very  notion   of  the  Deity.     The   injurious 

*  Zwingl.  de  providentia,  c.  v.  "  Cum  igitur  Angelum  transgressorum  facit  et 
homiuuin,"  etc.  c.  vi.  fol.  365,  b.  "  Quantum  enim  Deus  facit,  non  est  peccatum. 
quia  lion  est  contra  legem;  ilii  enim  non  est  lex  posita,  utpote  justo,  namjustis 
non  ponitur  lex,  juxta  PauU  sententiam.  Unum  igitur  atque  idem  facinus,  puta 
adulterium  aut  homicidium,  quantum  Dei  auctoris,  motoris,  ac  impulsoris,  opus  est, 
crimen  non  est,  quantum  autem  luminis  est,  crimen  est  ac  scelus  est.  lUe  enim 
lege  non  tenetur,  hie  autem  lege  etiam  daranatur." 

t  Zvvingli  de  proviil.  c.  v.  lib.  i.  p.  364,  b.  "  Duobus  exemplis  id  fiet  luculentius. 
Habet  pater  familidc  leges  quasdam  domesticas,quibus liberos  a  deliciis ac  desidia  avocet. 
Lecythum  msllis  qui  tetigerit,  vapulato  :  calceum  qui  non  recte  induxerit,  aut  induc- 
tum  passim  exuerit  ac  dimiserit  discalceatus  incedito — et  similes.  Jam  si  mater 
familicB,  aut  audulti  liberi  mel  non  tantum  attrectaverint,  sed  etiam  insumpserint, 
non  continue  vapulant,  non  enim  tenentur  lege.  Sed  pueri  vapulant,  si  tetigerint, 
illis  enim  data  est  lex.  Taurus  si  totum  armentum  ineat  et  impleat,  laudi  est.  He- 
rus  tauri,  si  unam  modo  prxtor  uxormn  agnoscat,  reus  fit  adulterii.  Causa  est, 
quia,  huic  lex  est  posita,  ne  adulterium  admittat  ;  ilium  nulla,  lex  coercet.  Ut  bre- 
vitcr,  verissinie,  sicut  omnia,  Paulus  summain  hujus  fundament!  proauntiaverit,  ubi 
non  est  lex,  ihi  non  est  prxvaricatio.  Deo,  velut  patri  familiae,  non  est  lex  posita, 
idcurco  nee  peccat,  dum  hue  ipsum  agit  in  koinine,  quod  homini  peccatum  est,  sibi 
vero  non  est." 

9 


130  EXPOSITION  OF  DOCTRINAL  DIFFERENCES 

influence  of  this  doctrine  on  the  public  morality  is  evident  of  itself,  ailcf 
was  strongly  represented  to  Calvin.* 

Zwingle  still  endeavours  to  justify  his  unhappy  doctrine  by  the  pre- 
tence, that  God  is  ever  guided  by  pure  intentions,  that  consequently 
the  end  sanctifies  the  means,  and,  in  a  somewhat  strange  connexion 
with  this  matter,  he  adds,  that  David's  adultery,"  whereof  God  was  the 
author,  could  as  little  convict  God  of  a  bad  action,  as  when  a  bull  im- 
pregnates a  whole  herd  of  cows. |  Here  he  only  overlooks  the  circum- 
stance, that  man  is  no  more  a  cow,  than  God  is  a  bull  ;  that,  accord- 
ingly, if  man  had  been  instigated  by  God  to  adultery^  this  could  not 
occur  without  a  violation  of  man's  moral  nature,  and  consequently  the 
guilt  would  revert  to  God.  Zwingle's  conception,  more  nearly  examin-^ 
ed,  consists  herein,  that  God  wrought  on  the  sensuality  of  David,  which 
by  its  power  overmastered  his  will ;  that,  in  consequence,  God,  perform- 
ed only  the  outward  work  indifferent  in  itself,  and  not  the  evil  in  it, — 
the  work,  which,  in  the  nuptial  union  as  well  as  in  adultery,  is  identical. 
But  how  could  he  distinguish  between  the  temptations  of  Satan,  and 
such  an  agency  as  here  described? 

Reverting  to  the  observation  which  Zwingle  deemed  calculated  to 
justify  the  Deity,  that,  in  alluring  to  bad  actions,  God  had  good  objects 
in  view,  it  must  be  said  that  this  notion  was  shared  by  Calvin  and  Bcza  ; 
though,  by  the  latter,  it  was  put  forth  with  more  acuteness.  Hence  it 
will  be  our  duty  to  state  the  opinions  of  these  two  Reformers.  Calvin 
admits,  that  the  opinion,  according  to  which  God  determines  man  to 
moral  corruption  and  impels  him  to  sin,  is  not  compatible  with  the 
known  will  of  the  Deity.  Hence,  like  Luther,  in  his  book  against 
Erasmus,  he  has  recourse  to  a  hidden  will  of  God,  whereby  His  mode 
of  proceeding  is  indeed  very  just,  though  its  equity  be  not  obvious  to  our 
perception.:}:     If  this  be  the  ordinary  way  wherein  Calvin  in  his  Insti- 


*  Caluninix  nebul.  Calv.  rcsp.  p.  19.  "Hnec  sunt,  Calvine,  quas  adversaiii  tui  de 
doctrina  tua,  perhibent,  adnionentquc  homines,  ut  de  doctrina  ista  ex  fructu  judicent. 
Dicunt  autem  te  et  tuos  discipulos  fen-e  multos  fructus  Dei  tui:  esse  enim  plerosque 
litigatores,   vindictas    cupidos,  injurifE   tenaces  ct   memores,  cffiterisque  vitiis,  quffi 

Deus  suggerit,  praeditos Jam  vero  doctrina,   Christi  qui  credebant,  reddebantur 

meliores,  sed  tua  doctrina,  aiunt  homines  manifeste  fieri  deteriores.  FrKterea  qumii 
dicitis,  vos  habere  sanam  doctrinam,  respondent,  non  esse  vobis  credendum.  Si  enim 
Deus  vcster  srepissime  aliud  cogitat  et  vult,  metucndum  esse,  ne  vos,  Deum  vestrum 
imitantes,  idem  faciatis,  atque  homines  decipiatis." 

i  L.  c.  "  Quod  Deus  facit,  libere  facit,  alienus  ab  omni  affectu  noxio,  igitur  et  abs. 
que  peccato,  ut  adultcrium  David,  quod  ad  auctorem  Deum  pertinet,  non  magis  Deo 
sit  peccatum,  quam  cum  taurus  totuin  armentum  inscendit  et  implet."  What  a  com- 
parison ! ! 

X  Calvin.  Institut.  lib.  iii.  c.  23,  §  9.     "  Nos  vero  inde  negamus,  rite    excusari 


BETWEEN  CATHOLICS  AND  PROTESTANTS.  131' 

Nations  seeks  to  defend  himself,  in  his  instruction  against  the  so-called 
Ub?rtines,  who,  evidently  induced  by  his  own  and  Zwingle's  writings, 
had  denied  the  distinction  between  good  and  evil,  and  placed  redemption 
in  the  knowledge,  obtained  through  Christ,  that  no  distinction  exists 
between  the  two,  he  still  labours  to  show  the  great  difference  existing 
between  the  act  of  God,  and  the  act  of  the  impious,  in  one  and  the  same 
deed.  So  he  says,  God  works  to  exercise  justice,  while  the  wicked 
man  is  actuated  by  avarice,  covetousness,  (fee*  God,  for  instance,  insti- 
gates a  man  to  murder,  but  from  no  other  motive  than  to  punish  a  crime 
committed.  We  leave  it  to  the  judgment  of  every  one,  whether  the 
employment  of  such  means  be  compatible  with  the  very  notion  of  the 
Deity,  and  how  extremely  pernicious  it  would  be,  and  subversive  of  all 
human  morality,  were  men  herein  to  imitate  the  Deity  so  represented  ? 
But  it  is  evident  that  the  inquiry  must  here  be  carried  back  as  far  as 
the  fall  of  man,  and  the  question  arises,  what  share  is  to  be  allotted  to 
God  in  that  event.  Calvin  never  thinks  of  deducing  the  fall  of  Adam 
from  the  abuse  of  human  freedom  ;  but,  on  the  contrary,  in  perfect 
accordance  with  his  own  fundamental  principles,  he  admits  that  God 
had  ordained  the  fall,  and  by  an  eternal  decree  brought  it  about.f 


(homines,)   quandoquidem  Dei  ordinationi,   quA   se  exitio  destinatos  queruntur,  sua 
constet  equitas,  nobis  quidem  incognita,  sed  illi  certissima." 

*  Calvin  iustructio  ad  vers,  hbertiiios,  c.  14  lin  Joan.  Calvini  opuscula  omnia  in 
unum  vol.  collecta.  Gencv.  1552,  p.  528.)  "  Altera  exccptio,  cujus  infeliccs  isti 
nullam  habcnt  rationcm,  h£Bc  est, — magnam  esse  d:fferentiam  inter  opus  Dei,  et  opus 
impii,  cum  eo  Dcus  vice  iiistrumenti  utitur.  Impius  enim  sua  avaritia,  aut  ambitione, 
aut  invidia,  aut  crudelitate  incitatur  ad  facinus  suum,  nee  alium  finem  spectat.  Ideo 
ex  radice  ilia,  id  est,  ex  animi  affectione,  ct  fine,  qucm  ppectat,  opus  qnalitatem  sumiti 
et  merit©  malum  judicatur.  Sed  Deus  respectum  omnino  contrarium  habet:  nempe 
«t  justitiam  cxerceat  ad  conservandos  bonos,"  etc. 

Cf.  de  reterna  praedest  (Opusc.  lib.  1.  p.  946.)  "  Turpi  quidem  et  illiberali  calumniS, 
nos  gravant,  qui  Deum  peccati  auctorem  fieri  obtendunt,  si  omnium,  qu;E  aguntur, 
causa  est  ejus  voluntas.     Nam  quod  homo  injuste  perpetrat,  vel  ambitione,"  etc.  .  . . 

Beza  (in  his  Quaest.  et  Respons.  lib.  i.p.  113,)  distinguishes  between  inaliquo  agere, 
and  per  aliquein  agere,  and  accordingly  adds,  "  adjiciendum  est,  Deum  agere  quidem 
in  bonis  et  per  bonos:  per  malos  vcro  agere,  et  non  in  malis."  Zwingle  makes  use 
of  the  expression  in  aliquo  agere,  when  speaking  of  that  act  of  God,  whereby  He  pro- 
■duces  evil.     De  Provid.  c.  v.  p.  364. 

t  Calvin.  Institut.  lib.  iii.  c.  23,  §  4.  "  Nonne  ad  earn,  quas  pro  damnationis  causa 
obtenditur,  corruptionem,  Dei  ordinatione  prasdestinati  ante  fuerant?  Cum  ergo  in 
sua  corruptione  pereant,  nihil  aliud  quam  poenas  luunt  ejus  calamitatis,  in  quam  ejus 
pratdestinatioiie  lapsus  est  Adam,  ac  posteros  prscipites  secum  traxit.  §  7.  Disertis 
verbis  hoc  exstare  negant  (sophistas  sc.  papistici,)  decretum  fuissc  a  Deo,  ut  sua  defec- 
tione  periret  Adam,  quasi  vero,  etc.  §  8.  Cadit  igitur  homo,  Dei  providentia  sic  ordi- 
•lante," 


132  EXPOSITION  OF  DOCTRINAL  DIFFERENCES 

In  Beza,  wc  find  these  monstrous  errors  pushed  to  a  still  further 
length.  The  principal  points  of  his  reasoning  are  as  follows  :  God 
wished  on  one  hand  to  show  mercvj  and  on  the  other  to  reveal  His  jus- 
tice. Adam  was  created  morally  just  and  holy  ;  for  from  God's  hand 
nothing  unclean  can  come  forth.  But  how  could  God  unfold  His  mer- 
cies, since  the  sinner  only  can  be  the  subject  of  these?  How  could  He 
manifest  His  justice,  if  no  one  committed  wrong,  and  thereby  incurred 
punishment  ?  Hence,  for  the  unfolding  of  these  attributes,  the  Deity 
must  prepare  a  channel  which  was  found  in  ordaining  the  fall  of  the  first 
man.  These  divine  objects  being  perfectly  just  and  holy,  their  quality 
is  transmitted  to  the  means  also  selected  for  their  execution.*  Here 
Beza  does  not  speak  of  a  mere  co-operation  of  the  Deity  in  the  perform- 
ance of  the  mere  outward  part  in  an  evil  action  ;  for  God,  whether  to 
punish  or  to  exercise  mercy,  has  regard  to  the  inward  evil  sentiment, 
since,  without  this,  sin  is  not  possible.  It  was  thus  the  part  of  (he 
Deity  to  call  forth  somehow  an  evil  sentiment,  in   order  to  attain  His- 


Beza  (Qusest.  et  Respons.  p.  117,)  deduces  tiie  sin  of  Adam  from  a  spontaneo  motu 
volmitatis,  that  is  to  say,  from  a  natural  impulse,  the  meaning  whereof  is,  that  God 
80  formed  human  nature,  that  evil  could  not  fail  to  arise,  which  Ho  then  makes  use 
of  for  His  own  ends. 

*  Beza  Absters.  calum.  Heshus.  adv.  Calvin,  (with  the  xiiew^iyin  sive  Cyclops ;  in 
one  volume,  Gcnev.  1.561,  p.  231.)  "  Superest,  ut  ostendamus,  ita  decretura  esse  a 
Deo  Adami  lapsum,  ut  tamcn  tota  culpa  penes  Satanam  ct  Adamum  resideat.  Hoc 
autcra  liquid©  apparebit,  si,  quemadmodum  paulo  ante  Calvinus  nos  monuit,  divcrsa 
atque  adco  penitus  contraria  Dei,  Satanrc,  et  hominis  consilia,  ac  deindc  etiam  diver- 
SOS  agendi  modos  consideramus.  Quid  enim  Deo  propositum  fuit,  quum  lapsum  ho- 
minis  ordinarct  ?  Nempe  patefaciendae  sune  misericordiae  in  electis  gratuito  servandis, 
itemquc  justo  suo  judicio  in  rcproborum  damnanda  malitia  viam  sibi  aperire.  Nam 
nisi  sibi  et  postcris  suis  lapsus  esset  Adam,  nee  ulla  extaret  in  hominibus  miscria,  cujus 
misereretur  Deus  in  filio  suo,  nee  ulla  malitia,  quam  condemnaret ;  ac  proinde  neque 
'appareret  ejus  miscricordia,  neque  etiam  judicium.  Hoc  igitur  quum  molitur  et  exe- 
quitur  Dominus,  quis  eum  ullius  injustitia:  coarguerit  ?  Quid  autem  moliebatur  Satan, 
quamvis  imprudcns  Dei  consilio  subserviret  ?  Nempe  quia  Deum  odit,  et  totus  invi- 
diii  exeestuat,  inimicitias  serere  voluit  inter  Deum  et  hominem.  Quid  autem  cogitant 
Adamus  et  Heva,  simul  atque  se  dociles  Satanas  discipulos  praebuerunt  ?  Nempe 
Deum  ut  invidum  et  mendacem  coarguere,  et  eo  invito  sese  in  illius  solio  collocare." 

The  outlines  of  Beza's  reasoning  may  be  seen  in  Zwingle  (De  Provid.  cap.  vi.  p. 
364.)  How  little,  moreover,  the  sound  common  sense  of  the  Christian,  who,  on  one 
hand,  upholds  the  idea  of  God's  holiness  and  justice,  and,  on  the  other  hand,  clings  to 
the  doctrine  of  rewards  and  punishments  according  to  man's  works,  could  be  led  astray 
by  such  dialectic  arts,  the  anonymous  writer  already  cited,  very  well  points  out,  when 
he  says  :  "  Equidcm  favi  ego  aliquando  doctrine  tua3,  Calvine,  camque,  quamvis  non 
satis  mihi  perspicuam,  defend!,  quod  tantum  tribuebam  auctoritati  tufe,  ut  vel  contra 
coo-itare  putarem  nefas  ;  sed  nunc  auditis  adversariorum  argumentis,  non  habio  quod 
respondcam Nam  tu<2  rationes  sunt  ohscura,  et  fere  ejusmodi,  ut  statini,  depo' 


BETWEEN  CATHOLICS  AND   PROTESTANTS.  133 

ends ;  that  is  to  say,  he  must  annihilate  His  sanctity,  in  order  on  its 
ruins  to  attain  to  compassion  and  justice.  Hence,  .Beza  does  not  deny 
that  the  first  man,  when  he  sinned,  succumbed  under  an  invincible  des- 
tin)^ ;  that  it  was  thus  not  left  to  his  freedom  to  abstain  from  sin.  But, 
like  Luther  and  Calvin,  distinguishing  between  necessity  and  compul- 
sion, he  says  the  latter  does  not  occur  in  sin ;  that  on  the  contrary, 
Adam  sinned  willingly,  with  an  inward  pleasure  (spontaneo  motu,  in 
opposition  to  Ubero  and  voluntario  motu,)  and  although  he  was  not  able 
to  avoid  sinning,  he  did  not  wish  to  avoid  it ;  and  it  was  this  very  thing 
which  constituted  his  criminality.* 

It  is  by  these  principles,  that  passages  in  the  Reformed  confessions 
are  to  be  estimated.  They  all  assert,  that  God  is  not  the  author  of  sin, 
that  is  to  say,  in  the  sense  wherein  Zwingle,  Calvin,  and  Beza,  attempt 
to  exculpate  the  Deity,  after  having  denied  man's  free  will.f 


sito  de  manu  libro,  excidant  ex  memoria,  neque  adversarios  convincant.  At  adversa- 
riorum  argumenta  sunt  aperta,  acria,  et  qua  facile  mernorite  mandentur,  et  ah  illite- 
ratis,  quales  fere  erant  qui  Christum  sectabantur,  percipianfur.  Hinc  fit,  ut  tui  dis- 
cipuli  fere  magis  authoritate  tua  nitantur,  quam  ratione.  Et  quum  adversarios  vin. 
cere  non  possunt,  habent  eos  pro  hcBritices  et  pertinacibus,  et  ah  eoruin  consortia  absti- 
nent, et  omnes  ubique  monent,  ut  abstineant."  And  such  doctrines  were  to  bo  held 
as  formal  articles  of  faith  1 

*  Beza  Absters.  lib.  i.  "  Quaerenda  est  vitii  origo  in  instriunentorum  spontaneo 
motu,  quo  fit  ut  Deus  juste  decreverit,  quod  illi  injuste  fecerant,"  etc.  A  distinction 
very  familiar  to  Beza !     Compare  his  "  Quaest.  et  Respons.  lib.  i.  p.  120. 

t  Confess.  Helv.  cap  ix.  (cd.  August,  p.  19.)  "  Ergo  quoad  malum  sive  peccatum, 
homo  non  coactus  vel  a  Deo,  vel  a  diabolo,  sed  sua  sponte  malum  fecit,  et  hac  parte 
liberrimi  est  arbitrii,  cap.  viii.  p.  18.  Damnamus  prsEtcrea  Florinum  et  Blastum, 
contra  quos  et  Irenfeus  scripsit,  ut  omnes  qui  Deum  faciunt  auctorem  peccati.  Con. 
fess.  Gallic,  cap.  viii.  lib.  c.  p.  113.  Negamus  tamen  ilium  (Deum;  esse  autorem 
mail,  aut  eorum,  quae  perperam  fiunt,  ullam  culpam  in  ipsum  transferri  posse,  quum 
ipsius  voluntas  sit  surama  et  certissima  omnis  justitiae  norma.  Habetautem  ipse  admi 
rabiles  potius  quam  explicabiles  rationes,  ex  quibus  sic  utitur  diabolis  omnibus  et  pec- 
eantibus  hominibus,  tanquam  instrumentis,  ut  quicquid  illi  male  agunt,  id  ipse  sicut 
juste  ordinavit,  sic  etiam  in  bonum  conyertat."  The  Belgic  Confession  (cap.  xiii.  lib- 
c.  p.  177;  speaks  in  the  same  way. 


134  EXPOSITION  OF  DOCTRINAL   DIFFERENCES 


CHAPTER    11. 


ON    OKIGIXAL    SIN    AND    ITS    CONSEQUENCES. 


§  V. — The  Catholic  doctrine  of  original  sin. 

It  is  one  of  the  most  remarkable  phenomena  in  the  history  of  the  reli- 
gious controversies  of  the  last  three  centuries,  that  the  Reformers, 
according  to  whose  principles  Adam  in  his  fall  only  succumbed  under  a 
sentence  of  irresistible  necessity  pronounced  upon  him,  should  have  re- 
presented the  Deity  as  kindling  into  so  fearful  a  wrath,  and  inflicting 
so  frio-htful  a  chastisement  for  this  act  of  the  first  man,  which,  accord- 
ing to  their  own  views,  should  be  called  rather  his  pure  misfortune.  It 
is  no  easy  task  to  explain  how  ideas  so  unconnected  should  have  been 
associated  in  one  and  the  same  head.  When  v/e  just  now  used  the 
comprehensive  word  "  Reformers,"  we  did  so  advisedly  ;  for  even  Lu- 
ther and  Melancthon  had  both  completely  framed  their  theory  of  origi- 
nal sin,  when  they  were  entangled  in  those  opinions  described  in  the 
preceding  section, — opinions  which  Zwingle  and  Calvin  only  took  up, 
and  further  developed.  How  could  Adam  be  the  subject  of  such  fear- 
ful wrath,  if  he  did  only  what  he  was  obliged  to  do  ;  if  he  perpetrated 
only  what  he  could  not  avoid  ?*  Hence  arises  a  conception  of  original 
-in  on  the  part  of  Protestants,  which  is  in  almost  every  respect  (we  trust 
we  may  be  pardoned  the  expression,)  devoid  of  sense  and  reason.  By 
the  most  exaggerated  description  of  the  effects  of  Adam's  fall,  they 
seem  anxious  to  resuscitate  the  feeling  of  sin,  and  the  consciousness  of 
guilt,  which,  by  their  view  of  God's  relation  to  evil,  they  were  on  the 
point  of  utterly  destroying.  And  yet  they  only  aggravate  the  matter, 
as  will  appear  in  the  course  of  the  present  chapter,  which  must,  however, 
in  the  first  instance,  be  devoted  to  an  examination  of  the  principles  laid 
down  by  the  Council  of  Trent. 

The  doctrine  of  the  Catholic  Church  on  original  sin  is  extremely  ^ 


*  Calvin  (Instit.  lib.  iii.  cap.  i.  sec.  4,  fol.  77)  very  well  enlarges  on  the  magnitude 
of  Adam's  sin ;  but  his  whole  description  makes  no  impression,  so  soon  as  we  remem- 
ber the  author's  assertion,  that  Adam  must  needs  sin.  He  shows  acutely  enough  the 
unbelief,  ingratitude,  and  pride  of  Adam  ;  but  it  is  only  a  pity  that  oiar  first  parent  loa-f 
obliged  to  lose  faith,  gratitude,  and  humility. 


BETWEEN   CATHOLICS  AND  PkOTESTANTS.  135 

simple,  and  may  be  reduced  to  the  following  propositions,  Adam,  by 
sin,  lost  his  original  justice  and  holiness,  drew  down  on  himself  by  his 
disobedience  the  displeasure  and  the  judgments  of  the  Almighty,  incur- 
red the  penalty  of  death,  and  thus,  m  uU  his  parts,  in  his  body  as  well 
as  soul,  became  strangely  deteriorated.*  This  his  sinful  condition  is 
transmitted  to  all  his  posterity,  as  descended  from  him,  entailing  the 
consequence  that  man  is  of  himself  incapable,  even  with  the  aid  of  the 
most  perfect  ethical  law  offered  to  him  from  without  (not  excepting 
even  the  one  revealed  in  the  Old  Covenant,)  to  act  in  a  manner  agree- 
able to  God,  or  in  any  other  way  to  be  justified  before  Him,  save  only 
by  the  merits  of  Jesus  Christ,  the  sole  mediator  betwixt  God  and  raan.f 
If  to  this  we  add,  that  the  fathers  of  Trent  attribute  to  fallen  man  free- 
will, representing  it,  however,  as  very  much  weakened,  |  and  in  conse- 
quence teach,  that  not  every  religious  and  moral  action  of  man  is  neces- 
sarily sinful,  although  it  be  never,  in  itself  and  by  itself,  acceptable  to 
God,  nor  anywise  perfect,^  we  then  have  stated  all,  which  is  to  be  held 
as  strictly  the  doctrine  of  the  Church.  That,  moreover,  fallen  man 
still  bears  the  image  of  God,  (section  1,)  necessarily  follows  from  what 
has  been  advanced. || 

*  Concil.  Trid.  sess.  v.  decret.  de  peccat.  orig.  "Si  quis  non  confitetur  primum 
hominem  Adam,  cum  mandatum  Dei  in  paradiso  fuisset  transgressus,  statim  sancti- 
tatem  ct  justitiam,  in  qua  constitutus  fucrat,  amisisse,  incurrisscque  peroficiisampraB- 
varicationis  hujusmodi  iram  et  indignationem  Dei,  atquc  ideo  mortem totumque 

Adam secundum  corpus  et  animam  in  dcterius  commutatum  fuisse,  anathema 

sit." 

t  Loc.  cit.  "  Si  quis  hoc  Adas  pcccatum,  quod  origine  unum  est,  ct  propagatione, 
no  nimitatione,  transfusum  omnibus,  inest  unicuique  proprium,  vel  per  humanae  naturae 
vires,  vel  per  ahud  remedium  asscrit  tolli,  quam  per  meritum  unius  mediatoris  Domini 
nostri  Jesu  Christi,  qui  nos  Deo  rccoacihavit  sanguine  suo,  factus  nobis  justitia,  sanc- 
tificatio,  et  redemptio,  anathema  sit." 

X  Concil.  Trid  sess.  vi.  cap.  v.  "  Si  quis  libcrum  hominis  arbitrium  post  Adas  pec- 
catum  amissum  et  extinctum  esse  dixerit,  aut  rem  esse  de  solo  titulo,  imo  titulum  sine 
re,  figmentum  denique  a  Satana  invectum  in  ecclesiam,  anathema  sit."  Cap.  i. : 
"  Primum  declarat  sancta  synodus,  ad  justificationis  doctrinam  probe  et  sincere  intel- 
]jgendam,  oportere,  ut  unusquisquc  agnoscat,  et  fateatur,  quod  cum  omnes  homines  in 
praevaricatione  Adee  innocentiam  pcrdidlsscnt,  facliim  mundi,  et,  ut  Apostolus  inquit, 

natura.  fihi  irsp,  usque  adeo  servi  erant  peccati,  et  sub  potcstate  diaboli  ac  mortis, 

ut  non  modo  gentes  per  vim  naturae,  sed  ne  Judaei  quidem  per  ipsam  etiam  literam 
legis  JMoysis,  inde  liberari,  aut  surgere  possent,  tametsi  in  eis  liberum  arbitrium  mi. 
nime  extinctum  esset,  viribus  scilicet  attenuatum  et  inclinatum." 

§  Loc.  cit.  vii.  "  Si  quis  dixerit,  opera  omnia  quas  ante  justificationem  fiunt,  qua. 
cumque  ratione  facta  sint,  verejesse.  peccata,  vel  odium  Dei  mereri,  anathema  sit.' 

II  Bellarmin  de  gratia  primi  hominis,  cap.  ii.  "  Imago  ad  naturam,  similitudo  ad 
virlutes  pertinet ;  proinde  Adam  peccando  non  imaginem  Dei,  sed  similitudinem  per- 
didit," 


136  KXPOSITION'OF  DOCTRINAL  DIFFERENCES 

If,  in  reading  these  decrees  of  the  Council  of  Trent,  we  call  to  mind 
all  those  questions,  which,  since  the  rise  of  the  Pelagian  heresy, 
and  even  much  earlier,  were,  on  the  matter  at  issue,  proposed  to  scien- 
tific investigation,  we  shall  not  fail  to  observe,  that  the  assembled  fathers 
found  it  expsdient  in  their  decision  not  to  touch  upon  a  considerable 
number  of  these  questions,  and'to  express  themselves  in  regard  to  them 
with  a  certain  generality.  We  say,  in  regard  to  these  questions  ;  for, 
on  the  matter  itself,  considered  according  to  Scripture  and  ecclesiastical 
tradition,  the  council  has  pronounced  very  definite  and  full  declarations. 
But,  as  in  this  doctrine  the  Lutherans  were  driven  to  the  most  perni- 
cious exaggerations  ;  and  as,  in  the  first  years  of  the  Reformation,  some 
Catholic  theologians, — for  example,  Albertus  Righius,  (as  is  often  the 
case  in  the  refutation  of  extreme  opinions)  approximated  to  the  opposite 
extreme;*  the  decrees  of  Trent  were  received  with  feelings  of  very 
great  prejudice  by  the  Protestants,  who,  in  their  rash  vehemence, 
charged  them  with  Pelagianism. 

As  regards  the  deliberations  of  Trent,  Payva  ab  Andrada,  a  Portu- 
guese theologian  who  assisted  at  them,  informs  us,  in  the  third  book  of 
his  defence  of  the  council,  that  it  purposely  abstained  from  any  minuter 
definitions.  And  Pallavicini  says,  that  the  council  has  expressed  itself 
more  negatively,  yet  with  such  distinctness,  that  the  errors  on  this  mat- 
ter then  current  were,  as  such,  clearly  and  distinctly  rejected.  If  the 
Church,  he  continues,  be  unable  to  give  any  accurate  definition  of  ori- 
ginal sin,  it  is  sufficient  for  her  to  denote  what  original  sin  is  not ;  and 
this  she  can  do  with  as  much  propriety  as  one,  who,  having  no  clear 
notion  of  heaven,  could  still  assert  with  confidence,  that  it  was  not  com- 
posed of  linen  adorned  with  gold-paper !  The  same  celebrated  histo- 
rian also  relates,  that  the  papal  legates  reminded  the  assembled  fathers 
not  to  decide  on  the  nature  of  original  sin  itself,  because  Scripture  and 
tradition  are  silent  upon  this  matter  ;  and  he  adds,  the  holy  synod  was 
not  convoked  to  pronounce  upon  opinions,  but  to  condemn  errors.  We 
shall  soon  be  enabled  to  see  the  great  propriety  of  this  judgment  of 
Pallavicini's.f 

*  To  this  Chemnitiiis  (Exam.  Concil.  Trid.  ed.  Francof.  1599,  Pt.  i  p.  168) 
refers,  when  he  exclaims :  ''  Ad  perpetuam  igitur  rei  memoriam  notum  sit  toti  orbi 
Christiano,"  etc.  See  also  his  "  Loci  Theol."  P.  i.  p.  ^27.  Gerhard  loci  theolog. 
torn  iv.  p.  518,  Cloc  ii.  sec.  58). 

t  Log.  cit.  p.  248,  lib.  vii.  cap.  x.  p.  247  :  "  Hie  vero  admonuerunt  (Legati)  ne  quid 
certi  statuerent  de  natura  ipsa  originalis  culpae,  de  qua  scholastici  discordant :  nee 
enim  synodus  collecta  fuerat  ad  decidendas  opiniones,  sed  ad  errores  recidcndos  " 
Further  on,  it  is  said  :  "  Quotics  damnantur  hseretici,  optimum  consilium  est,  magis 
generalia,  quippe  magis  indubitata  complecti,  quod  a  synodo  peractum  est.  Quoties 
in  eosdem  scriptis  agitur,  prudcntis  est,  nullam  ipsis  ansam  prseferre  transferends  dis- 
putationis  a  re  ipsa,  quas  certaest,  ad  modum,  qui  est  incertus." 


BETWEEN  CATHOLICS  AND  PROTESTANTS.  137 

In  order  to  point  out  more  nearly  the  points  whereon  the  various 
schools  were  united,  and  the  points  about  which  they  were  at  variance, 
we  shall  lay  before  our  readers  a  summary  statement  of  the  scholastic 
views  respecting  original  sin,  in  so  far  at  least  as  their  relation  to  the 
Protestant  errors  may  require.  By  showing  their  agreement,  it  will 
appear,  that  it  was  only  the  most  envenomed  prejudice  which  could 
venture  to  charge  the  schoolmen  with  a  superficial  Pelagianism  ;  that 
is  to  say,  with  the  denial  of  original  sin,  or  at  least  with  the  misappre- 
hension of  its  magnitude.  But  while  we  mark  the  point  at  which  the 
schoolmen  diverge  in  opposite  directions,  we  encounter  the  limit  which 
a  higher  hand  hath  set  to  the  investigations  of  human  science.  If  their 
efforts  to  extend  this  boundary  have  been  somewhat  unsuccessful, — if 
they  explain  nothing,  or  much  less  than  they  ought, — it  would  still  be 
unjust  to  regard  what  has  been  explained  as  the  sole  criterion  of  that 
which  it  was  their  task  to  have  explained. 

"  All  who  descend  from  the  seed  of  Adam,"  says  St.  Bonaventu- 
ra,  "  have  a  nature  marred  not  only  by  punishment,  but  by  guilt. 
This  is  manifest  in  the  want  of  God's  intuition,  in  the  ignominy  which 
weighs  upon  reason,  and  in  the  preponderance  of  evil  desire  (conaipis- 
centia).  The  want  of  the  divine  intuition  evidently  presupposes  guilt ; 
because  no  one  can  be  deprived  of  eternal  good,  for  the  enjoyment 
whereof  he  has  been  created,  unless  there  be  in  him  something  which 
renders  him  unworthy  of  standing  in  the  presence  of  his  God.  In  re- 
spect to  the  second,  no  one  need  be  ashamed  of  anything  which  is 
the  property  of  his  nature ;  but  is  not  reason  ashamed  of  certain  mo- 
tions of  the  flesh  ?  This,  too,  betokens  an  inherited  guilt.  The  pre- 
ponderance of  evil  lust  is  a  matter  of  certainty  also,  because  then  only 
is  the  soul  of  man  7ceU  ordered,  when  the  spirit  is  in  subjection  to  God, 
and  the  flesh  and  animal  faculties  are  in  subjection  to  the  spirit.*  But 
ill-ordered,  and  therefore  perverted,  is  the  soul  of  man,  when  its  relation 
to  God  and  the  senses  has  been  inverted.  This  is  now  the  case  ;  and 
not  only  doth  faith  teach  so,  but  philosophy  herein  concurs.  The  vio- 
lence of  wicked  lust,  and  the  law  of  the  members,  which  each  one  hath 


*  From  this  it  is  clear,  in  what  estimation  we  should  hold  the  objection  made  to  the 
divines  before  the  Reformation,  that  they  merely  admitted  the  soul  to  have  fallen  into 
disorder,  in  consequence  of  original  sin.  Such  was  the  reply  made  to  the  following 
passage  cited  by  me  from  Duns  Scotus.  "  Deordinat  autem  peccatum  originale  totam 
animam;  ergo  si  est  aliqua  una  culpa,  in  ilia  potentia  est,  ad  cujus  deordinationem 
tota  anima  deordinatur.  Ilia  sola  est  voluntas  :  quia  ipsa  ordinata  ordinat  alias,  ita 
deordinata  deordinat."  (Lib.  ii.  Sent.  Dist.  xxx.  q.  2.)  To  form  a  right  judgment 
on  this  matter,  men  must  understand  the  usus  loquendi  of  the  schoolmen ;  but  for 
this  knowledge  a  study  of  their  writings  is  requisite. 


138  EXPOSITION   OF  DOCTRINAL  DIFFERENCES 

from  its  birth,  holds  the  spirit  captive,  and  overmasters  it.  It  is  thus 
undeniable  that  the  soul  of  each  one  is  from  his  birth  perverted  [yerver- 
sa) ;  but  if  the  right  state  of  the  soul  be  justice,  its  perverted  state  is 
guilt ;  and  as  we  are  perverted  from  our  birth,  we  bear  about  with  us 
from  our  birth  the  stain  of  guilt.  Of  this  no  one  doubts,  except  he  who 
is  ignorant  of  the  power  of  evil  desire,  and  doth  not  know  in  what  way 
the  rational  spirit  should  be  obedient  unto  God.  For  it  is  acknowledged, 
that,  unless  our  spirit  love  God  above  all  things,  and  for  His  own  sake, 
it  is  not  perfectly  obedient  unto  Him.  It  is  also  acknowledged,  that 
without  the  gift  of  grace,  no  one  in  the  state  of  corrupt  nature  loveth 
God  above  all  things,  and  for  His  own  sake  ;  nay,  he  is  necessarily 
overcome  by  the  force  of  wicked  lust,  so  as  to  be  more  enamoured  of 
himself  and  of  some  apparent  good.  Thus  is  every  soul  from  its  birth 
a  sinner,  because  perverted  and  disordered.  And  hence  the  apostle, 
speaking  in  the  person  of  fallen  humanity,  saith  :  "  I  see  another  law 
in  ray  members,  which  striveth  against  the  law  of  the  spirit,  and  hold- 
eth  me  captive  under  the  law  of  sin."  Then  he  exclaims  :  "  Unhappy 
man  that  I  am,  who  shall  deliver  me  from  the  body  of  this  death  ?" 
And  he  replies  :  "  The  grace  of  God  through  Jesus  Christ."  Whoever 
pays  attention  to  this  law  in  the  members,  and  to  our  false  relation  to 
God,  will  certainly  not  deny  that  man  from  his  birth  is  sinful ;  nay,  he 
will  clearly  see  that  it  is  impossible  to  doubt  the  existence  of  original, 
any  more  than  of  actual,  sin.  If  philosophers  and  some  heretics  have 
not  acknowledged  this,  it  is  because  they  had  no  notion  of  the  recti- 
tude of  the  soul,  of  justice,  nor  how  much  the  soul  should  turn  to  God. 
Thus  all  human  nature  is  given  up  to  corruption  ;  and  not  only  because 
it  has  incurred  a  penalty,  but  because  it  is  in  fact  sinful."*  "  Original 
sin,"  adds  this  great  teacher  of  the  Church,  "  may  be  described  as  the 
want  of  original  justice,  whereby  the  perversity  of  nature  and  evil  con- 
cupiscence hath  arisen." 

Let  us  hear  now  St.  Thomas  Aquinas,  the  head  of  another  great 
school  in  the  middle  age.  He  thus  enlarges  on  the  subject  of  original 
sin.  "  As  between  things  opposite,  there  is  an  opposite  relation,  so 
from  original  justice  its  opposite,  original  sin,  may  be  explained.  But 
the  whole  order  of  original  justice  consisted  therein,  that  the  will  of 
man  was  obedient  to  God, — an  obedience  which  in  an  eminent  degree 
was  practised  by  the  will  ;  for  it  is  the  province  of  the  will  to  direct  all 
other  parts  of  the  soul,  in  conformity  to  this  its  highest  destination. 
Hence,  when  the  will  fell  away  from  God,  disorder  in  all  other  faculties 

*  J.  Bonavent.  ad  lib.  ii.  Sent.  dist.  xxx.  q.  11,  art.  1,  Op.  Lugd.  16G8,  t.  vi.  P.  xi. 
p.  373. 


BETWEEN  CATHOLICS  AND  PROTESTANTS.  139 

of  the  soul  ensued.  Thus,  in  original  sin  the  deprivation  of  original 
justice  is  the  formal  part,  that  is  to  say,  the  causal,  determining,  and 
essential  part ;  but  every  other  disorder  in  the  faculties  of  the  soul  is  the 
material  part  of  original  sin,  that  is  to  say,  the  thing  determined, — the 
consequence, — the  manifestation  of  the  essence.  The  disorder  of  the 
other  powers  of  the  soul  shows  itself  in  the  perverted  affection  to  tran- 
sitory good, — a  disorder  which  may  be  denoted  by  the  well-known  ex- 
pression, wicked  desire,  concupiscentia.  Thus  in  its  essence  (forma,) 
original  sin  is  the  want  of  original  justice  ;  in  its  manifestation  [materia) 
it  is  evil  desire."* 

In  another  place  he  says  :  "  All  the  faculties  of  the  soul  have  been, 
to  a  certain  degree,  displaced  from  their  proper  direction  and  destina- 
tion,— a  displacement  which  is  called  the  wound  of  nature.  But  there 
are  four  powers  of  the  soul,  which  can  become  the  conduits  of  virtue — 
namely,  reason,  wherein  is  recognition  ;  the  will,  wherein  is  justice  ; 
the  faculty  of  exertion,  wherein  is  courage  ;  the  faculty  of  desire, 
wherein  is  temperance.  In  so  far  as  reason  has  been  diverted  from  its 
bearing  towards  truth,  has  arisen  the  wound  of  ignorance  ;  inasmuch 
as  the  will  has  been  diverted  from  its  bearing  towards  good,  has  arisen 
the  wound  of  wickedness  ;  inasmuch  as  the  faculty  of  exertion  has  been 
diverted  from  its  bearing  towards  the  arduous,  has  arisen  the  wound  of 
frailty  ;  lastly,  inasmuch  as  the  faculty  of  desire  has  been  diverted  from 
its  course,  as  directed  by  reason,  towards  the  term  of  pleasure,  has 
arisen  concupiscence. "f 

As  original  sin  was  represented  by  Bonaventura  in  the  more  practical 
tone  of  eloquent  complaint,  and  by  Thomas,  with  more  scientific  accu- 
racy, and  subtlety  of  distinction  ;  so  we  find  the  same  generally  ex- 
pounded in  the  ecclesiastical  schools  prior  to  the  period  of  the  apostacy 
from  the  Church  ;  so  that  any  one  who  judges  the  matter  with  sobriety, 
and  with  competent  knowledge,  will  be  utterly  unable  to  discover  in 
them  any,  even  the  slightest,  traces  of  Pelagianism. 

If  we  turn  now  to  the  differences  of  opinion  which  divide  the  school- 
men, the  most  important  will  be  found  to  consist  in  the  representation 
of  the  mode  wherein  the  sin  of  x\dam  was  transmitted  to  his  descend- 
ants. It  must  be  especially  observed,  that,  for  very  weighty  reasons, 
the  schoolmen  rejected  as  erroneous  the  opinion  that  souls  were  trans- 
mitted through  generation  by  the  parents  to  their  children  {traducianis- 
7nus) ;  and  on  the  other  hand,  held  as  alone  true  and  orthodox,  the  doc- 


*  Thorn.  Aquin.  I.  P.  ii,  q.  82,  art  iv.     The  words  "  forma"  and  "  materia"  can- 
not  always  be  rendered  into  our  language  in  the  same  way. 
t  Thorn.  Aquin.  lib.  i.  q.  85,  art.  iii. 


140  EXPOSITION   OF  DOCTRINAL  DIFFERENCES 

trine  that  souls  are  ever  created  by  God  {creaiianismus).  If,  according 
to  the  first  view,  the  transmission  of  original  sin  (from  the  principle, 
that  like  comes  of  its  like,  and  so  that  a  sinner  will  beget  a  sinner)  is 
apparently  easy  to  explain  ;  so,  on  the  other  hand,  the  doctrine  of  the 
successive  creation  of  souls  offers  at  the  first  view  great  difficulties,  in 
the  scientific  treatment  of  the  article  of  belief,  which  now  engages  our 
attention.  For  what  happens  to  the  soul  created  by  God,  and  created 
in  all  soundness,  purity,  and  integrity,  that,  at  the  moment  of  its  union 
with  the  body,  it  should  be  deprived  not  only  of  all  supernatural  gifts, 
but  so  deeply  wounded  in  all  its  natural  faculties,  and  placed  in  so  fear- 
fully incongruous  a  relation  to  the  Deity  ? 

The  teachers  of  science  have  at  all  times  found  it  a  matter  of  diffi- 
culty to  acknowledge  their  ignorance.  The  expectation  of  scholars,  to 
be  able  to  comprehend  every  thing,  is  met  by  the  presumptuous  confi- 
dence of  teachers  to  make  all  things  comprehensible.  The  proposition 
is  indeed  defended,  that  in  the  true  religion  there  must  be  mysteries, — 
there  must  be  things  incomprehensible.  But  instead  thereof,  it  should 
be  broadly  maintained,  that  for  us,  in  our  present  condition,  the  true  re- 
ligion is  itself  a  mystery, — that  it  is  the  mystery,  and  that,  in  conse- 
quence, all  its  particular  parts  must  offer  mysteries.  Here  is  the  whole 
mysterious — therefore  its  parts  ;  not  this  or  that  only  is  mysterious,  but 
all  is  so. 

Yet  there  is  within  us  an  irrepressible  longing  after  comprehension : 
it  is  the  same  which  in  its  excess  leads  to  the  denial  of  every  thing  above 
comprehension.  This  very  longing  to  comprehend,  like  the  fact,  that 
we  are  surrounded  by  incomprehensible  mysteries,  points  to  the  distrac- 
tion which  has  convulsed  our  nature,  to  the  wound  inflicted  on  our  rea- 
son,— to  a  lost  intuition,  and,  in  so  far,  to  an  unhappy  past.  Yet  it  be- 
tokens, too,  a  happy  futurity — an  intuition  for  which  we  are  destined, 
which  beams  upon  us  from  afar,  and  for  which,  even  in  this  life,  we 
seek  some  sort  of  compensation.  This  desire  to  comprehend,  is  a 
meagre  vital  sign  of  a  yet  extant,  but  deeply  concealed,  germ  of  future 
intuition,  and  a  warranty,  that  that  intuition  will  be  one  day  imparted 
to  us.  So  a  well-regulated  development  ought  not  to  be  refused  to  this 
inborn  desire.  But  full  satisfaction  here  below,  we  may  rest  assured, 
it  neither  finds  nor  communicates.  Shall  then  this  very  effort  after 
comprehension,  which  is  so  closely  connected  with  the  original  convul- 
sion of  our  nature — with  the  night  which  has  since  spread  over  our 
spirit,  be  crowned  with  success  in  the  attempt  to  dispel  this  darkness  ? 
We  may  be  permitted  to  entertain  a  doubt.  Who  comprehends  evil  in 
itself?  Whose  eye  has  ever  penetrated  into  the  deep  connexion  be- 
tween moral  and  physical  evil  ?     Who  has  ever  explored  the  mysterious 


BETWEEN  CATHOLICS  AND  PROTESTANTS.  141 

ties  which  unite  the  soul  and  the  body  1     Who  knows  the  sexual  rela- 
tions,  and  comprehends  what  is  life,  and  the  generation  of  life  1 

Some  schoolmen  taught,  that,  by  the  fall  of  Adam,  a  destructive  and 
infectious  quality  was  introduced  into  the  human  body ;  and  that  this 
quality,  propagated  by  generation,  contaminated  the  soul  at  the  moment 
of  its  union  with  the  body,  debased  it,  and  communicated  to  it  the  dis' 
order  of  the  body.  But  even  overlooking  the  fact,  that  the  rise  of  a 
positive  bad  quality  is  itself  an  enigma,  nay,  is  utterly  inconceivable  j 
still  this  theory  takes  a  very  material  view  of  evil.  And  although  it 
may  appear  to  offer  some  satisfactory  explanations  as  to  bodily  diseases, 
and  as  to  death  ;  yet  in  the  spiritual  region  it  is  utterly  unavailing. 
How  could  the  infusion  of  such  a  corporeal  poison  convey  to  the  soul 
the  germs  of  all  which,  in  the  most  comprehensive  sense,  constitutes 
self-seeking — to  wit,  revolt  against  God, — arrogance  and  envy  towards 
our  fellow  men, — vanity  and  complacency  in  regard  to  ourselves?  If 
80  disordered  a  spiritual  condition,  if  so  distempered  a  moral  state  could 
be  engendered  by  the  connexion  of  the  soul  with  the  body,  it  would  be 
then  certainly  very  difficult  to  uphold  the  notion  of  moral  evil. 

This  theory  was  in  consequence  rejected  by  most  of  the  schoolmen  ; 
and,  instead  of  this,  another  was  adopted,  namely,  that,  with  the  excep- 
tion of  his  heritage  of  guilt,  fallen  man  is  born  exactly  like  Adam,  when 
considered  without  his  supernatural  graces,— that  is  to  say,  with  all  the 
natural  faculties,  powers,  and  properties  of  the  paradisaic  man,  as  well 
as  without  any  quality,  evil  in  itself.     The  conflict  between  reason  and 
sensuality  is  caused  by  the  two  very  heterogeneous  essences,  whereof 
man  is  composed  ;  and  therefore,  without  the  divine  principle  imparted 
to  him,  which  held  the  inferior    in   subjection   to  the   superior   part, 
Adam  would  have  gradually  felt  this  combat  within  him  (vide  section  i,) 
and  indeed  without  incurring  thereby  the  guilt  of  sin  ;  for  it  is  the  na- 
ture  of  sensuality  to  be  irrational.     The  conflict  we  speak  of,  would 
have  been  a  natural  event.    The  evil  of  that  corrupt  condition,  wherein 
man  is  now  born,  consists  in  the  fact,  that,  in  Adam,  he  has  deserved 
to  be  deprived  of  the  justice  conferred  by  supernatural  grace  ;  that  is  to 
say,  to  feel  the  rebellion  of  the  flesh  against  the  spirit.     What  nature, 
without  supernatural  grace,  would  have  been,  is  now,  in  consequence  of 
the  self-incurred  loss  of  that  divine  gift,  the  penalty  of  all  born  of  Adam.* 


*  Bellarmin  de  gr.  primi  hom.  cap.  v.  "  Nos  vero  existimmnus  rectitudinem  illam 
etiam  partis  inferioris  fuisse  donum  supernatuiale,  et  quidem  per  se,  non  per  accidens, 
ita  ut  neque  in  naturae  principiis  fluxerit,  neque  potucrit  fluere.  Et  quia  donum  illud 
supernaturule  erat,  ut  statim  probaturi  sumus,  eo  remoto  natura  humana,  sibi  relicta, 
pugnam   illam  experiri  coepit  partis  inferioris  cum  superiori,  quffi   natmalis  futura 


U'2  EXPOSITION  OF  DOCTRINAL  DIFFERfiNCEf^ 

But  as  this  theory  doth  not  cxphiin,  and  is  unable  to  explain,  the  pef* 
Versily  of  the  will,  wherewith  we  are  born,  it  also  is  insufficient.  It 
speaks  only  of  a  conflict  between  the  sensual  and  the  rational  principle, 
which  without  the  Divine  aid  would  have  arisen  as  a  natural  occur* 
rence.  But  the  question  before  every  other  is,  to  account  for  the 
wounds  of  the  spirit,  especially  for  the  perversity  of  the  will.  Would 
the  spirit  of  man,  because  it  is  an  essence  distinct  from  God,  when  con^ 
sidered  in  itself, — that  is  to  say,  as  void  of  the  gift  of  supernatural 
grace,  and  as  a  bare  finite  being,  be  found  in  that  attitude  of  opposition 
to  God,  and  all  things  holy,  wherein  man  is  now  born  ?  Then  man,  as 
a  finite  being,  would  be  of  himself  disposed  to  sin,  and  would  not  be  so 
merely  through  abuse  of  his  freedom.  The  supernatural,  divine  prin- 
ciple, can  certainly  not  be  destined  merely  to  remove  that  inclination 
to  opposition  against  his  Creator  existing  in  man  as  a  creature,  or  rather 
only  to  prevent  its  outbreakings.  It  is  not  by  the  absence  of  this  super- 
natural grace,  without  which  all  are  now  born,  that  man  is  perverted  in 
his  will ;  he  may  become  so,  and  doubtless  easily,  but  he  is  not  yet  so  at 
the  moment  of  his  creation. 

The  inadequacy  of  this  theory,  to  an  explanation  of  the  subject,  has 
given  rise  to  many  objections  against  the  Catholic  doctrine  of  original 
sin.  Men  went  on  the  supposition  suggested  by  excited  passions,  that 
Catholic  theologians  would  admit  as  notions  of  original  sin,  only  what 
\vas  really  explained  by  the  above-stated  theory.  Instead  of  accusing 
the  weakness  of  speculation,  they  impeached  the  principle  itself.* 

§  VI. — Doctrine  of  the  Lutherans  respecting  original  sin. 

The  Augsburg  confession  expresses  itself  in  the  following  manner  re* 
specting  original  sin.  "  They  (the  Protestants)  teach,  that,  after 
Adam's  fail,  all  men,  who  are  engendered  according  to  nature,  are  born 
in  sin,- — that  is  to  say,  without  fear  of  God,  without  confidence  in  Him, 


erat,  id  est,  ex  conditione  materise  secutura,  nisi  Deusjustitiae  donumhomini  addidis- 
Bet.  Quare  non  magis  difFcrt  status  hominis  post  lapsum  Adfc  a  statu  ejusdem  in 
puris  naturalibus,  quaiii  difFerat  spohatus  a  nudo,  neque  detcrior  est  humana  natura, 
si  culpam  originalem  detrahas,  neque  magis  ignorantia,  et  infirniitate  laborat,  quam 
esset  et  laborarct  in  puris  naturalibis  condita.  Froinde  corruptio  naturse  non  ex  ahcu- 
jus  doni  naturalis  carentia,  neque  ex  alicujus  malas  qualitatis  accessu,  sed  ex  sola 
doni  supernaturahs  ob  AdvB  peccatum  amissione  profluxit." 

*  Even  Bellarmine,  wlio  defends,  with  great  acuteness  and  subtlety,  the  last-stated 
opinion,  says  of  original  sin  : 

"  Omnibus  imputatur  (peccatum  Adae)  qui  ex  Adamo  nascuntur,  quia  omnes  in 
lumbis  Adamiexistentes,  in  eo,  etper  eum,  peccavimus,  cumipsepeccavit.  .  .  Prse- 


BETWEEN  CATHOLICS  AND  PROTEsTANTS.  143 

tind  with  concupiscence.'"*  This  article  describes  original  sin  as  somci 
thing  at  once  privative  and  positive  ;  as  the  deprivation  of  good,  and 
the  establishment  of  evil.  It  is  our  duty,  in  the  first  instance,  to  deter- 
mine more  accurately  the  nature  of  the  good  withdrawn.  The  Catho- 
lic theologians  at  the  Diet  of  Augsburg,  Eck,  Winiplna,  and  Cochlesus, 
who  had  prepared  a  refutation  of  the  Lutheran  confession  there  readj 
remarked  in  their  essay,  that  the  description  of  original  sin,  "  men  were 
horn  without  fear  of  God,  and  without  confidence  in  Him,"  was  very 
unfitting  and  inadmissible  ;  because  the  fear  of  God  and  confidence  in 
Him,  consisted  in  a  succession  of  intellectual  acts,  which  not  any  one 
would  think  of  demanding  of  the  unconscious  child.  Hence,  they  said, 
the  absence  of  such  acts  is  by  no  means  to  be  considered  as  constituting 
a  sin  in  the  new-born  ;  the  non-existence  of  those  virtues  would  esta- 
blish guilt  perpetrated  with  self-consciousness  and  with  freedom,  and 
would  not,  in  consequence,  denote  the  essence  of  original  sin,  because 
man  is  born  therewith,  and  this  sin  exists  in  him  prior  to  all  self-con- 
sciousness, f 

The  author  of  the  apology  saw  himself  hereby  forced  to  express  him- 
self on  this  subject  with  the  scientific  accuracy  to  be  desired.  The  ob- 
scure meaning  of  the  passage  he  elucidated  with  the  remark,  that,  by 
it,  nothing  more  was  signified,  than  that  man,  engendered  in  the  course 
of  nature,  wanted  the  ccqjacitij  or  the  gifts  for  producing  the  fear  of  God, 
and  confidence  in  Him.:}:  Hereby,  in  fact,  the  tenet  of  the  Protestants 
was  stated  with  the  utmost  precision  ;  yet  in  a  manner  to  bo  intelligible 
only  to  one  who  knew  its  connexion  with  other  doctrines.  The  reader 
will  remember,  that,  according  to  the  views  of  Luther  and  his  follow- 


terea  dicimus,  quemadmodum  in  Adamo,  prfEter  actum  illius  peccati,  fuit  etiam  per- 
versio  voluntatis  et  oblirjuitas  ex  actionc  rclicta,  per  quam  pcccator  proprie  et  formali- 
tcr  dicebatur  et  erat  .  .  .  ita  quoque  in  nobis  omnibus,  cum  primum  homines  esse  in* 
cipimus,  praeter  imputationem  irtobedic7iti83  Adami,  esse  etiam  similem  pcrvcrsionem 
ct  obliquitatera  unicuique  inhcerentem,  per  quam  peccatores  proprie  et  formaliter  dici- 
,  mur." 

*  Confess.  August-  art.  ii.  p.  12.  "  Decent,  quod  post  lapsum  Adas  omnes  ho- 
mines, secundum  naturampropagati,  nascantur  cum  pcccato,  lioc  est,  sine  metu  Dei, 
sine  fiducia  erga  Deum,  et  cum  concupiscentia." 

t  Resp.  theolog.  Cath.  ad  art.  ii.  "  Dcclaratio  articuliest  omnino  rejicienda,  cum 
sit  cuilibet  Christiano  manifcstum,  esse  sine  metu  Dei,  sine  fiducia  erga  Deum,  potiue 
esse  culpam  actualem,  quam  noxam  infantis  recent  nati,  qui  usu  rdtionis  adhuc  non 
pellet." 

t  Apol.  ii.  sect  2,  p.  54.  "  Hie  locus  testatur,  nos  non  solum  actus,  sed  et  poten- 
tiam,  sou  dona  efflciendi  timorem  et  fiduciam  erga  Deum  adimcre  propagatis  secun- 
dum carnalem  naturam." 


144  EXPOSITION  OF  DOCTRINAL  DIFFERENCES 

ers,  man  was  originally  endowed  with  only  natural  powers ; — -an  opi» 
nion  which  in  the  present  matter  exerts  a  very  important  influence. 
For  as  fallen  man,  as  such,  is  evidently  unable  to  exercise  those  virtues, 
which  were  possible  to  him  in  his  state  of  original  purity  ;  and  as  he  is 
unable  to  do  so,  because  the  powers  fail  him  ;  the  Reformers  saw  them- 
selves in  a  situation  to  put  forth  the  doctrine,  that  certain  natural poaers 
man  no  longer  possessed* 

But  most  insight  into  these  lost  natural  powers  is  afforded  us  by  the 
Formulary  of  Concord.  In  the  synergistic  controversies,  which  agita- 
tated  the  Lutheran  Church,  Victorinus  Strigel,f  (a  leader  of  the  hetero- 
dox party,  an  acute,  well-informed  thinker,  v/ho  was  very  familiar  with 
the  Catholic  points  of  defence,:):  and  convinced  of  the  incontrovertible 
character  of  the  dogma  of  free-willj)  asserted,  that  even  fallen  man  pos- 
sesses at  least  the  faculty,  the  capacity,  the  aptitude,  to  know  God,  and 
to  will  what  is  holy  ;  although  this  faculty  is  completely  paralized,  and, 
as  it  were,  benumbed,  and  is  not  susceptible  of  any  spontaneous  exer- 
tion. The  formulas,  which  he  made  use  of,  are  these  :  fallen  man  pos- 
sesses  still  the  "  modum  agcndi,  capacitatem  aptitudinem ;"  that  is  to 
say,  he  still  at  least  enjoys,  in  reference  to  spiritual  things,  the  empty 
form  of  knowledge  and  of  will,  void,  though  that  formbe,  of  all  real  and 
essential  purport. §     Although  Victorinus  considered  the  consequences 


*  Luther  (in  c.  iii.  Genes.)  says,  after  the  above-cited  passage,  wherein  he  rejects 
the  doctrine  of  Catholic  theologians  respecting  the  supernatural  powers  of  Adam : 
"  Haecprobant,  justitiam  esse  do  nalura  hominis,  ea  autcm  per  peccatum  amissa,  non 
mansisse  integra  naturalia,  ut  delirant  scholastici.'''' 

t  See  Plank's  "  History  of  the  Rise,  Changes,  and  Formation  of  our  Protestant 
System  of  Doctrine,"  (in  German)  vol.  iv-  p.  584. 

X  He  was  a  learned  scholar  in  the  old  Christian  Greek  literature,  and  we  are,  as  is 
well  known,  indebted  to  hira  for  some  translations  from  that  hterature  into  the  Latin 
language.     But  the  Greek  Church  shows  only  advocates  of  the  doctrine  of  free-will. 

§  Calvin  (Instit.  lib.  ii.  sect.  14,  fol.  87)  gives  us  the  wished- for  explanation  of  the 
notion,  which,  in  the  sixteenth  century,  was  attached  to  the  word  "  aptitude."  We 
may  compare  with  great  utdity  this  passage  with  one  in  St  Thomas  Aquinas.  (See 
Summa  tot.  thcolog.  p.  i.  q.  xciii.  art.  iv.  ed.  Cass.  Lugd.  1580,  vol.  i.  p.  417.)  St. 
Thomas  here  mquires,  wherefore  the  spirituality  of  man  constitutes  his  similitude  to 
God  ;  and  he  then  says,  the  divine  image  within  us  may  be  considered  in  a  threefold 
pointof  view.  "  Uno  quidcmmodo  secundum  quod  homo  habet  aptitudinem  naturalem 
ad  intelligendum  ct  amandum  Deum.  Et  haec  aptitudo  consistit  in  ipsa  natura  men- 
tis, quae  est  communis  omnibus  liominibus.  Alio  modo  secundum  quod  homo  acta 
vel  habitu  Deum  cognoscit  et  amat,"  etc.  Aptitudo  accordingly  signifies,  in  oppo- 
sition to  actus,  the  natural  disposition, — the  faculty, — and  here,  the  moral  and  reli- 
gious faculty.  See  more  copious  proofs  of  this  in  my  work, — "  New  Inquiry,"  &c.  in 
reply  to  Dr.  Baur,  p.  35,  second  edition. 


BETWEEN  CATHOLICS  AND  PROTESTANTS.  145 

of  the  sin  of  Adam,  in  respect  to  his  whole  posterity,  as  of  a  far  more 
destructive  character,  than  CathoHcs,  by  the  decisions  of  Trent  at  least, 
arc  immediately  bound  to  regard  them  ;  still  his  view  did  not  satisfy 
the  orthodox  party  in  his  own  Church.  They  called  him  a  Pelagian, 
and  asserted  that  even  that  bare  faculty  of  knowledge  and  will, — that 
mere  empty  form  in  the  soul  of  man,  had  been  utterly  destroyed  ;  and 
here  they  doubtless  spoke  quite  in  the  sense  of  Luther.  The  formulary 
of  concord  likewise  rejected  the  view  of  the  Synergist,  and  declared 
that  fallen  man  no  longer  possessed  even  the  mere  natural  faculty  to 
understand  God  and  his  holy  will,  and,  in  conformity  to  that  know- 
ledge, to  direct  his  own  will.*  In  one  word,  the  faculty  of  know- 
ledge and  will,  inasmuch  as  it  has  reference  to  divine  things,  or  (if  we 
prefer  the  expression)  the  rational  aptitude,  is  denied  to  the  mere  natu- 
ral  man, — the  man  as  born  of  Adam.  The  truth  of  this  mode  of  con- 
ceiving the  Lutheran  doctrine,  on  original  sin,  is  not  done  away  with, 
nay,  is  confirmed,  by  the  declaration  of  the  Formulary  of  Concord,  that 
it  was  not  thereby  intended  to  hold  fallen  man  for  an  irrational  crea- 
ture.f  For  to  that  faculty  of  the  human  mind,  which  it  terms  reason, 
it  assigns  merely  the  finite  world  as  the  sphere  of  activity  ::]:  and  thereby 


*  Solid,  dcclar.  ii.  de  lib.  arb.  sect.  44,  p.  C44  :  "  Earn  ob  causametiani  non  recte 
dicitur,  homincm  in  rebus  spiritualibus habere  modum  agendi  allquid,  quod  sit  bonum 
et  salutarc.  Cum  enim  homo  ante  conversionem  in  pcccatis  mortuus  sit,  non  potest 
in  ipso  aliqua  vis  ad  bene  agendum  in  rebus  spiritualibus  inesse ;  itaque  non  habet 
modum  agendi,  seu  operandi  in  rebus  divinis."  I.  sect.  21,  pp.  616,  617:  ''Repu- 
diantur,  qui  docent,  hominem  ex  prima  sua  origine  adhuc  aliquid  boni,  quantulum- 
cunque  etiam  et  quam  exiguum  atque  tenue  id  sit,  reliquum  habere;  capacitatem 
videlicet  et  aptitudinem  et  vires  aliquas  in  rebus  spiritualibus,"  etc. 

t  Solid,  declar.  ii.  de  lib.  arbitr.  sect.  xvi.  p.  633.  "  Non  tamen  in  earn  sententiam 
sic  loquuntur,  quasi  homo  post  lapsum  non  ampliussit  creatura  rationalis." 

X  Solid,  declar.  i.  depeccat.  orig.  sect.  x.  p.  614.  "  Inaliis  enim  extemis  et  hujuo 
mundi  rebus,  quaa  rationi  subjects  sunt,  relictum  est  homini  adhuc  aliquid  intellcc- 
tils,  virium,  et  facultatum,  etsi  hffi  etiam  miserag  reliquiae  debiles,  et  quidcm  haac  ipsa 
quantulacunque  per  morbum  ilium  hasreditarium  infccta  sunt  atque  contaminata,  ut 
Deus  abominctur  ea.  (Sect.  xl.  p.  644.)  Et  verum  quidem  est,  quod  homo  etiam 
ante  conversionem  sit  creatura  rationalis,  qute  intellectum  et  voluntatem  habeat :  in- 
tellectum  autemnon  in  rebus  divinis ;  et  voluntatem,  non  ut  aliquid  boni  et  sani  ve- 
lit."  Victorinus  Strigel,  in  his  commentary  on  the  Psalms,  which  appeared  in  the  vear 
1563,  had  adduced  the  following  passage  from  St.  Augustine  :  "  Non  omnino  deletum 
est  in  corde  hominis  per  peccatum,  quod  ibi  per  imaginem  Dei,  cum  crearetur,  im- 
prcssum  fuerat,  neque  adeo  imago  Dei  deirita  est  ilia  labe,  ut  nulla  in  anima  vcluii 
lineamenta  extrema  remanserint,  remansit  enim  quod  homo  non  nisi  rationalis  esse 
possit.'^  These  words  the  theologians  of  Wiirtcmberg  note  as  repreliensible  See 
Plank's  "  History  of  the  rise  and  changes  of  the  Protestant  system  of  doctrine,  (in 
German)  vol.  iv.  p.  682.  We  see  that  Victorinus  Strigel  attached  a  different  meaning 
10 


146  EXPOSITION  OF  DOCTRINAL  DIFFERENCES 

clearly  shows,  that,  in  its  opinion,  Adam,  rejected  of  God,  and  all  his 
descendants,  considered  merely  as  such,  have  no  longer  preserved  any 
spiritual  aptitude  for  God  and  His  kingdom. 

Wc  arrive  at  the  same  result  by  various  ways.  The  first,  presenting 
itself  to  om'  view,  is  the  following.  The  Lutheran  confessions,  as  was 
proved  above,  (see  section  ii.),  describe  the  image  of  God,  as  the  na- 
tural capacity  in  man  to  know  God,  to  fear  Him,  and  to  confide  in 
Him.  But  it  is  precisely  this  capacity,  which  we  especially  revere  as 
rationality, — the  rational  disposition  in  man.  Yet  of  this  very  divine 
image  the  Lutherans  repeatedly  assert,  that  it  has  been  utterly  effaced 
by  original  sin,  and  thereby  plucked  from  the  posterity  of  Adam.* 
The  second  course  which  leads  to  the  above-mentioned  result,  consists 
in  the  views  entertained  b}'  the  Lutherans  respecting  man's  free-will 
subsequently  to  his  fall.  They  hold  that  he  possesses  only  a  certain 
external  freedom,  but  none  at  all  in  spiritual  things  ;  and  that,  in  re- 
spect to  the  latter,  he  is  no  more  than  a  stone  or  a  stock  (these  are 
comparisons  they  frequently  use).|  In  like  manner,  the  Formulary  of 
Concord  observes,  that  fallen  man  can  neither  think,  believe,  nor  will, 
any  thing  having  reference  to  divine  and  spiritual  concerns  ;  that  he  is 
utterly  dead  to  all  good,  and  no  longer  possesses  any,  even  the  least, 
spark  of  spiritual  powers.j^     The  expression  "  spiritual  powers"  is  here 

to  the  word  reason,  from  that  which  was  attached  to  it  by  the  Formulary  of  Concord. 
He  considered  it  as  the  faculty  for  the  apprehension  of  the  super-sensual,  as  the  prin- 
ciple of  the  Divine  similitude  in  man  ;  for  as  man  appeared  to  him  a  bein^  necessa- 
rily rational,  he  asserted,  that  remains  of  that  faculty  had  survived  his  fall.  This 
view,  now,  his  adversaries  rejected,  and  consequently  regarded  fallen  man  as  really 
irrational,  that  is  to  say,  as  devoid  of  every  faculty  for  the  apprehension  of  the  super- 
mundane. 

■^  Solid,  declar.  i.  de  pecc.  or.  §  9,  p.  614.  "Docetur,  quod  peccatum  ori^inis  sit 
horribilis  defectus  ConcreatfB  in  paradiso  justitice  originalis,  et  amissiu  seu  privatio 
imaginis  Dei." 

+  Confess.  Aug  Art.  xvni.  "  Delibero  arbitrio  decent,  quod  humana  voluntas  haheat 
aliquam  libertatem  ad  cfficicndam  c^'ciZcm  justitiam,  et  diligcndas  res  rationi  subjec- 
tas,"  Here  is  reason,  the  highest  faculty  in  man  that  has  survived  his  fall,  confined 
purely  to  the  finite.  Let  the  reader  compare  the  Solidn  Dedaratio,  ii  de  lib. 
arb.  §  2l,  p.  C35,    ibidem:    "  Antequam  homo  per  Spiritum   Sanctum  illuminatur. 

ex  sese  et  propriis  naturalibus  suis  viribus,  in  rebus  spiritualibus  nihil  inchoare, 

operari,  aut  cooperari  potest :  non  plus,  quam  lapis,  truncus  aut  limus  " 

t  Solid,  declar.  ii.  de  lib.  arb.  §  7,  p.  629.  ''  Crcdimus  igitur,  quod  hominis  nonrenati 
jntellectus,  cor,  et  voluntas  in  rebus  spiritualibus  et  divinis  prorsus  nihil  intelligere, 
credere,  amplccti,  cogitare,  vclle,  inchoare,  pcrficcre,  etc.,  possint.  Et  affirmamus, 
hominem  ad  bonum  (vel  cogitandum  vel  faciendum)  prorsus  corruptum  ct  mortuum 
esse ;  ita  quidem,  ut  in  hominis  natura,  post  lapsum  et  ante  regenerationem,  ne  scin- 
lillula  quidem  spiritualium  virium  reliqua  sit. 

We  must  remember  that  here  the  question  is  only  respecting  the  natural  powers  of 
man,  since,  according  to  the  Protestant  theory,  he  had  no  supernatural  powers  to  lose. 


BETWEEN  CATHOLrCS  AND  PROTESTANTS.  147 

constantly  employed  as  synonymous  with  "the  powers  of  free-will." 
Yet  we  need  no  further  investigation,  for  even  Plank  admits,  "Luther 
gave  to  the  assertion,  that  man  no  longer  possesses  any  will  for  good, 
so  extensive  a  sense,  that  it  would  thence  follow,  that  man,  corrupted 
by  original  sin,  no  longer  ^possesses  the  power  of  will,  that  is,  the  faculty 
of  will."*  Had  Plank  only  added,  "and  no  longer  possesses  the  faculty 
of  hio?i'le(Jge  for  the  superabundance"  (for  both  are  included  in  liberiim 
nrhitrimn,)  he  would  then  have  stated  with  perfect  accuracy  the  Lu- 
theran doctrine. f  Thus,  according  to  Lutheran  orthodoxy,  did  man 
lose,  throuofh  Adam's  fall  (to  express  ourselves  once  more  with  com- 
prehensive brevity,)  the  most  exalted  and  most  subtle  portion  of  this 
spiritual  essence, — the  part  of  his  substance  kindred  to  divinity, — the 
implanted  organ  for  God,  and  for  divine  things  inherent  in  his  nature  ; 
so  that,  after  its  loss,  he  sank  down  into  a  mere  earthly  power,  having 
henceforth  organs  only  for  the  finite  world,  its  laws,  its  ordinances,  and 
its  relations. 

It  is  indeed  absolutely  inconceivable,  how  out  of  the  organism  of  the 
human  mind  a  link  could  be  plucked  and  destroyed  ;  how  any  faculty 
of  a  simple  essence,  uncompounded  of  parts,  whose  faculties  science 
only  separates  and  distinguishes  (for  they  in  themselves  are  one  in 
all,  and  all  in  one,)  should  be  loosed  from  the  others,  and  be  annihi- 
lated :  but  we  have  not  yet  done  with  the  impenetrable  obscurity  of  the 
Lutheran  theory  of  original  sin/j:  Of  the  positive  part  which  supplied 
the  place  of  the  one  v/ithdrav.'n,  it  is  as  difficult  to  arrive  at  any  sort  of 
clear  conception.  In  his  commentary  on  the  third  chapter  of  Genesis, 
Luther  institutes  a  comparison  between  original  sin  and  original  justice? 
and,  from  the  essential  character  of  original  sin,  draws  conclusions 
as  to  the  essential  character  of  original  justice. §     If,  accordinglj^,  with 


*^Plank's  History  of  Protestantism  (in  German),  vol.  vi.  p  715.  But  when  the 
revered  author  adds,  that  every  genuine  follower  of  the  theology  of  St.  Augustine  is 
of  this  opinion,  he  certainly  advances  an  assertion  without  proof,  nay,  very  easy  of 
refutation. 

t  Solid,  declar.  ii.  de  lib.  arb.  §  2,  p.  628.     "  Hie  est  vcrus  ct  unicus  controversiae 

status,  quid  hominis  nondum  renati  intellectus  et  voluntas expropriis  suis,  et  post 

lapsum  reliquis,  viribus  pra^stare  possit." 

X  Beza  (QusEst.  et  resp.  p.  45)  reproaches  the  Lutheran  doctrine  with  leading  to 
Epicurianism,  since,  if  it  were  consistently  followed  out,  the  immortality  of  the  soul 
must  be  denied. 

"  QufEstio.  Ais  igitur  insumma,  corruptas  esse  animre  qualitates,  non  essentiam? 
Kcsp.  Aio,  et  contrarium  dogma  dico  esse  certum  et  apertum  ad  Epicurspismum 
iter,  id  est,  ad  mortalitatem  anima;  adstruendam,  quoniam  posits,  essentisB  ipsius  vcl 
{evissima  corruptione,  necesse  sit,  rem  ipsam  interitus  obnoxiam  confiteri,"  etc. 

4  Luth.  in  Genes,   c.  iii.     "  Vide,   quid  sequatur,  ex   ilia    sententia,  si   statuamus 


148  EXPOSITION  OF  DOCTRINAL  DIFFERENCES 

Luther,  original  justice  be  the  faculty  to  love  and  discern  God,  original 
sin  must  in  his  opinion  be  the  faculty  not  to  love  God  and  not  to  discern 
Him,  or  rather  to  hate  Him,  and  to  be  in  a  state  of  darkness  as  to  all  things 
appertaining  to  Him.  This  is  about  the  same,  as  if  a  man  were  to  say. 
every  one  possesses  the  faculty  not  only  to  have  no  property,  but  more- 
over to  have  debts  !  To  Luther  it  was  not  only  perfectly  clear,  that, 
through  Adam's  fall,  the  whole  human  race  had  lost  an  integral  portion 
of  its  spiritual  existence ;  but  also,  that  in  man  an  opposite  essence 
had  been  substituted  in  its  room.  And  the  latter  occurrence  he  con- 
ceived to  be  so  placed  beyond  the  reach  of  doubt,  that  without  the  least 
hesitation  he  inferred  from  it,  as  a  matter  perfectly  indisputable,  and, 
as  it  were,  self-evident,  ulterior  consequences  !  If  it  is  inconceivable 
how  the  image  of  God  can  be  utterly  eradicated  from  the  human  spirit, 
it  is  still  more  inconceivable  how  a  new  essence  could  be  inserted  into 
the  soul !  And  then  evil  was  converted  into  something  substantial ! 
Such-like  opinions,  after  indescribable  efforts  on  the  part  of  the  Churchy 
had,  too-ether  with  those  of  the  Gnostics  and  the  Mantcheans,  almost 
entirely  disappeared  ;  and  now  they  again  emerged,  full  of  vigour  and 
lofty  pretension  \ 

The  substance  which  Luther  found  in  original  sin,  was,  moreover,  ac- 
cording to  him,  implanted  alike  in  the  soul  and  body  of  man.  The 
following  passages,  which  are  found  in  different  books  composed  by 
him,  may  serve  as  proofs  of  what  has  been  stated,  as  well  as  set  beyond 
doubt  the  nature  of  his  opinions  on  this  sabjecl.  His  expressions  are  as 
follows  :  "  It  is  the  nature  of  man  to  sin  ;  sin  constitutes  the  essence  of 
man  ;  the  nature  of  man,  since  his  fall,  is  become  quite  changed  ^ 
original  sin  is  that  very  thing  which  is  born  of  father  and  mother.' 
Of  like  import  are  these  forms  of  expression  :  "  The  clay,  out  of  which 
we  are  formed,  is  damnable  ;  the  foetus  in  the  maternal  womb  is  sin." 
He  says  likewise  :  "  man,  as  he  is  born  of  his  father  and  mother,  together 
with  his  whole  nature  and  essence,  is  not  only  a  sinner,  but  sin  itself."* 


iustitiain  oricrinalem  non  fuisse  naturae,  sed  donura  quod  dam  superfluum  (!),  superad- 
ditura.  Annon  sicut  ponis,  justitiam  non  fuisse  de  essentia  hominis,  ita  etiam  sequitur, 
peccatum,  quod  successit,  non  esse  de  essentia  hominis  ?"  We  know  the  leasons  by 
which  it  may  bo  alleged,  that  Luther's  words  are  not  to  be  so  strictly  construed.  But 
if  he  meant  to  assert  nothing  more  than  what  was  long  customary,  why  did  he  not 
make  use  of  the  customary  form  of  speech  ?  The  new  language  evidently  betokens 
new  conceptions.  And  how  shall  we  account  for  the  subsequent  doctrines  of  Flacius^ 
if  Luther  had  given  no  occasion  thereto  ?  It  is  also  said,  essentia  is  very  different 
from  substantia  ;  but  let  ^v.y  consider  the  preceding  note,  and  determine  by  it  the 
asws  loquendi. 

*  Qucnstedt    (Theologia  didactico-polemica,  Whittenberg,  1669,  par.    ii.  p.    134, 


BETWEEN  CATHOLICS  AND  PROTESTANTS.  149 

Melancthon  also  calls  original  sin,  "an  innate  power,"  and  indeed  the 
■context  would  lead  us  to  suppose,  that  he  ascribed  to  this  power  some- 
thing substantial.* 

At  last,  Matthias  Flacius  arose,  and  broadly  asserted,  that  original 
sin  was  the  very  substance  of  fallen  man  !  Error  having  now  reached 
its  highest  pitch  of  extravagance,  a  retrogressive  movement  necessarily 
took  place.  The  mere  negative  and  private  character  of  evil  was  anew 
understood,  and  men  again  more  approxiinated  towards  the  Catholic 
view  of  the  subject,  witiiout  however  rejecting  the  notion  that  a  "  posi- 
tive" evil  power,  accompanied  with  the  inmost  and  deepest  corruption 
of  all  human  nature,  particularly  of  the  jet  surviving  higher  energies  of 
the  soul,  was  transmitted  by  parents  to  their  children. f 

The  positive  evil  now, — the  true  image  of  the  devil, — v/hich  after  the 


135)  has  collected,  and  indeed  excused,  the  above- cited  formulas  of  doctrine.  They 
Tun  thus  in  the  Latin  language  :  "  Naturam  hominis  esse  puram,  hominis  essentiam 
€sse  peccatum,  hominis  naturam  post  lapsum  esse  mutatam,  peccatum  originis  esse  id 
ipsum  quod  nascitur  ex  patre  et  matre  ;  hominem  esse  ipsum  peccatum,"  etc  See 
also  Bcllarmine  de  statu  peccati,  lib.  v  c.  1.  The  same  Bellarmine  said,  it  is  in- 
conceivable that  the  soul,  which  is  created  by  God  in  the  act  of  generation,  should 
receive  from  its  Creator  any  bad  ingredients,  in  the  same  way  that  a  bad  material 
power  should  pass  into  the  soul,  which  is  a  spiritual  essence.  To  this  Gerhard  re- 
plied :  "  Contra  nos,  qui  animae  corruptee  ex  anima  corrupta  propagationcm  propug- 
namus,  argurnentum  hoc  non  pugnat !"  Loci  theol.  torn,  iv-  p.  331,  loc.  i.  §  8d. 
Hence  the  doctrine  of  Crcationisra,  as  well  as  the  opinion  of  tlie  schoolmen,  that  un- 
baptizcd  children  go  not  to  hell,  but  are  admitted  into  a  third  place,  Gerhard  declares 
to  be  Pelagianism  {oblique  pelagianizare.)  Bellarmine,  moreover,  blames  the  ex- 
pression of  the  Lutheran  divines,  that  original  sin  is  a  positive  quality.  Gerhard  is 
very  much  offended  with  him  at  this  :  then  he  says,  the  expression  is  not  to  be  taken  in 
its  metaphysical  strictness ;  next  he  adds,  no  quality  is  really  thereby  meant.  "  Quando 
pravam  concupisccntiam  dicimus   esse  qualitatem  positivam,  non   intelligimus   hoc 

•secundum  dxg//S«i'y2t  metaphysicam non  quasi  aliqua  visagendi  sitpeccatom,  sed  quia 

ilia  vis  agendi  in  homine  est  tantum  ad  peccatum  prona  atque  prompta  "  This  may 
be  listened  to,  but  is  by  no  means  Luther's  meaning,  as  Gerhard  thinks,  but  an  im- 
provement on  it.  In  the  same  way  speaks  Chemnitius.  Exam.  Concil.  Trid.  par.  i, 
p.  162. 

*  Melancthon  loci  theol.  p.  19.  ''  Slcut  in  igne  est  genuina  vis.  qua  sursum  fcrtur- 
eicut  in  magneto  est  genuina  vis,  qua  ad  se  ferrum  trahit ;  ita  est  in  homine  nativa 
vis  ad  peccandum." 

t  Solid,  declar.  i.  §  10,  p.  614.  "  Praeterea  affirmatur,  quod  peccatum  originale  in 
humana,  natiu-a  non  tantummodo  sit  talis,  qualem  diximus,  horrfbilis  defectus  omnium 
Ijonarum  virinm  in  rebus  spiritualibus  ad  Deum  pertinentibus ;  sed  quod  etiam  in  lo- 
cum imaginis  Dei  amissae  successerit  intima,  pessima,  profundissima  (instar  cujusdam 
abyssi,)  inscrutabilis  et  inefFabilis  corruptio  totius  natura?  et  omnium  virium,  imprimis 
•vero  superiorom  et  principalium  animae  facultatum,  quas  infixa  sit  penitus  inteilcctui, 
cordi  et  voluntati  hominis.  Itaque  jam,  post  lapsum,  homo  hfereditario  a  parentibus 
accipit  congenitam  pravam  vim,  immunditiam  cordis,  pravas  concupiscentias,  et 
pravas  inclinationes." 


150  EXPOSITION  OI'  DOCTRINAL  DIFFERENCES 

•  loss  of  the  divine  irna<Te  is  to  be  propagated  by  generation  through  the 
whole  human  race,  constitutes  the  Lutheran  notion  of  concupiscence* 
which  the  Reformers  wished  to  enforce  on  the  Christian  world,  as  the 
sole  scriptural,  the  sole  just,  accurate,  and  comprehensive  view  of  origi- 
nal sin.*  They  understand  by  concupiscence  a  complete  rise  and  set- 
ting of  all  the  impulses,  inclinations,  and  efforts,  of  fallen  and  unre- 
generated  man  in  evil,  and  indeed  in  virtue  of  a  wicked  energy  trans- 
mitted to  him  from  Adam. 

Luther,  it  cannot  be  denied,  here  touched  on  the  borders  of  Mani- 
cheism,  if  he  did  not  actually  overstep  the  frontier ;  and  we  are  bound 
gratefully  to  acknowledge  the  fact,  that  his  followers  resisted  with  so 
much  energy  the  intrusion  of  such  monstrous  errors.  Yet  the  expressions 
which  they  ever  employed  respecting  original  sin,  such  as  congenita 
j.rava  vis,  positiva  qualilas,  betray  the  original  stamp  of  their  master's 
doctrine.  The  Protestant  belief,  too,  that  so  long  as  man  lives  here 
below,  original  sin  is  not  totally  effaced  from  him  even  by  regenerationt 
even  by  the  power  of  God,  presupposes  that  essential  substance,  which 
Luther  discovered  in  the  unborn  evil : — a  belief,  which,  as  we  shall  have 
occasion  later  to  show,  constitutes  an  essential  difference  between 
Catholicism  and  Protestantism. 

Moreover,  when  the  first  glimpses  of  his  new  theory  respecting  origi- 
nal sin  flashed  on  his  mind,  Luther  must  have  been  in  the  most  singular 
disposition  of  mind,  and  must  have  been  agitated  by  the  darkest,  the 
gloomiest,  and  the  most  perplexed  feelings.  For  if  he  then  taught,  with 
Melancthon,  that  God  works  evil  in  man,  how  could  he  ascribe  to  it  any 
sort  of  essence,  and  speak  of  a  sinful  stuff,  out  of  which  we  are  formed  ? 
The  establishment  of  such  a  relation  between  Gcd  and  evil, — to  wit, 
that  God  is  the  author  of  the  latter,  is  not  indeed  in  conformity  to 
Manichean  principles,  but  would  conduct  us  if  we  were  to  give  the 
speculative  notion  of  the  Lutheran  doctrine  respecting  original  sin)  to  a 
quite  special  view,  which,  in  the  proper  place,  we  shall  lay  before  our 
readers,  as  soon  as  all  the  intermediate  points,  which  may  furnish  a 
complete  insight  into  the  subject,  shall  have  been  stated. 

Here  we  shall  only  point  out  some  of  the  consequences,  which  the 
symbolical  writings  of  the  Lutherans  deduce  from  the  fundamental 
doctrines  already  set  forth. 

It  is  there  taught,  that  in  fallen  man,  not  the  slightest  good,  how 
paltry  soever  it  may  be  conceived,  has  survived  ;f  that  corrupt  nature, 

*  Apolog.  ii.  §  3,  seq.  p.  54  seq. 

+  Solid  dec'ar.  i.  de  pecc.  orig.  §  21,  p.  716,  717.  Those  are  noted  as  heretics, 
who  assert :  "  Adhuc  aliquid  boni,  quantulumcunque  etiam,  et  quam  exiguum  atque 
tenue  id  sit,  reliquum  habere." 


BETWEEN  CATHOLICS  AND  PROTESTANTS.  151 

of  itself,  and  by  its  own  force,  can  do  nought  hut  sin  before  Go:l  ;*  that 
fallen  man  is  all  evil.-j-  After  this,  we  are  nowise  surprised  at  the 
opinion,  that  all  so-called  actual  or  personal  sins,  committed  in  the  self- 
consciousness  of  freedom,  are  onJy  the  particular  forms  and  manifesta- 
tions of  original  sin, — the  boughs,  as  it  were,  and  branches,  and  blos- 
soms, and  fruits  of  the  wicked  stem  and  its  root.:}:  The  Catholics,  on 
the  other  hand,  believe  that  in  fallen  and  unregenerated  man,  the 
transition  from  original  to  actual  sin  is  determined  by  free-will,  which 
possesses  the  power  to  resist  the  carnal  propensity  in  a  manner  not 
totally  unsuccessful,  and  not  merely  exterior :  although  abandoned  to 
itself,  it  is  unable  to  accomplish  perfect  actions,  in  their  inward  spirit 
morally  good,  and  consequently  acceptable  to  God. 

On  this  Lutheran  doctrine  of  original  sin,  we  shall  now  take  the 
liberty  of  indulging  in  the  following  remarks.  It  is  not  to  be  denied 
that  the  feeling  which  called  forth  this  article  of  belief,  was  in  itself 
very  laudable.  It  evidently  sprang  out  of  a  deep  sense  of  human 
misery,  of  the  universal  sinfulness  of  mankind,  and  their  need  of  re- 
demption :  and  it  would  fain  keep  that  sentiment  alive.  If  we  acknow- 
ledge this  with  pleasure,  it  is  yet  equally  certain,  that  the  doctrine  in 
question  attains  this  object  only  where  thought  does  not  exercise  much 
sway,  and  we  yield  to  the  pressure  of  dark,  unconscious  feelings.  It 
is  forgotten  that  Avhen  God  makes  man  the  mere  mechanical  instru- 
ment of  his  activity — when  there  occurs  in  man  a  violent  oblitera- 
tion (so  revolting  to  all  rational,  and  still  more  to  all  Christian   minds) 


•*  Solid,  declar.  1.  c.  §  22.  "  Insuper  etiam  asserunt,  quod  iiatura  corrupta  ex  se 
viribus  suis  coram  Deo  nihil,  nisi  peccare,  possit." 

t  Solid,  declar.  ii.  de  lib.  arb.  §  14,  p.  632.  •'  Docent,  ut  ex  ingenio  et  natura  su&. 
lotus  sit  malus." 

X  Melancthon  loci  p.  19.  "  Scriptura  non  vocat  hoc  originale,  illud  actuale, 
peccatum  :  est  enim  et  originale  peccatum  plane  actualis  qusedam  prava  cupiditas," 
etc.  Luther,  Works,  Wittenberg,  Part  ii.  1551.  p.  335.  "And  original  sin  may  be 
called  tlie  arcli-sLn  or  chief  sin,  because  it  is  not  a  sin  which  is  committed  like  any 
other,  but  it  is  the  only  sin,  the  'inc  which  commits  and  incites  to  other  sins,  from 
which  all  other  sins  are  derived,  and  are  nought  else  than  the  mere  fruits  of  this 
hereditary*  or  arch-sin."  This  writing  was  from  the  pen  of  Justus  Menius,  but  the 
preface  was  composed  by  Luther.  In  the  work  entitled  "  Fundamental  Doctrines  of 
Dogmatic  Divinity,"  by  Dr.  iVIarheineke,  the  present  professor  of  theology  at  Berlin, 
second  edition,  §  2Ij7,  p.  158,  we  find  quite  the  same  principle  laid  down,  at  least 
quite  the  same  form  of  speech.  It  is  as  great  an  error  to  identify  the  sin  of  nature 
with  the  sin  of  person,  as  to  separate  the  latter  from  the  former.  There  is  here  the 
same  vice,  as  in  the  rude  antagonism  of  Nominalism  and  Realism. 


*  In   the  German  original,  sin  is  called  erb-sunde,  hereditary  sin.     The  play  of 
words  in  the  original  of  the  above  passage  cannot  be  rendered  in  English. —  Trans. 


152  EXPOSITION  OF  DOCTRINAL  DIFFERENCES 

of  a  natural  spiritual  facult}-,  and  indeed  the  moral  and  religious 
faculty, — (the  prerogative  which  solely  and  truly  distinguishes  him 
from  the  brute) — sin  then,  from  Adam  to  Christ,  must  be  a  thing  un- 
known, and  all  moral  must  be  transformed  into  physical  evil.  How 
should  man  sin,  when  he  has  not  even  the  faintest  knowledge  of  God 
and  of  his  own  destination  ;  when  he  has  not  the  faculty  to  will  what 
is  holy  ;  when  he  is  even  devoid  of  freedom  1  He  may  rave, — he  may 
be  furious, — he  may  destroy ;  but  his  mode  of  acting  cannot  be  con- 
sidered other  than  that  of  a  savage  beast. 

The  second  consideration,  which  presses  itself  upon  our  attention,  is 
this  :  that  Luther's  exaggeration,  so  soon  as  it  was  recognized  as  un- 
tenable by  his  disciples,  necessarily  led  the  way  to  another  doctrinal 
excess.  From  the  one  extreme  opinion,  that  through  Adam's  fall  all 
germs  of  good  were  utterly,  even  to  the  last  vestige,  eradicated  from 
the  whole  human  race,  men  passed  to  the  other  extreme,  that  even 
now,  man  in  every  respect  is  as  well  conditioned,  and  the  universe 
wears  as  good  an  aspect  for  him,  as  for  the  paradisaic  man.  As  soon 
as  the  dam  of  vigorous  but  unenlightened  feelings  was  broken  through, 
nothing  could  prevent  the  whole  doctrine  of  the  fall  being  swept  away  : 
for  this  in  fact  was  the  offspring  of  the  most  confused  feelings,  and  in 
its  construction  no  scope  had  been  conceded  to  the  influence  of  the 
higher  intellectual  faculties. 

Thirdly.  When,  in  the  times  of  the  primitive  Church,  the  heathens 
so  often  put  the  question,  Wherefore  did  God  send  the  Redeemer  only 
after  thousands  of  years,  which  had  elapsed  since  the  fall,  and  deny  him 
to  so  many  generations  ?  the  holy  fathers  (as,  for  instance,  the  author 
of  the  epistle  to  Diognetus  and  Saint  Irenaeus)  were  wont,  viewing  the 
subject  from  the  pedagogic  point  of  view,  to  make  the  following  reply  : 
The  Almighty,  by  a  long  and  severe  experience,  wished  to  teach  the 
human  race  what,  when  abandoned  to  itself,  it  was  capable  of.  He 
designed  to  bring  it  thus  to  self-knowledge,  to  consciousness  of  its  sin- 
fulness and  guilt,  to  a  lively  feeling  of  its  disorders,  and  to  a  sense  of 
humiliation  before  Him,  in  order  to  awaken  within  it  a  more  intense 
desire  after  supernal  aid,  and  to  cause  that  aid  to  be  received  with  a 
clearer  insight  as  to  its  absolute  necessity  for  redemption.  The  theo- 
logians of  the  Middle  Ages,  also,  frequently  gave  the  same  reply.* 


*  Bonav.  Brevilog.  p.  iv.  c.  4.  Opp.  ed.  Lugd.  1668,  p.  27.  '■  Ratio  aulcm  ad 
intelligentiam  horuin  htec  est :  quia  incamatio  est  opus  primi  principii  reparantis 
juxta  quod  decet  et  convenit  secundum  libertatem  arbitrii,  secundum  sublimitatem 
remedii,  et  secundum  intcgritatcm  universi :  nam  sapientissinius  artifex  in  agendo 
omnia  hsec  attendit.     Quoniara  ergo  libertas  arbitrii  hoc  requirit,  ut  ad  nihil  tradatiir 


BETWEEN  CATHOLICS  AND   PROTESTANTS,  153 

But  what  reply  could  the  Lutheran  divines  make  ?  That  man,  with- 
out the  faculty  of  knowledge  and  of  will  for  divine  things,  must  remain 
far  from  God  and  his  kingdom,  is  very  conceivable  ;  it  is  as  evident  as 
that  a  man,  having  no  feet,  cannot  walk.  But  to  what  end  is  this  act 
of  violence,  that  obliterated  from  the  soul  of  man  all  religious  aptitude 
— the  very  image  of  the  Creator?  Who  would,  in  such  case,  venture 
on  a  Theodicea  ?  who,  even  in  the  slightest  degree,  would  be  bold 
enough  to  justify  Providence  in  the  drama  of  the  world's  history? 

The  Formulary  of  Concord  attempts,  moreover,  to  extract  from  its 
theory  some  grain  of  solace.  It  observes,  that,  if  the  Christian  Can 
discover  in  himself  only  a  little  spark  of  desire  after  eternal  life,  he  may, 
by  this  feeling,  convince  himself,  that  God  has  commenced  His  opera- 
tions within  him ;  and  he  may  joyfully  look  forward  to  the  moment, 
when  He  will  consummate  the  work  begun.* 

From  the  opinion,  that  in  fallen  man  all  the  higher  spiritual  facul- 
ties are  utterly  destroyed,  it  follows  of  course,  that  not  the  faintest  or 
remotest  longing  after  God  could  spring  up  in  his  bosom  :  but  if  such 
a  desire  exist  in  the  Christian,  then,  in  the  opinion  of  the  authors  of  the 
above-named  symbolical  writing,  such  a  desire  is  the  surest  proof  that 
the  work  of  regeneration  is  begun.  But  from  the  belief,  that  in  man, 
after  his  fall,  there  still  survives  the  religious  aptitude,  and  that  there- 
fore the  possibility  of  higher  aspirations  yet  remains,  no  such  consola- 
tion, according  to  these  authors,  can  possibly  flow  !  A  dangerous  self, 
delusion  !  for  that  even  in  the  breast  of  the  heathens  such  a  divine 


invita,  sic  debuit  Deus  genus  humanum  reparare,  ut  salutem  inveniret,  qui  vellet 
quserere  salvatorem  ;  qui  vero  nollet  quasrere  salvatorem,  nee  salutem  per  consequens 
inveniret.  Nullus  autem  quserit  mcdicuni,  nisi  recognoscat  morbum  :  nullus  quaerit 
adjiitorem,  nisi  recognoscat  se  impotentem.  Quia  igitur  homo  in  principio  sui  lapsus 
adhuc  superbiebat  de  scientia  et  virtute  ;  ideo  prsemisit  Deus  tempus  legis  natura;,  in 
quo  convmcerctur  de  ignorantia.  Et  post  cognita  ignorantiS,,  sed  per  mancnte 
superbi  de  virtute,  qua  dicebant,  non  deest  qui  faciat,  sed  deest  qui  jubcat,  addidit 
legem  preceptis  moralibus  erudientem,  ceremonialibus  aggravantem :  ut  habits. 
Ecientia.  et  cognita,  impotentia,  confugeret  homo  ad  divinum  misericordiam  etgratiam 
postulandam,  quae  data  est  nobis  in  adventu  Christi :  ideO  post  legem  naturae  et 
Bcripturae  subsequi  debuit  incarnatio  Verbi."  We  see  how  this  whole  theory,  to  which 
St.  Paul  in  his  epistle  to  the  Galatians  has  furnished  the  first  materials,  is  based  on 
Freedom.  Compare  Alex.  Halens.  sum.  theolog.  p.  111.  Q.  L.  V.,  art.  ii.  Ed.  Ven. 
1575,  p.  231.  b.     Also  Hugh  St.  Victor,  and  others. 

*  Solid,  declar.  ii.  §  11.  p.  631.  "  Deus  est,  qui  operatur  in  nobis  velle  et  perficere 
pro  bona  voluntate  ;  quae  Scripturffi  dulcissima  sententia  omnibus  piis  mentibus,  quae 
scintillulam  aliquam  et  desiderium  gratis  divinae  ct  vita?  aetemae  in  cordibus  suis 
Bcntiunt,  eximiam  consolationem  ofFert.  Certi  enim  sunt,  quod  Deus  ipse  initiura  il  ud 
verse  pietatis  tanquam  flammulam  in  cordibus  ipsorum  accendeiit,"  etc. 


154  EXPOSITION  OF    DOCTRINAL  DIFFERENCES 

spark  bcj-ond  a  doubt  still  glowed,  is  evident,  from  a  contemplation  of 
their  history,  on  which  we  shall  now  take  the  liberty  of  offering  a  few 
remarks. 

§  VII.  Considerations  on  Heathenism,  in  reference  to  the  doctrines  controverted 
between  the  two  Churches. 

We  said  above,  that  a  very  different  representation  would  be  formed 
of  the  entire  history  of  mankind,  according  as  we  contemplated  it  from 
the  Catholic,  or  the  orthodox  Lutheran,  point  of  view.  We  are  now 
enabled  to  make  good  this  assertion  ;  but  before  entering  on  the  proof, 
we  wish  to  premise  a  few  remarks,  for  which  we  beg  to  claim  the  indul- 
gence of  the  reader,  as  he  will  meet  with  statements  in  part  previously 
advanced. 

Nothing  more  distressing  for  the  Church  could  possibly  occur,  than 
to  see  herself  called  upon  to  set  a  limit  to  the  idea  of  the  magnitude  of 
original  sin.  For  it  becometh  the  Christian  to  give  himself  up  with  all 
his  soul  to  an  infinite  grief  at  that  alienation  from  God,  and  at  that 
misery,  wherein  fallen  humanity  is  sunk  ;  and  it  is  irksome,  amid  feel- 
ings of  sorrow,  which  are  boundless  in  themselves,  to  be  obliged  to  think 
of  a  hmitation  to  an  error,  that  rushes  with  violence  from  an  extraneous 
source.  It  is,  however,  consoling  for  the  Church  that  this  limitation 
should  be  made,  in  order  to  uphold  the  notion  of  moral  evil,  and  thereby 
to  impart  to  the  sense  of  pain  and  sorrow  a  true  and  a  solid  basis, 
which,  as  has  been  stated  above,  is  wanting  in  the  system  of  her  adver- 
saries. It  is  only  so  long  as  an  irregular  excitement  of  the  feelings  and 
the  imagination  endures,  that  it  can  furnish  any  nurture  to  this  sense  of 
pain.  But  so  soon  as  this  ebullition  of  sentiment  subsides,  and  calm, 
sober  reflection  awakes,  the  utter  groundlessness  of  such  feelings  is  dis- 
covered, and  then  they  totally  vanish,  along  with  their  empty  motives. 
What  man  can  grieve,  on  perceiving  that  his  existence  is  not  conse- 
crated to  God,  so  soon  as  he  seriously  reflects  on  the  import  of  those 
words,  that  God  had  deprived  him  of  all  power  for  so  doing  ?  To  re- 
cognize the  evil  in  its  true  and  entire  magnitude,  it  should  not  be  repre- 
sented in  such  exaggerated  colours,  as  we  find  it  in  the  public  formula- 
ries of  the  Lutheran  faith.  Hence,  if  in  the  following  pages  we  lay 
before  our  readers  a  sketch  of  the  religious  and  ethical  life  of  the  hea- 
then nations, — a  sketch  hitherto  rarely  or  never  completed  from  the 
Catholic  point  of  view, — we  trust  no  one  will  imagine  we  are  insensible 
to  the  enormity  of  that  hereditary  evil  which  afflicts  our  race,  and 
thereby  to  the  fulness  of  the  blessings  conferred  by  the  Redeemer.  It 
is  precisely  in  order  to  give  a  firm  basis  to  our  feelings  of  thankfulness 
to  Him,  that  we  bring  out  the  brighter  side  of  the  heathen  world  ;  and 


BETWEEN  CATHOLICS  AND  PROTESTANTS.  155 

we  can  only  regret  to  be  obliged  to  give  no  more  than  a  very  imperfect 
account  of  the  subject. 

The  extensive  researches  of  our  age  in  the  ancient  world,  and  the 
remotest  parts  of  the  New  Continent,  have  brilliantly  corroborated  the 
truth  of  the  Catholic  doctrine,  respecting  fiillen  man.  No  people  has 
been  found  without  a  belief  in  God,  and  without  sacrifices,  whereby  it 
rendered  its  homage  to  the  Deity.  Nowhere  are  the  religious  ideas 
found  pure, — nay,  everywhere  they  are  polluted  with  great  errors  ;  yet 
in  superstition  faith  lies  concealed  ;  and  this  is  the  good  element  in  the 
former.  Even  in  the  grossest  Fetish-worship,  the  aspiration  of  the 
human  soul  towards  God  is  not  to  be  denied  ; — it  proves,  that  fallen  man, 
to  speak  the  language  of  the  Lutheran  formularies,  is  still  in  possession 
of  spiritual  powers. 

Melancthon  appears  to  have  had  a  perception  of  the  weight,  which 
this  fact  throws  into  the  Catholic  scale,  for  the  endeavours  to  restore  the 
equipoise,  by  observing,  that  these  remnants  of  faith  are  to  be  ascribed 
to  primitive  traditions.*  Without  these  traditions,  doubtless  (and  this 
was  ever  the  CathoUc  view,)  faith  would  have  been  lost ;  but  had  they 
not  likewise  found  in  the  breast  of  man  a  point  of  contact  and  a  hold, 
they  could  not  possibly  have  been  preserved.  As  things  merely  extra- 
neous to  man,  they  must  have  soon  been  entirely  forgotten,  and  have 
perished. 

The  union  of  men  in  social  life,  and  the  formation  of  states,  were 
certainly  not  possible  without  religion  ;  and  this  truth  is  evidenced  by 
the  fact,  that  nations  had  their  divinities,  to  whose  protection  they  com- 
mitted their  commonwealth,  to  whom  they  erected  temples,  and  sent  up 
their  supplications.  The  nations  manifested  thereby  a  sense  of  their 
dependence  on  a  higher  power,  which,  although  it  received  no  worthy 
adoration,  yet  really  guided  and  protected  the  suppliants.  This  inde- 
structible propensity  in  man  to  unite  and  to  associate  with  his  fellows, 
is  at  bottom  eminently  religious,  and  is  an  indelible  proof  of  surviving 
faculties  of  a  higher  kind.  The  man  all  evil  (fotus  mains)  would  have 
felt  no  social  inclinations,  and  he  and  his  fellows  must  have  annihilated 


*  Melancth.  loci,  theol.  p.  67.  "  Ita  ut  mihi  poene  libeat  vocare  legem  naturae  non 
aliquod  congenitum  judicium  seu  insitum  et  insculptum  natura  mentibus  hominum, 
sed  leges  acceptas  h  patribus  et  quasi  per  manus  traditas  subinde  posteritati.  Ut  de 
creatione  rerum,  de  colendo  Deo  docuit  posteros  Adam  :  sic  Cainum  docuit,  ne  fra- 
trem  occideret."  The  Solida  Declaratio  asserts  still  more  (§  ix.  p.  630  ;)  but  in  per- 
fect contradiction  with  itself.  It  says,  that  human  reason  retains  a  little  spark  of  the 
knowledge  that  there  is  a  God  ("  notitia;  illiusscintillulam,  quod  sit  Dcus;")  but  how 
is  this  possible  without  a  spark  of  spiritual  powers  (''  scintillula  spiritualium  viriura  "?) 


156  EXPOSITION  OF  DOCTRINAL  DIFFERENCES 

each  other  in  the  savage  conflict,  had,  even  under  such  circumstances, 
a  plurality  of  men  by  possibility  come  into  existence.  When  Calvin 
imagined  these  societies, — these  types  of  the  future  Church, — to  have 
been  formed  without  religion,  and  without  faith,  and  to  have  sprung  up 
solely  out  of  the  exercise  of  man's  lower  faculties,  he  proved  himself  ut- 
terly unacquainted  with  their  nature.* 

This  is  especially  exemplified  in  China, — that  empire  of  the  Medium, 
— vvhich,  according  to  the  spirit  of  its  primitive  constitution,  was  des- 
tined to  be  a  real  theocracy.  The  emperor  was  to  hearken  to  the  voice 
of  God,  and  be  His  organ  in  respect  to  the  people,  who  formed  the 
family  of  the  prince.  All  evils  and  calamities,  which  afflict  the  citizens 
of  this  paternal  empire,  are,  according  to  this  principle,  considered  as 
divinely  inflicted  chastisements  for  disobedience  to  the  invisible  ruler  ; 
and  moral  improvement,  and  recurrence  to  pious  ancestral  simplicity, 
are  looked  upon  as  the  condition  for  the  renewal  of  the  country's  pros- 
perity. Who  could  suppose  the  spiritual  powers  of  man  to  be  oblitera- 
ted here,  where  the  religious  view  of  all  existence  is  so  consummate, 
and  is  interwoven  with  the  inmost  vitals  of  the  constitution  and  admi- 
nistration of  the  state?  Who  has  ever  read  any  fragments  of  the 
writings  of  the  Chinese  sages,  without  admiring  the  earnest  view  of 
life,  the  excellent  ethical  precepts,  and  the  often  profound  wisdom 
which  they  frequently  exhibit  ?  Doubtless,  Melancthon  would  have 
passed  on  the  virtues  of  Lao-tseu,  Confucius,  and  Mang-tseu,  the  same 
sentence  he  pronounced  on  the  fortitude  of  Socrates,  the  continence  of 
Xenocrates,  and  the  temperance  of  Zeno, — to  wit,  that  only  selfish 
motives  were  at  the  bottom  of  these  qualities,  and  that  hence  they 
should  be  accounted  vices. ■{•  We  undoubtedly  are  not  disposed  to  re- 
vere these  Chinese  or  Greek  sages,  as  pure  patterns  of  virtue,  who,  as 
far  as  they  rested  on  themselves,  could  stand  before  the  judgment-seat 
of  God,  or  to  assert  that  all  their  endeavours  flowed  from  a  source  ac- 
ceptable to  God.  But  the  question  is  not,  whether  any  one,  who 
neither  knows  Christ,  nor  is  penetrated  by  his  light,  nor  strengthened 
by  his  divine  grace,  be  in  and  by  himself  pure  and  just  in  the  eyes  of 
God  ;  but  the  question  is,  whether  fallen  man  be  entirely  corrupted, 
whether  all  which   he   does  and    thinks  be   sin,:}:  and  be  damnable,§ 

*  Calvin.  Instit.  lib.  ii.  c.  2,  §  13,  p.  87. 

t  Melancth.  loc.  theolog  p.  22.  "  Esto  fuerit  quffidam  in  Socrate  constantia,  in 
Xenocrate  castitas,  in  Zenone  temperantia  .  .  .  non  debent  pro  veris  virtutibus,  sed 
pro  vitiis  haberi " 

t  Melancth.  1.  c.  "  Ncgant  tamen  (Pelagiani)  earn  esse  vim  peccati  originalis,  ut 
omnia  hominum  opera,  omnes  hominum  conatus  sint  peccata." 

§  Calvin  Instit  lib.  ii.  c.  3,  fol.  93.  The  title  of  the  chapter  runs  even  to  the 
effect :  "  Ex  corrupta  hominis  naturil  nihil  nisi  damnabile  prodire." 


BETWEEN  CATHOLICS  AND  PROTESTANTS.  167 

■vvhether  he  have  lost  all  moral  and  religious  qualities,  whether  those 
virtues  ought  to  be  considered  as  things  merely  extraneous,  and  in  na 
more  intimate  relation  to  man,  than  wealth  and  corporeal  beauty.* 
This  we  deny,  and  deny  at  the  risk  (not  indeed  very  great  in  our  times,) 
of  this  being  imputed  to  us  as  a  crime,  and  of  our  being  held  up  as  bad 
theologians,  in  the  same  way  as  Philip  and  Melancthon  reproached  our 
noble  ancestors  for  having  introduced  into  the  schools  philosophic  stu- 
dies, and  recommended  the  reading  of  Plato  and  Aristotle,  the  former 
full  of  presumption  which  he  easily  communicates  to  his  admirers,  and 
the  latter,  in  fact,  teaching  only  the  art  of  contention. ■!•  That  those 
venerable  men  were  yet  capable  of  better  conceptions  and  higher  moral 
exertions,  the  Catholic  deems  a  proof  of  the  surviving  faculties  for  good 
in  the  human  breast.  That  those  conceptions  were  not  pure,  and  those 
exertions  not  perfect,  nay,  very  imperfect,  and  for  the  most  part  posi- 
tively evil,  he  holds  to  be  a  necessary  consequence  of  the  fall. 

Let  us  now  turn  from  the  Chinese  to  the  Hindoos.  The  feeling  of 
estrangement  from  God,  and  of  the  deep  degradation  of  humanity,  was 
so  intense  among  the  latter,  that  they  conceived  the  infantine  (and 
when  we  take  into  consideration  the  intellectual  modes  of  conception 
in  the  youthful  world,  which  in  order  to  preserve  the  pure,  eternal  idea 
of  man  in  God,  ever  imparted  to  it  a  concrete  reality  in  time,)  they 
conceived  the  no  less  infantine  and  amiable,  than  earnest,  doctrine  of 
the  pre-existence  of  spirits,  who  on  account  of  their  sins  had  been  by 
God  cast  out  on  the  earth.  Hence,  they  looked  on  all  human  existence 
as  a  period  graciously  vouchsafed  by  God  for  purification  and  purga- 
tion, as  this  is  so  clearly  and  vividly  expressed  in  the  well-known  frag- 
ment of  Holwell,  and  is  generally  believed  not  only  in  Hindostan,  but  in 
Thibet,  in  the  kingdom  of  the  Birmese,  by  the  Siamese,  &;c.  This  idea 
is  also  stamped  on  the  civil  life  of  the  Hindoos,  and  is  particularly  per- 
ceptible in  the  mutual  relations  of  the  several  castes. 

Who  can  possibly,  we  ask,  be  so  painfully  alive  to  this  alienation 
from  God,  without  retaining  in  his  bosom  something  kindred  to  divinity, 
— the  image  of  the  God-head  ?     Were  the  means,  employed  to  attain 


*  Melancth.  1.  c.  "  Effundit  autem  hujusmodi  virtutum  umbras  Deis  in  gentes, 
m  impios  quosvis  non  alitor  atque  formam,  opes,  et  similia  dona  largitur."  Thus  ia 
a  manner  purely  mechanical,  so  that  no  higher  spiritual  activity  was  to  be  found. 
Moreover,  such  a  view  is  doubtless  consistent,  when  man  no  longer  possesses  spiritual 
faculties  for  the  exercise  of  virtue. 

t  "  Pseudotheologi  nostri  falsi  caeco  naturfe  judicio  commendarunt  nobis  phUoso- 
phica  studia.  Quantum  in  Platone  tumoris  est  et  fastds  ?  Neque  facile  fieri  mihi 
posse  videtur,  quin  ab  illi  Platonica  ambitione,  contrahat  aliquid  vitii,"  etc. 


15S  EXPOSITION  OF  DOCTRINAL  DIFFERENCES 

to  the  reunion  with  the  Deity,  mistaken,  they  were  so,  only  because  no 
other  name  is  given  to  us,  whereby  we  can  be  just  before  God.  save  that 
of  Christ  Jesus  alone.  But  in  these  oft  convulsive,  these  most  tragic 
efforts  to  be  united  again  to  God,  lies  the  irrefragable  evidence  of  the 
desire  after  eternal  life  never  obliterated  from  the  breast  of  man.  Who 
can  look  at  the  temples  of  Elephanta  and  Salsette,  and  deny  the  Hin- 
doos the  capability  of  religious  feeling?  Who  has  ever  reflected  on 
their  doctrine  of  the  present  period  of  humanity, — the  Cali-yuga,  in  its 
relation  to  anterior  ages,  and  can  refuse  to  acknowledge  the  deep  sense 
of  the  ever-growing  degeneracy  of  mankind,  which  this  people  hereby 
evinces  1  Who  has  ever  examined  their  doctrines  on  the  divine  incar- 
nations, and  can  fail  to  recognize  in  them  the  remote  desire  at  least  for 
a  divine  deliverance  from  the  fall? — a  desire,  indeed,  which  is  to  be 
found  in  all  antiquity.  If  the  earlier  Indian  theism  often  degenerated 
into  pantheism,  we  must  seek  the  cause  of  this  in  the  finite  reason  of 
man,  more  and  more  debilitated  by  the  progress  of  sinfulness.  But  that 
no  atheism, — no  consummate  impiety, — was  openly  avoAved,  we  must 
ascribe  to  that  indelible  imago  of  God  stamped  on  the  human  soul. 

What  would  a  Luther  and  Melancthon,  a  Musaeus  and  Wigand,  a 
Flacius  and  Hesshuss,  have  replied  to  any  one,  who  had  pointed  to  them 
the  doctrine  of  the  Parsi,  who  were  so  deeply  impressed  with  a  sense  of 
the  monstrosity  of  evil,  that  they  were  at  a  loss  how  to  explain  its  ex- 
istence in  the  good  creation,  otherwise  than  by  supposing  some  self- 
existent  wicked  principle,  who  eternally  counteracted  the  good  one? 
Doth  not  a  tenderer  religious  feeling  lie  here  concealed,  than  in  the 
above-stated  opinion  of  Melancthon,  Calvin,  and  Beza,  that  the  good,  holy 
God  Himself  instigates  to  evil,  and  needs  the  same  for  the  execution  of 
His  designs  ?  If  the  Parsi  confounded  moral  and  physical  evil, — if 
they  did  not  at  least  duly  separate  them, — this  by  no  means  justifies  an 
objection  against  the  judgment  we  have  pronounced  ;  for  we  would 
have  only  invited  the  Reformers  to  reflect,  whether  their  doctrine  were 
better  than  that  of  the  Parsi,  Avho  were  so  very  differently  circum- 
stanced (for  they  were  ignorant  of  the  Christian  doctrine,)  while  the 
Reformers  contended  against  the  truth,  which  shone  beside  them  in  all 
its  lustre. 

In  the  whole  ancient  world  we  discern  a  seeking  after  truth.  Let 
us  but  consider  what  that  signifies !  If  none  by  their  own  faculties 
were  enabled  to  discover  it, — for  to  every  creature  must  it  be  com- 
municated,— still  it  was  the  object  of  desire.  The  man  all  evil, — the 
man  who  hath  been  despoiled  of  all  spiritual  powers, — in  whom  the 
likeness  of  God  hath  been  utterly  efiaced, — strives  not  after  truth, 
and  cannot  so  strive.     Undoubtedly,  truth  was  but  too  frequently  sought 


BETWEEN  CATHOLICS  AND  PROTESTANTS.  159 

for  in  the  world  of  creatures  ;  and  it  was  only  rarely  that  man  could 
persuade  himself  to  raise  a  look  of  joy  upwards  to  heaven.  But  if  ,we 
discover  one  such  example  only,  it  can  then  be  no  longer  a  matter  of 
doubt,  that  man  could  do  so,  when  he  wished, — and  the  freedom,  even 
of  the  fallen  creature,  is  then  fully  established. 

History  makes  us  acquainted  with  endless  gradations  of  moral  cha- 
racter, and  religious  forms.  From  the  most  hideous  depravity,  up  to 
an  affecting  piety,  we  find  living  examples  in  countless  grades ;  and  in 
all  these  do  we  find  no  evidence  of  moral  freedom,  but  merely  of  an 
outward  and  civil  liberty.  Why  was  one  individual,  in  exactly  the 
same  relations,  other  than  his  fellow  man,  in  a  moral  and  religious  point 
of  view  ?  In  truth,  if  everything  be  unconditionally  referred  to  God, — 
everything  considered  as  His  deed,  and  evil,  as  well  as  good,  ascribed 
to  Him,  as  the  primary  cause,— then  assuredly  we  shall  find  no  evi- 
dence of  the  truth,  that  man,  even  in  his  fall,  has  retained  his  freedom, 
and  is  endowed  with  moral  and  religious  faculties,  the  use  whereof  is 
left  to  himself:  then  we  must  cease  to  speak  of  good  and  of  evil,  and 
must  class  the  opinion  of  an  all  holy  God,  and  of  man's  moral  capabili- 
ties, among  the  dreams  of  fancy. 

History,  accordingly,  confirms  the  Catholic  doctrine  of  original  sin, 
and  incontrovertibly  demonstrates,  that  deep  as  his  fall  might  have 
been,  man  lost  not  his  freedom,  nor  was  despoiled  of  the  image  of  God  ; 
that  not  all  which  he  thought  and  did,  was  necessarily  sinful  and 
damnable  ;  and  that  he  possessed  something  more  than  the  "  mere 
liberty  to  sin," — as  the  Lutheran  symbolical  books  assure  us.  More- 
over, it  is  by  no  means  astonishing,  when  we  consider  the  extravagance 
of  the  view,  as  to  the  world  before  Christ,  expressed  in  the  Lutheran 
formularies,  that  in  the  course  of  time,  it  should  have  been  opposed  by 
another  opinion  equally  extravagant, — an  opinion  which  regards  the 
profoundest  doctrines  of  the  Gospel  as  mere  heir-looms  of  heathenism : 
or  even,  in  the  mildest  view,  holds  Christianity  to  be  a  natural  result  of 
the  progress  of  our  species,  and  consequently  reveres  paganism,  inde- 
pendently of  man's  full,  as  a  stage,  necessary  in  itself,  of  human  civili- 
zation. 

§  viu. — Doctrine  of  the  Calvinists  on  original  sin. 

In  their  account  of  original  sin  and  its  consequences,  the  Calvinists 
did  not  proceed  to  near  such  lengths  as  the  Lutherans.  It  may  cer- 
tainly be  asserted  in  more  than  one  respect,  that  the  Reformed  system 
of  doctrine,  as  invented  or  arranged  by  Calvin,  derived  on  many  points 
undeniable  advantasres  from  the  mistakes  and  errors  of  the  earlier  Re. 


160  EXPOSITION  OF  DOCTRINAL  DIFFERENCES 

formers.  Hence  the  more  learned  and  scientific  Calvin  shows  himself 
here  and  there  more  equitable  towards  the  Catholics,  presents  their 
doctrine  at  times  in  a  form  not  quite  so  disfigured  as  his  predecessors* 
and  on  the  whole  proceeds  with  far  more  calmness  and  circumspection 
than  Luther.  Thus  it  happened,  that,  in  the  same  way  as  Zwingle's 
cold  and  inane  theory  on  the  sacrament  of  the  altar  was  by  Calvin 
brought  much  nearer  to  the  true  Christian  standard,  so,  in  the  doctrine 
which  now  engages  our  attention,  only  a  slight  removal  from  the  truth 
is  perceptible.  But  this  retrogade  movement,  when  it  occurred, — for 
it  did  not  often  take  place, — was  almost  always  brought  about  at  the 
cost  of  clearness  and  distinctness  of  ideas;  and  if  the  mitigation  of  a 
too  great  severity  afford  pleasure,  the  uncertainty  and  fluctuation  of 
notions  that  is  substituted,  is  but  the  more  perplexing. 

Even  Calvin  expresses  himself  in  various  ways  respecting  original 
sin  and  its  consequences.  In  some  places  he  says,  the  image  of  God 
has  been  utterly  effaced  from  the  soul  of  man.*  In  other  passages  he 
expresses  the  same  thing  to  the  following  effect.  "  Man,"  says  he, 
"  has  been  so  banished  from  the  kingdom  of  God,  that  all  in  him  which 
bears  reference  to  the  blessed  life  of  the  soul,  is  extinct  ;f  and  he 
asserts,  that  man  has  received  again  organs  for  the  divine  kingdom  only, 
by  the  new  creation  in  Christ  Jesus.ij: 

These  assertions  are,  however,  opposked  by  other  passages,  in  which 
it  is  asserted,  that  the  divine  image  stamped  on  the  human  soul,  has 
never  been  totally  destroyed  and  obliterated,  but  only  fearfully  dis- 
figured, mutilated,  and  deformed. § 

The  same  indistinctness,  the  same  vacillation  is  apparent,  when 
Calvin  investigates  in  detail  the  faculties  yet  belonging  to  the  sinful 
and  unregenerated  man :  or  when  he  subjects  to  a  most  comprehensive 
examination  the  principle  of  freedom,  which,  according  to  the  Catholic 
dogma,  survives  even  in  fallen  man.     He  observes,  that  reason   {ratio, 


*  Calvin.  Instit.  lib.  iii.  c.  2,  n.  12.  "  Dcnique  sicut  primi  hominis  dcfcctione 
deleri  potuit  ex  ejus  mente  et  anima  imago  Dei,"  etc. 

t  Calv  n.  Instit.  lib.  ii.  c.  2,  §  12,  p.  86.  "  Unde  sequitur,  ita  exulare  i  regno 
Dei,  ut  qufECumque  ad  bcatam  animtE  vitam  spcctant,  in  eo  extincta  sint." 

X  Calvin.  Instit.  lib.  iii.  c.  29.  $  2,  p.  355.  "  Ac  ne  glorictur,  quod  vocanti  et 
ultro  se  offerenti  saltern  respondent,  nullus  ad  audicndum  esse  aures,  nullos  ad 
videndum  oculos  afRrmat  Deus,  nisi  quos  ipse  fecerit." 

§  Calvin.  Instit.  lib.  i.  c.  15,  §  4,  p.  57.  "  Etsi  demus  non  prorsus  cxinanitam  ac 
deletam  in  eo  fuisse  Dei  imaginem,  sic  tamen  corrupta  fuit,  ut,  quidquid  superest, 
horrcnda  sit  deformitas.  Ergo  quum  Dei  imago  sit  integra  natura;  humanas  pra;stan- 
tia,  quae  refulsit  in  Adam  ante  defectioncm,  postca  sic  vitiata  ac  prope  delcta  est,  ut 
nihil  ex  ruina,  nisi  confusum,  mutilum,  labeque  infectum  supersit,"  etc. 


BETWEEN  CATHOLICS  AND  PROTESTANTS.  161 

infellecfzts),  and  the  will  (voluntas,)  could  not  be  eradicated  From  man,  for 
these  faculties  formed  the  characteristic  distinction  between  man  and 
the  brute.*  In  the  circle  of  social  institutions,  of  the  liberal  and  me- 
chanical  arts,  of  logic,  dialectics,  and  mathematics,  he  accords  to  reason 
(he  had  better  said  understanding)  the  most  glorious  scope,  even  among 
the  heathens ;  and  takes  occasion  to  indulge  in  a  bitter  sally  against 
that  contempt  of  philosophy,  so  prevalent  among  the  Protestants  of  his 
day.'f'  But  when  he  comes  to  describe  the  religious  and  moral  facul- 
ties of  man,  then  the  most  singular  indistinctness  appears.  As  regards 
the  knowledge  of  God,  he  by  no  means  calls  in  question,  that  some 
truths  were  found  scattered  even  among  the  nations  unfavoured  with  a 
special  divine  revelation  ;  and  he  seems,  on  that  account,  not  to  approve 
the  opinion  of  a  total  destruction  of  the  spiritual  powers.:]:  But,  then, 
he  destroys  the  hope  which  this  concession  offers,  by  adding,  that  the 
Almighty  had  granted  such  glimpses  in  the  depth  of  night,  in  order  to 
be  able  to  condemn,  out  of  their  own  mouth,  the  men  whom  they  had 
been  imparted  to,  or  rather  forced  on  ;  for  then  they  could  not  excuse 
themselves  as  having  been  unacquainted  with  the  ways  of  the  Lord.§ 

Accordingly,  he  appears  again  indisposed  to  regard  those  traces  of 
the  true  knowledge  of  God,  as  the  result  and  property  of  higher  human 
faculties  co-operating  with  God.  Nay,  he  seems  to  look  upon  them  as 
the  consequence  of  some  strange  and  marvellous  influence  of  the  Deity 
upon  certain  men,  for  certain  purposes  ;  and  this  is  the  more  remark- 
able, as  he  elsewhere  deduces  the  anxiety  for  a  good  reputation  from 
the  feeling  of  shame,  and  this  again  from  the  innate  sense  of  justice 
and  virtue,  wherein  the  germ  of  religion  is  already  involved. |j  Thus 
we  see  throughout,  a  sound,  excellent  mind,  struggling  for  the  victory 
with  disordered  feelings,  but,  after  a  short  vigorous  onset  for  the  mas- 
tery, compelled  to  succumb. 

Nearly  in  the  same  way  he  treats  the  moral  phenomena  of  the  ancient 


»  Calvin.  Instit.  lib.  ii.  c.  2,  $  22,  p.  86. 

t  L.  c.  §  15,  fol.  88.  "  Pudsatnos  tantae  ingratitudinis,  in  quam  non  incidcnint 
cthnici  poctfe,  qui  ct  philosophiam,  et  leges,  et  bonas  omnes  artes  Deorura  inventa 
«sse  confessi  sunt." 

t  L.  c  §  12,  fol.  86.  "  Hoc  sensu  dicit  Joannes,  lucem  adhuc  tenebris  lucere,  sed 
atenebris  non  comprehend i :  quibus  verbis  utrumque  clare  exprimitur,  in  perversa  et 
■degenere  hominis  natura  micare  adhuc  scintillas,  quae  ostendant,  rationale  esse  animal 
et  a  brutis  differe." 

^  L.  cit.  ^  18,  fol.  89.  "  Praebuit  quidem  illis  Dens  exiguum  divinitatissuse  gustum, 
ne  ignorantiam  impietati  obtenderent :  et  eos  interdura  ad  dicenda  nonnulla  impulit, 
■quorum  confessione  ipsi  convincerentur." 

II  L.  cit.  Ub.  i.  c.  15,  n.  8. 
11 


162  EXPOSITION  OF  DOCTRINAL  DIFFERENCES 

world.  The  Catholics  were  wont  at  times  to  refer  to  men,  like  Camil- 
lus,  and  from  their  lives  to  demonstrate  the  moral  freedom  enjoyed  even 
by  the  heathens,  and  the  remnants  of  good  to  be  found  among  them. 
They  defended,  moreover,  the  proposition,  that  God's  special  grace, 
communicated  for  the  sake  of  Christ's  merits,  working  retrospectively, 
and  confirming  the  better  surviving  sentiments  in  the  human  breast, 
is  undeniably  to  be  traced  in  many  phenomena.* 

What  course  does  Calvin  now  pursue  to  explain  such  phenomena  ? 
He  observes,  that  it  is  very  easy  to  let  ourselves  be  deceived  by  the 
same,  as  to  the  true  nature  of  corruption,  and  he  does  not  precisely 
deny  the  finer  traces  of  a  moral  spirit.  But,  he  says,  we  should  remem- 
ber that  the  Divine  grace  here  and  there  works  as  an  impediment,  not 
by  its  aid  to  strengthen  and  purify  the  interior  of  man,  but  mechanically 
to  prevent  the  otherwise  infallible  outbreaks  of  evil. f 

The  conduct  of  the  good  Camillus  he  accordingly  explains  by  the 
assumption,  that  it  might  have  been  purely  exterior  and  hypocritical, 
or  the  result  of  the  above-mentioned  grace  mechanically  repressing  evil 
in  his  breast,  but  in  no  wise  rendering  him  better  than  his  fellows.J 
By  such  more  than  mechanical  attempts  at  explanation,  Calvin  shows 
beyond  doubt,  that  when  he  speaks  of  reason  and  the  will  as  undestroyed 
and  indestructible  faculties  of  the  soul,  distinguishing  man  from  the 
brute,  he  is  far  from  thinking  that  man  has  preserved  out  of  his  un- 
happy catastrophe  any  moral  and  religious  powers  whatever. 

Extravagant,  however,  as  the  judgment  might  be  which  Calvin 
formed  of  unregenerated  man,§  he  yet  did  not  forget  hims;  If  so  far  as 


*  Constitut.  Unigenitus  (Harduin.  Consil.  torn.  xi.  fol.  1635).  This  bull  rejects, 
in  consequence,  the  following  Calvinistico-Jansenistical  propositions:  ''N.  xxvi. 
NuUse  dantur  gratise,  nisi  per  fidem."  "  N.  xxix.  Extra  ecclesiam  nulla  conceditur 
gratia."     By  fides,  "  faith  in  Christ,"  is  to  be  understood. 

t  Calvin.  Instit.  lib.  ii.  c.  3,  §  2,  fol.  94.     "  Exempla  igitur  ista  monere  nos  viden- 

tur,  ne  hominis  naturam  in  totum  vitiosam  putemus Scd  hie  succurrere   nobis 

debet,  ititer  illam  naturae  corruptionem  esse  nonnullum  Dei  gratise  locum,  non  quae 
illam  purget,  sed  quEe  intus  cohibeat." 

t  L.  cit.  $  3,  fol.  95.     "  Quid  autera,  si   animus  pravus   fucrit  et  contortus,  qui 

aliud  potius  quidvis  quam  rcctitudinera  sectatus  est  ? Quamquam  haec  certissima 

est  et  facillima  hujus  qusestionis  solutio,  non  esse  istas  communes  naturae  dotes,  sed 
speciales  Dei  gratias,  quas  varie  et  in  certum  modum  profanis  alioqui  hominibus  dis- 
pensat." 

§  Caltin.  Instit.  lib.  ii.  c.  Ti,  n.  19.  In  this  passage  he  says,  in  reference  to  the 
man  who  had  fallen  among  robbers,  whom  the  good  Samaritan  took  pity  on  :  "  Neque 
enira  dimidiam  homini  vitam  reliquit  Dei  verbum,  sed  penitus  interiisse  docct,  quan- 
tum ad  beatae  vitae  rationem."  The  Catholics  appealed  to  this  parable,  to  show  that 
fallen  man  still  retained  some  vital  powers.     Then  Calvin  proceeds :  "  Stet  ergo 


BETWEEN  CATHOLICS  AND   PROTESTANTS;  168 

the  Lutherans.  When  he  teaches  that  the  will  and  the  reason  exist 
even  after  the  fall,  he  means  there!)y  the  faculty  of  faith,  and  of  the 
higher  will.  Those  passages,  wherein  he  seems  to  deny  this  faculty  to 
fallen  man — and  of  these  there  are  very  many — must  be  corrected  by 
others,  wherein  he  expressly  asserts,  that,  when  he  speaks  of  a  destruction 
of  the  will,  he  understands  only  the  really  good  will,  and  not  the  mere 
faculty  of  will  ;*  so  that  the  opinion  of  Victorinus  Strigel,  which 
was  rejected  by  the  Lutherans,  appears  to  be  precisely  that  of  Calvin. 

Of  concupiscence,  moreover,  as  is  evident  from  the  preceding 
account,  Calvin  entertains  nearly  the  same  notion  as  the  Lutheran 
formularies  profess,!  only  that  he  is  unwilling  to  use  this  technical 
word :  and  hence  we  can  understand  why  in  the  confessions  of  the 
Calvinistic  Churches  it  is  but  very  rarely  employed.:}: 

As  regards  the  Calvinistic  formularies,  they  may  be  divided  into 
several  classes  ;  since  those  which  were  framed  under  the  immediate 
or  remoter  influence  of  Zwingle,  are  clearly  distinguishable  from  those 
wherein  the  spirit  of  Calvin  breathes.  In  the  Tetrapolitana  the  doc- 
trine of  original  sin  is  not  specially  treated,  but  is  only  incidentally 
touched  on  under  the  article  of  Justification  :  a  fact,  for  the  explana- 
tion whereof,  we  shall  have  occasion  to  notice  later  the  doctrine  of 
Zwingle  on  original  sin. 

The  most  ancient  Helvetic  Confessions  (ir.  and  in.)  express  them- 
selves on  this  head  with  much  caution  and  circumspection,  and  could 
we  be  only  assured  of  their  spirit, — that  is  to  say,  were  we  but  certain 
that  this  their  boasted  peculiarity  did  not  proceed  from  the  same  mo- 
tive which  induced  the  Tetrapolitana   to  take  no  special  notice  of  ori- 


nobis  indubia  esta  Veritas,  qu:B  nuUis  machinamcntis  quatefieri  potest ;  mcntem 
hominis  sic  alienatam  prorsus  &,  Dei  justitia,  ut  nihil  non  impium.  contortum  foeduin, 
impuruin,  flagitiosum  concipiat,  concupiscat,  moliatur :  cor  peccati  veneno  ita  penitus 
delibutum,  ut  nihil  quam  corruptum  fcetorem  cfflare  queat." 

*  Instit.  lib.  ii.  c.  3,  n.  6.  "  Voluiitatem  dico  aboleri,  non  quatenus  est  voluntas  : 
quia  in  hominis  conversione  integrum  manet,  quod  primce  est  natures  :  creari  etiam 
novam  dico,  non  ut  voluntas  esse  incipiat,  sed  ut  vertatur  ex  mala  in  bonum.  Htec 
in  solidum  a  Deo  fieri  affirmo."  Compare  lib.  i.  c.  5,  n.  16  ;  where  he  allows  that 
the  good  which  may  happen  tlu-ough  us,  may  be  called  our  own,  because  the  faculty 
of  will  is  ours. 

+  L.  c.  lib.  ii.  c.  1,  n.  8.  "  Neque  enim  natura  nostra  bom  tantum  inops  et  vacua 
est;  sed  malorum  omnium  adeo  fertilis  et  ferax  ut  otiosa  esse  non  possit-  Qui 
dixerunt  esse  concupisceiitiam,  non  nimis  alieno  vcrbo  usi  sunt,  si  modo  addcretur 
(quod  minime  conceditur  ci  plerisque,  namely,  the  Catholics)  quidquid  in  homine  est, 
peccatum  est,  ab  intellectu  ad  voluntatem,  ab  animS,  ad  carnem  usque,  hac  con- 
cupiscentii  inquinatum  refcrtumque  esse." 

t  Except  in  Article  ix.  of  tlie  Thirty-nme  Articles  of  the  Anghcan  Church,  I  do 
not  remember  to  have  read  it  anywhere. 


t64  EXPOSITION  OF  DOCTRINAL  DIFFERENCES 

ginal  sin, — they  might  call  forth  from  tho  Catholic,  expressions  of  per- 
fect satisfaction.* 

To  the  Helvetic  Confessions  we  may  add  that  of  the  Anglican 
Church,  which  on  every  point  endeavours  to  avoid  a  tone  of  exag" 
geration.f 

The  first  Helvetic  Confession,  (which  however  is  not  the  most 
ancient,)  the  Gallic,  Belgian,  and  Scotch  Confessions  on  the  other 
hand,  unequivocally  express  Calvin's  doctrine,  that  man  is  thoroughly 
and  entirely  corrupted.:]:  However,  in  these,  as  in  the  writings  of 
Calvin,  we  meet  with  many  indeterminate  and  wavering  expressions. 
It  is  worthy  of  observation,  moreover,  that  the  first  Helvetic  formulary 
pronounces  the  Lutheran  opinion,  that  fallen  man  no  longer  possesses 
the  faculty  of  will  and  knowledge  for  the  kingdom  of  God,  to  be 
Manichean.§ 

The  following  fact  is  worthy  of  our  attention  : — • 

Even  the  Confessions  of  the  Reformed  consider  actual  sins  as  only 


*  Confess.  Helvet.  ii.  c.  xiii.  p.  95.  *•  Atque  hasc  lues,  quam  originalctn  vocant, 
genus  totum  sic  pervasit,  ut  nulla,  ope  irae  filius  inimicusque  Dei,  nisi  divind.  pef 
Christum,  cuiaii  potuerit.  Nam  si  quid  bonae  frugis  supcrstcs  est,  viliis  nostris  as^ 
sidus  dcbilitatum  in  pejus  vergit.  Supercst  enira  mali  vis,  et  nee  rationem  pcrsequi, 
nee  mentis  divinitatem  cxcolcre  sinit."     What  means  mentis  diviniias? 

Confess.  Helvet.  iii.  c.  2,  p.  103.  "  Confitcmur,  homincm  ab  initio,  seeimdum 
Dei  imaginem,  et  justitiam,  ct  sanctitatem  &,  Deo  integre  factum.  Est  autcm  su^ 
sponte  lapsus  in  pcccatum,  per  quern  lapsum  totum  human um  genus  corruptum  et 
damiiationi  obno.\ium  factum  est.  Hinc  natura  nostra  vitiata  est,  ac  in  tantani  pro- 
pensioncm  ad  pcccatum  dcvcnit,  ut  nisi  eadcm  per  Spiritum  Sanctum  redintegretur, 
homo  per  se  nihil  boni  facial,  aut  velit." 

t  Confess.  Anglic,  art.  ix.  p.  129.  "  Peccatum  originale  non  est,  ut  fabulantur 
Pelagiani,  in  imitatione  situm,  sed  est  vitium  et  depravatio  naturae  cujuslibet  hominis 
ex  Adarao  naturaliter  propagati,  qua  fit,  ut  ab  originali  justitia  quam  longissime  dis- 
tct,  ad  malum  sua  natura  propendeat,  et  caro  semper  adversus  spiritum  coucupiscat, 
unde  in  quoque  naseentium  iram  Dei  atque  damnatiouem  meretur." 

X  Confess.  Helvet.  1.  c.  viii.-ix.  p.  15;  Gall.c.  x.-xi.  p.  114;  Scot.  Art.  iii.  p.  146; 
Belg.  c.  xiv.  p.  178.  The  Hungarian  Confession  speaks  not  at  all  of  original  sin,  yel 
from  motives  different  from  the  Tetrapolilana.  In  respect  to  the  discrepancies  no- 
ticed in  the  text,  we  find  several  in  the  first  Helvetic  Confession,  which  we  cannot 
now  enter  into,  as  it  would  lead  us  into  too  many  details.  The  Belgian  Confession, 
for  example,  says  that  by  original  sin  man  hath  been  entirely  severed  from  God,  and 
yet  in  another  place  it  leaves  him  some  vestigia  exiqua  of  the  earlier  gifts  of  diyine 
similitude. 

§  Confess.  Helvet.  i.  c.  ix.  p.  19.  "  Non  sublatus  est  quidem  homini  intellcctus, 
non  erepta  ei  voluntas,  et  prorsus  in  lapidem  vel  truneum  est  commutatus."  P.  21  : 
"  Maniehaei  spoliabant  homincm  omni  actionc,  et  velutisaxum  ct  truneum  faciebant:" 
words  which,  by  the  employment  of  the  peculiar  Lutheran  expressions,  can  refer  only 
to  the  Lutheran  opinions. 


BETWEEN  CATHOLICS  AND  PROTESTANTS.  165 

the  manifestations  of  original  sin — as  tlie  gradual  revelation  of  the 
same  in  special  determinate  phenomena.  According  to  them,  also, 
Adam's  sin  is  the  unique,  the  only  source,  whence  all  sins  flow,  without 
ever  exhausting  it;  the  infinite  source,  ever  active  and  stirring  to  find 
an  outlet,  and,  when  that  outlet  is  found,  impatient  to  find  a  new  one.* 

With  reason,  Catholics  were  able  to  reply,  that,  according  to  this 
view,  all  sins  would  be  necessarily  equal,  since,  according  to  the  max- 
ims of  a  false  realism,  the  person  is  considered  as  absorbed  in  nature, 
the  individual  in  universal  being  ;  and  the  fiict,  that  not  all  the  uncon- 
verted are  in  a  like  degree  rogues  and  villains,  not  all  fratricides  and 
parricides,  robbers  and  poisoners,  the  Calvinists  can  by  no  means  ex- 
plain by  the  different  use  of  freedom,  since,  according  to  their  doctrine, 
no  one  posseses  it.  Thus,  observe  the  Catholics,  the  primitive  evil,  ac- 
cording to  the  maxims  of  Calvin,  progresses  with  a  blind  necessity,  and 
finds  in  every  man  a  ready,  though  servile,  instrument  for  the  perpe- 
tration of  its  most  horrible  deeds.  It  can,  therefore,  be  regarded  only 
as  an  accident,  when  one  appears  as  a  frightful  criminal,  the  other  as 
a  moral  man  :  the  latter  at  bottom  is  as  bad  as  the  former  ;  the  sinful- 
ness, alike  in  each,  and  repressible  by  none,  manifests  itself  sometimes 
here,  sometimes  there,  in  more  violent  explosions.  The  first  Helvetic 
Confession  guards  itself  against  these  and  such  like  consequences,  and 
condemns  the  Jovinians,  the  Pelagians,  and  the  Stoics,  who  taught  the 
equality  of  all  sins.f  But  it  can  establish  no  other  difference  of  sins, 
than  that  of  external  manifestation,  according  to  which,  truly,  not  one 
sin  perhaps  is  like  to  the  other.  However,  we  honour  in  this  cautious- 
ness a  sound  feeling — a  welcome  perception  of  that  deep,  indescribable 
abyss  of  error,  out  of  which  the  Reformation  sprang. 

The  doctrine  of  the  Reformed  Confessions  respecting  wicked  lust 
{concuplscentia,)  we  shall  not  set  forth  at  length,  since  it  does  not  ma- 
terially differ  from  the  view  of  the  orthodox  Lutherans.  In  respect  to 
the  bodily  death,  this  is  regarded,  as  in  the  Catholic  Church,  to  be  a 
consequence  of  original  sin.:}: 

§  IX. — Zwingle's  view  of  original  sin. 

To  explain  some  phenomena  in  the  Formularies  of  the  Reformed 
Churches,  we  annex  the  doctrine  of  Zwingle  on  original  sin.  This 
Reformer  ventures  on  the  attempt,  not  merely  to  determine  according 

•  Confess.  Belg.  c.  xv.  p.  179.  t  Confess.  Helv.  1.  c.  viii.  p.  17. 

t  Confess.  Belg.  c.  xiv.  p.  178.  "  Quo  morti  corporese  et  spirituali  obnoxium  red- 
didit." Helvet.  1.  c.  viii.  p.  17.  "  Per  mortem  itaque  intelligimus  non  tantum  cor- 
poream  mortem,"  etc. 


166  EXPOSITION  OF  DOCTRINAL  DIFFERENCES 

to  Scriptural  evidence  the  nature  of  man's  hereditary  evil,  but  to  give 
a  psychological  explanation  of  the  sin  of  Adam — an  attempt  for  which 
hois  utterly  incompetent,  and  vi'hich  is  ver}^  inferior  to  preceding  eflbrts 
for  the  illustration  of  this  very  obscure  mystery,  nay,  in  reality  explains 
absolutely  nothing,  and  presupposes  original  sin.  In  the  first  place, 
Zwingle  troubles  the  serious  reader  with  a  very  untimely  jest,  when  he 
says,  that  it  was  a  bad  prognostic  for  the  future  married  man,  that  Eve 
should  have  been  formed  out  of  a  rib  of  the  sleeping  Adam ;  for,  from 
observing  that  her  husband,  during  this  operation,  was  not  awakened 
nor  brought  to  consciousness,  the  thought  naturally  arose  in  her  mind, 
that  her  mate  might  be  easily  deceived  and  circumvented ! !  Satan 
now  observed  Eve's  growing  spirit  of  enterprise,  and,  withal,  her  total 
inexperience  in  all  intrigues.  Aiding,  therefore,  her  internal  desire  to 
play  a  trick,  and  her  utter  impotence  to  accomplish  her  purpose,  he 
pointed  out  to  her  the  way  for  deceiving  her  husband,  and  the  result 
vi'as  the  first  sin.  This  man,  sporting  over  sin,  seriously  observes, 
that  from  this  whole  process  of  Satanic  seduction,  and  especially  from 
the  enticements  offered,  it  is  easy  to  conclude,  that  the  self-love  of 
Adam  was  the  cause  of  his  sin,  and  that  consequently  from  self-love 
flows  all  human  misery.  But  then,  as,  according  to  all  the  laws  of  the 
outward  world,  the  like  can  only  proceed  from  its  like,  so,  since  Adam's 
fall,  all  men  were  born  with  this  self-love,  the  germ  of  all  moral  evil. 
Zwingle  then  proceeds  to  describe  original  sin,  which  in  itself  is  not 
sin,  but  only  a  natural  disposition  to  sin — a  leaning  and  propensity  to 
sin ;  and  endeavours  to  illustrate  his  meaning  by  the  following  com- 
parison :  A  young  wolf  has  in  all  respects  the  natural  qualities  of  a 
wolf,  that  is  to  say,  it  is  one,  that,  in  virtue  of  its  innate  ferocity,  would 
attack  and  devour  the  sheep,  though  yet  it  has  not  actually  done  so ; 
and  huntsmen,  on  discovering  it,  will  treat  it  in  the  same  manner  as 
the  old  ones,  for  they  feel  convinced,  that,  on  its  growing  up,  it  will, 
like  others  of  its  species,  fall  upon  the  flocks,  and  commit  ravages. 
The  natural  disposition  is  the  hereditary  sin,  or  the  hereditary  fault  ; 
the  special  robbery  is  the  actual  sin  growing  out  of  the  former  ;  the 
latter  is  sin  in  the  strict  sense  of  the  word,  while  the  former  ought  not 
to  be  considered  either  as  a  sin  or  as  a  debt.* 

This  account,  while  it  explains  nothing,  is  withal  of  a  genuine  Pro- 

*  Zwingli  de  peccato  origin,  declarat.  op.  torn.  ii.  fol.  117.  "  Quam  ergo  tandem 
causam  tam  imprudentis  facti  aliain  esse  putomus,  quam  amorcm  sui  ?  etc.  Ha- 
bcmus  nunc  prfEvaricationis  fontem,  (pi>^*vTiAv  scilicet  hoc  est  sui  ipsius  amorem  :  ex 
hoc  manavit  quicquid  uspiam  est  malorum  inter  mortales.  Hoc  mortuus  jam  homo 
filios  degeneres  procrcavisse  neutiquam  cogitandus  est :  none  niagis,  quam  quod 
ovem  lupus  aut  corvus  cygnum  pariat  ....  Est  ergo  ista  ad  pcccandum  amore  sui 


BETWEEN  CATHOLICS   AND  PROTESTANTS.  167 

testaiit  stamp.  That  it  explains  nothing  is  evident,  from  its  represent- 
ing self-love  as  the  cause  of  Adam's  sin,  which  accordingly  before  his 
fall  lay  concealed  in  hian,  and  by  the  mediation  of  Satan  was  only 
introduced  into  the  outward  world.  This  self-love  is  represented  as  the 
effect  of  Adam's  sin  extending  to  all  his  posterity — as  the  natural  dis- 
position of  all  his  sons ;  so  that  original  sin  appears  as  a  corruption 
already  innate  in  Adam  ;  and  it  must  be  considered,  not  so  much  as 
inherited  of  Adam,  but  as  implanted  by  God  himself.  But  this  ex- 
planation also  is  a  genuine  Protestant  one,  since  it  frankly  and  undis- 
guisedly  holds  up  God  as  the  author  of  sin,  and  looks  upon  all  particular 
actual  sins  as  the  necessary  results, — the  outward  manifestations  of  a 
natural  disposition ;  a  disposition  which  is  well  illustrated  by  that  of 
the  young  wolf,  that,  devoid  of  freedom,  is  totally  unable  to  resist  the 
impulse  of  instinct.  Hence,  also,  Zwingle  with  reason  regards  original 
sin,  not  as  sin,  but  only  as  an  evil,  clinging  to  human  nature  :  he  is, 
however,  chargeable  with  an  inconsistency,  in  considering  actual  sins 
to  be  sins,  for  they  are  only  the  necessary  growth  of  a  natural  dispo- 
sition. It  would  have  been  also  more  in  conformity  with  his  above- 
mentioned  principles,  as  to  the  cause  of  evil,  to  have  considered  no 
moral  transgression  as  contracting  a  debt. 

propensio  pcccatum  originale  :  quae  quidem  propensio  non  est  proprie  pcccatum,  sed 
fons  quidem  et  ingcnium.  Exemplum  dedimus  de  lupo  adhuc  catulo  ....  Ingcnium 
ergo  est  peccatum  sive  vitium  originale  :  rapina  vero  peccatum,  quod  ex  ingenio 
dimanat,  id  ipsum  peccatum  actil  est,  quod  reccntiores  actuale  vocant,  quod  et  pro. 
prie  peccatum  est.^* 


168  EXPOSITION  OF  DOCTRINAL  DIFFERENCES 


CHAPTER    Til 


OPPOSITE    VIEWS    ON    THE    DOCTRINE    OF    JUSTIFICATION. 


§  X. — General  statement  of  the  mode  in  which,  according  to  the  different  Confes- 
sions, man  becomes  justified. 

The  different  views,  entertained  respecting  the  fall  of  man,  must, 
necessarily,  exert  the  most  decisive  influence  on  the  doctrine  of  his 
regeneration.  The  treatment  of  this  doctrine  is  of  so  much  the  more 
importance  for  us,  and  claims  so  much  the  more  our  attention,  as  it  was 
in  the  pretended  improvement  on  the  Catholic  view  of  man's  justifica- 
tion, according  to  the  special  observation  of  the  Smalcald  articles,  that 
the  Reformers  placed  their  principal  merit.  They  call  this  subject  not 
only  the  first,  and  the  most  important,  but  that,  without  the  mainte- 
nance whereof,  the  opponents  of  Protestantism  would  have  been  com- 
pletely in  the  right,  and  have  come  victorious  out  of  the  struggle.* 

In  conformity  with  this,  Luther  says,  very  pithily,  in  his  Table-talk, 
'■"li  the  doctrine  fall,  it  is  all  over  with  us."  We  shall,  in  the  first 
place,  state  generally  the  various  accounts  which  the  opposite  Confes- 
sions give  of  the  process  of  regeneration,  and  then  enter,  with  the 
minutest  accuracy,  into  details. 

According  to  the  Council  of  Trent,  the  course-  is  as  follows : — The 
sinner,  alienated  from  God,  is,  without  being  able  to  show  any  merit 
of  his  own,  without  being  able  to  put  in  any  claim  to  grace,  or  to  par- 
doning mercy,  called  back  to  the  divine  kingdom. f 


*  Pars.  ii.  §  3,  cf.  Sol.  Declar.  iii.  p.  653'. 

t  Concil.  Trident.  Sess.  vi.  c.  5.  *'  Declarat  pricterea,  ipsius  justificationis  exor- 
dium in  adultis  a  Dei  per  Christum  Jesum  praeveniente  gratia  sumendiam  esse,  hoc 
est,  ab  ejus  vocatione,  qua,  nullis  eorum  existentibus  nicritis,  vocantur  ;  ut,  qui  per 
peccata  a  Deo  aversi  erant,  per  ejus  excitantem  alque  adjuvantem  gratiam  ad  con- 
vertendum  se  ad  suam  ipsorum  justificationem,  eidem  gratiae  libere  assenticndo  et  co- 
operando  disponatur  :  ita  ut  tangente  Deo  cor  hominis  per  Spiritus  Sancti  illumina. 
tionem,  neque  homo  ipse  omnino  nihil  agat,  inspirationem  illam  recipicns,  quippe  qui 
illam  et  abjicere  potest,  neque  sine  gratia  Dei  moverc  se  ad  justitiam  coram  illo  libere 
sua  voluntate  possit.  Unde  in  sacris  literis,  cum  dicitur, — convertimini  ad  me,  et 
ego  ad  vos  convertar,  libertatis  nostras  admonemur.  Cum  respondemus, —  converte 
nos  Doraine  ad  te,  et  convertemur,  Dei  nos  gratia  prseveniri  confitemur." 


BETWEEN  CATHOLICS  AND  PROTESTANTS.  169'^ 

This  divine  call,  sent  to  the  sinner  for  Christ's  sake,  is  expressed  not 
only  in  an  outward  invitation,  through  the  preaching  of  the  Gospel,  but 
also  in  an  (Eternal  action  of  the  Holy  Spirit,  which  rouses  the  slumber- 
ing energies  of  man,  more  or  less  sunk  in  the  sleep  of  spiritual  death, 
and  urges  him  to  unite  himself  with  the  power  from  above,  in  order  to 
enter  upon  a  new  course  of  life,  and  in  order  to  renew  the  communion 
with  God  (preventive  grace.)  If  the  binner  hearkens  to  this  call,  then 
faith  in  God's  Word  is  the  first  effect  of  divine  and  human  activity, 
co-operating  in  the  way  described.  The  sinner  perceives  the  existence 
of  a  higher  order  of  things,  and  with  entire,  and  fill  then  unimagined, 
certainty,  possesses  the  conviction  of  the  same.  The  higher  truths  and 
promises  which  he  hears,  especially  the  tidings  that  God  has  so  loved 
the  world,  as  to  give  up  his  only -begotten  Son  for  it,  and  offered  to  all 
forgiveness  of  sins,  for  the  sake  of  Christ's  merits,  shake  the  sinner. 
While  he  compares  what  he  is,  with  what,  according  to  the  revealed 
will  of  God,  he  ought  to  be  ;  while  he  learns  that  so  grievous  is  sin,  and 
the  world's  corruption,  that  it  is  only  through  the  mediation  of  the  Son 
of  God,  it  can  be  extirpated,  he  attains  to  true  self-knowledge,  and  is 
filled  with  the  fear  of  God's  judgments.  He  now  turns  to  the  divine 
compassion  in  Christ  Jesus,  and  conceives  the  confiding  hope,  that,  for 
the  sake  of  his  Redeemer's  merits,  God  may  graciously  vouchsafe  to 
him  the  forgiveness  of  his  sins.  From  this  contemplation  of  God's  love 
for  man,  a  spark  of  divine  love  is  enkindled  in  the  human  breast, — 
hatred  and  detestation  for  sin  arise,  and  man  doth  penance.* 

Thus,  by  the  mutual  interworking  of  the  Holy  Spirit,  and  of  the 
creature  freely  co-operating,  justification  really  commences.  If  man 
remains  faithful  to  the  holy  work  thus  begun,  the  Divine  Spirit,  at  once 
sanctifying  and  forgiving  sins,  communicates  all  the  fulness  of  His 
gifts, — pours  into  the  heart  of  man  the  love  of  God,  so  that  he  becomes 
disentangled  from  the  inmost  roots  of  sin,  and,  inwardly  renewed,  leads 
a  new  and  virtuous  life, — that  is  to  say,  becometh  really  just  in  the 
sight  of  God, — performeth  truly  good  works, — the  fruits  of  a  renovation 
of  spirit,  and  sanctification  of  feeling, — goelh  from  righteousness  on  to 
righteousness,  and,  in  consequence  of  his  present  religious  and  moral 

*  L.  c.  c.  vi.  "  Disponuntur  ad  ipsam  justitiam,  dam  excitati  divinS,  gratis,  et 
adjuti,  fidem  ex  auditu  conciplentes,  libere  moventur  in  Deum,  credentes  vera  esse, 
qua;  divinitus  revclata  et  promissa  sunt,  atque  illud  imprimis,  a  Deojustificari  impium 
per  gratiam  ejus,  per  redemptionem,  quae  est  in  Christo  Jcsu,  et  dum  peccatorcs,  se 
intelligentes,  a  divinae  justitis  timore,  quo  utiliter  concutiuntur,  ad  considerandam 
Dei  misericordiam  se  convertendo  in  spem  eriguntur,  fidentes  Deum  sibi  propter 
Christum  propitium  fore,  illumque,  tanquam  omnis  justitiae  fontem,  diligere  inci- 
piunt,  ac  propterea  moventur  adversus  peccata  per  odium  aliquod  et  detestationem," 
etc. 


170  EXPOSITION  OF  DOCTRINAL  DIFFERENCES 

qualities,  acquired  Ihrounh  the  infinite  merits  of  Christ,  and  his  Holy 
Spirit,  he  is  rewarded  with  celestial  happiness.*  However,  without  a 
special  revelation,  the  just  man  possesses  not  the  unerring  certainty 
that  he  belongs  to  the  number  of  the  elect. 

The  Lutheran  view,  on  the  other  hand,  is  as  follows  :  When  the 
sinner  hath  been  intimidated  by  the  preaching  of  the  law,  which  he  is 
conscious  of  not  having  fulfilled,  and  hath  been  brought  to  the  brink  of 
despair,  the  Gospel  is  announced  to  him,  and  with  it  the  solace  admi- 
nistered,— that  Christ  is  the  Lamb  of  God,  that  taketh  upon  him  the 
sins  of  the  world.  With  a  heart  stricken  with  fear  and  terror,  he  grasps 
at  the  Redeemer's  merits,  through  faith,  which  alone  justifieth.  God, 
on  account  of  Christ's  merits,  declares  the  believer  just,  without  his 
being  so  in  fact :  though  released  from  debt  and  punishment,  he  is  not 
delivered  from  sin  (original  sin  ;)  the  inborn  sinfulness  still  cleaves  to 
the  just,  though  no  longer  in  its  ancient  virulence.  If  it  be  reserved  to 
faith  alone,  to  justify  us  before  God,  5'et  faith  is  not  alone  :  on  the  con- 
trary, sanctification  is  annexed  to  justification,  and  faith  manifests  itself 
in  good  works,  which  are  its  fruits.  Justification  before  God,  and  sanc- 
tification, must  not  by  any  means,  however,  in  despite  of  their  close 
connexion,  be  considered  as  one  and  the  same  thing ;  because 
this  would  render  impossible  the  certainty  of  the  forgiveness  of  sins, 
and  of  salvation,  which  is  an  essential  property  of  Christian  faith. 
Lastly,  the  whole  work  of  regeneration  is  God's  doing,  alone,  and  man 
acts  a  purely  passive  part  therein.  God's  act  doth  not  only  precede 
the  workings  of  man,  as  if  this  could,  or  ought  to  follow  ;  as  if  the  lat- 
ter co-operated  with  the  former,  and  so  both  together  ;  but  the  Holy 
Spirit  is  exclusively  active,  in  order  that  to  God  alone  the  glory  may 
accrue,  and  all  pretensions  of  human  merit  be  rendered  impossible. "j" 


*  L.  c.  c.  vii.  "  Hanc  dispositionem,  seu  praeparationem,  justificatio  ipsa  consequitur, 
quae  non  est  sola  peccatorum  remissio,  sed  et  sanctificatio  et  renovatio  interioris  homi- 
nis  per  voluntariam  susceptionem  gratise  et  donorum,  unde  homo  ex  injusto  fit  Justus, 

et  ex  inimico  amicus,  ut  sit  haeres  secundum  spem  vitae  aeternas Ejusdem  sanc- 

tissimce  passionis  merito  per  Spiritum  sanctum  caritas  Dei  diffunditur  in  cordibus 
eorum,  qui  justificantur,"  etc. 

t  Solid,  declar.  v.  de  lege  et  Evatig.  ^  6,  p.  678.  "  Peccatorum  cognitio  ex  lege 
est.  Ad  salutarem  vero  conversionem  ilia  pcenitentia,  quae  tantum  contritionem  habet, 
non  sufficit :  sed  necesse  est,  ut  fides  in  Christum  accedat,  cujus  meritum,  per  dulcissi- 
main  et  consolationis  plenam  Evangelii  doclrinam,  omnibus  resipiscentibus  peccatori- 
bus  offertur,  qui  per  legis  doctrinam  perterriti  et  prostrati  sunt.  Evangelion  enim  re- 
missionem  peccatorum  non  securis  mentibus,  sed  perturbatis  et  vere  poenitentibus 
annuntiat.  Et  ne  contritio  et  terrores  legis  in  desperalionem  vcrtantnr,  opus  est 
pragdicatione  Evangelii :    ut   sit  pcenitentia  ad  salutem."      Apolog.  iv.  ^  45,  p.  87 : 


BETWEEN  CATHOLICS  AND  PROTESTANTS.  171 

The  Calvinists,  though  with  some  differences,  agree  in  the  main 
with  the  disciples  of  Luther.  Calvin  is  dissatisfied  with  the  Reformers 
of  Wittemburg,  for  having  ascribed  to  the  law,  alone,  the  property  of 
exciting  a  sense  of  sin,  and  a  consciousness  of  guilt.  He  thinks,  on 
the  contrary,  that  the  first  place  is  due  to  the  Gospel,  and  that  it  is  by 
the  enlargement  of  the  divine  mercy,  in  Christ  Jesus,  that  the  sinner  is 
made  attentive  to  his  reprobate  state, — so  that  repentance  follows  on 
faith.* 

That  the  severe  remark  of  Calvin  at  the  passage,  where  he  states  the 
relation  between  faith  and  repentance,  to  wit,  that  those  understood 
nothing  of  the  essence  of  faith,  who  conceived  this  relation  other  than 
himself,  is  not  entirely  destitute  of  foundation,  nor  based  on  an  empty 
spirit  of  controversy,  we  shall  clearly  prove  later,  when  it  will  be  shown, 
that,  with  Calvin,  repentance  bears  a  very  different  signification  from 
the  terror  caused  by  sin,  in  the  Lutheran  system  ;  and,  that  according 
to  the  former,  justification  and  sanctification  appear  in  a  more  vital 
connexion. 

More  important  still  is  the  departure  of  the  Calvinists  from  the  Lu- 
theran formularies,  by  their  assertion,  that  it  is  only  in  those  elected 
from  all  eternity,  that  the  Deity  worketh  to  justification  and  to  regene- 
ration. On  the  other  hand,  the  Lutherans,  like  the  Catholics,  reject 
the  doctrine  of  absolute  predestination.  Finally,  the  Calvinists  lay  a 
still  more  violent  stress  on  the  certainty,  which  the  believer  must  have 
of  his  future  happiness. 

If  follows,  accordingly,  that  we  must  treat  in  succession,  first,  the 
distinctive  doctrines  in  respect  to  the  operation  of  God  and  of  man,  in 
the  affair  of  regeneration ;  secondly,  the  doctrine  of  predestination  ; 


"  Fides  ilia,  de  qua  loquimur,  existit  in  poenitentia,  hoc  est,  concipitur  in  terroribus  con- 
scientiee,  quae  sentitiram  Dei  adversus  nostra  peccata  et  quaerit  remissionem  peccato- 
ruin,  et  liberari  a  peccato."  Apolog.  iv.  de  justit.  ij  26,  p  76:  "  Igitur  sola  fide  justi- 
ficamur,  intelligendo  justlficationem,  ex  injusto  justnm  efRci  seu  regenerari."  ^  19,  p. 
72  :  "Nee  possunt  acqiiiescere  perterrefacta  corda,  si  sentire  debent  se  propter  opera 
propria,  aut  propriam  dilectionem,  aut  legis  impletionem  placere,  quia  haeret  in  came 
peccatum,  quod  semper  accusal  nos."  <J  25,  p.  25  :  "Dilectio  etiam  et  opera  sequi 
fidem  debent,  quare  non  sic  excluduntur,  ne  sequantur,  sed  fiducia  meriti  dilectionis 
aut  operum  in  justificatione  escluditur." 

*  Calvin.  Instit.  lib.  iii  c.  3,  ^  1,  fol.  209.  "Proximus  autem  a  fide  ad  poenitentiam 
erit  transitus  :  quia  hoc  capite,  bene  cognito,  melius  patebit,  quomodo  sola  fide  et  mera 
veniii  justificetur  homo,  ne  tamen  a  justitiae  imputatione  separetur  realis  (ut  ita  loqnar) 
vitfB  sanctitas  :  poenitentiam  vero  non  modo  fidem  continuo  subsequi,  sed  ex  ea  nasci 
extra  controversiam  esse  debet.  Quibus  autem  videtur,  fidem  potius  prfpccdere 
pcenitentiae,  quam  ab  ipsa  manari  vel  proferri,  tanquam  fructus  ab  arbore,  nunquam  ejus 
vis  fuit  cognita,  et  nimiumleviargumento  ad  id  sentiendum  moventur." 


172  EXPOSITION  OF  DOCTRINAL  DIFFERENCES 

thirdly,  the  diffbrencos  in  the  notion  of  justification  ;  fourthly,  those 
respecting  faith ;  fifthly,  those  touching  works ;  and  sixthly,  those  in 
respoct  to  the  certainty  of  salvation.  When  these  points  shall  have 
been  first  gone  through  in  detail,  then  comprehensive  reflections  on 
the  nature  and  deeper  signification  of  this  opposition  between  the  Con- 
fessions, in  respect  to  the  doctrine  of  justification,  will  follow  in  a  more 
intelligible,  as  well  as  instructive  form.  Then  he  who,  after  a  general 
view,  would  not  have  suspected  any  practical  or  theoretical  differences, 
important  enough  to  occasion  an  ecclesiastical  schism,  will  clearly  see, 
that  the  Catholic  Church  could  not  possibly  exchange  her  primitive 
doctrine  for  the  new  opinion  ;  nay,  could  not,  even  by  any  possibility, 
tolerate  in  her  bosom  the  two  opposite  views.  The  minute  investiga- 
tion of  particulars  will  bring  out,  in  the  clearest  light,  those  divergen- 
ces of  opinion,  which,  in  a  general  survey,  may  be  easily  overlooked  ; 
and  in  the  considerations  which  we  have  announced,  we  will  clearly 
establish  the  absolute  incompatibility  of  the  two  doctrines  in  one  and 
the  same  system  ;  and  will  point  out  the  momentous  interests,  which 
the  Catholics  defended  in  the  maintenance  of  their  dogma. 

§  XI. — Of  the  relation  of  the  operation  of  God  to  that  of  man,  in  the  work  of  regene- 
ration, according  to  the  Catholic  and  the  Lutheran  systems. 

According  to  Catholic  principles,  in  the  holy  work  of  regeneration 
we  find  two  operations  concur — the  Divine  and  the  human  ;  and  when 
this  work  succeeds,  they  mutually  pervade  each  other,  so  that  this  re- 
generation constitutes  one  thcandric  work.  God's  holy  power  pre- 
cedes, awakening,  exciting,  vivifying  ; — man,  the  while,  being  utterly 
unable  to  merit,  call  forth,  or  even  desire,  that  divine  grace  ;  yet  he 
must  let  himself  be  excited,  and  follow  with  freedom.*  God  offers  his 
aid  to  raise  the  sinner  after  his  fall ;  yet  it  is  for  the  sinner  to  consent, 


*  Concil   Trident.  Sess.  vi.  c.  v "  ut,  qui  jier  peccata  a  Deo  aversi  erant, 

per  ejus  excitantem  atque  adjuvantem  gratiam  ad  convertendum  se  ad  suam  ipsorum 
juslificationem,  eidem  gratiae  libera  assentiendo  et  co-operando,  disponantur,  ita  ut, 
tangente  Deo  cor  hominisper  Spiritus  Sancti  illuminationem,  neque  homo  ipse  omnino 
nihil  agat,  inspirationem  illain  recipiens,  quippe  qui  illam  et  abjicere  potest,  neque 
tamen  sine  gratia  Dei  movere  se  ad  justitiam  coram  illo  libera  sua  voluntate  possit. 
Unde  in  sacris  Uteris  cum  dicitur, — convertimini  ad  me,  et  ego  convertar  ad  vos,  liber- 
tatis  nostrsB  admonemur.  Cum  respoudemus, — converte  nos  Domine  ad  te,  et  con- 
vertemur,  Dei  nos  gratia  prceveniri  confitemur  "  Can.  iv.  "  Si  quis  dixerit,  liberum 
arbitrium  a  Deo  motum  et  excitatum  nihil  co-operari  assentiendo  Deo  excitanti  atque 
vocanti,  quo  ad  obtinendam  justificationis  gratiam  se  disponat  ac  prjeparet,  neque  posse 
dissentire,  si  velit,  sed  velut  inanime  quoddam  nihil  omnino  agere,  mereque  passive  se 
habere,  anathema  sit." 


BETWEEN  CATHOLICS  AND  PROTESTANTS.  173 

and  to  receive  Ihat  aid.  By  accepting  it,  he  is  accepted  by  the  Divine 
Spirit ;  and  through  his  faithful  co-operation,  he  is  exalted  again  gra- 
dually (though  never  completely  in  this  life)  to  that  height  from  which 
he  was  precipitated.  The  Divine  Spirit  worketh  not  by  absolute  ne- 
cessity, though  he  is  urgently  active  :  His  omnipotence  suffers  human 
freedom  to  set  to  it  a  bound,  which  it  cannot  break  through,  because  an 
unconditional  interference  with  that  freedom  would  bring  about  the 
annihilation  of  the  moral  order  of  the  world,  which  the  Divine  wisdom 
hath  founded  on  liberty.  With  reason,  therefore,  and  quite  in  confer- 
mily  v,ith  her  inmost  essence,  hath  the  Church  rejected  the  Jausenis- 
tical  proposition  of  Qucsnel,  that  human  freedom  must  yield  to  the 
omnipotence  of  God.*  This  proposition  involves,  as  an  immediate 
consequence,  the  doctrine  of  God's  absolute  predestination  ;  and  asserts 
of  those  who  attain  not  unto  regeneration,  that  they  are  not  the  cause 
of  their  own  reprobation,  but  that  they  have  been  absolutely  cast  off  by 
the  Deity  Himself;  for  a  mere  inspiration  of  the  Divine  Spirit  would 
have  moved  their  free-will  to  faith,  and  to  holy  obedience. 

It  is  not  difficult  to  see,  that  the  above-stated  doctrine  of  the  Catho- 
lic Church,  is  determined  by  her  view  of  original  sin  ;  for,  had  she  as- 
serted that  an  utter  extirpation  of  all  germs  of  good,  a  complete  anni- 
hilation of  freedom  in  man,  had  been  the  consequence  of  his  fall,  she 
then  could  not  have  spoken  of  any  co-operation  on  his  part,  of  any  fa- 
culties in  him  that  could  be  excited,  revivified,  and  supported.  Man, 
who  in  this  case  would  have  lost  all  affinity,  all  likeness  unto  God, 
would  no  longer  have  been  capable  of  receiving  the  Divine  influences 
towards  the  consum.mation  of  a  second  birth  ;  for  the  operation  of  God 
would  then  have  found  in  him  as  little  response,  as  in  the  irrational 
brute. 

On  the  other  hand,  it  is  evident,  from  the  Lutheran  representation 
of  original  sin,  that  the  Lutherans  could  not  admit  the  co-operation  of 
man  :  and  the  reason  wherefore  they  could  not,  is  equally  obvious ; 
namely,  because,  according  to  them,  the  hereditary  evil  consists  in  an 
obliteration   of  the  Divine   image  from  the  human  breast  5  and  this  is 


*  The  Constitution  of  Pope  Innocent  X.  (Apud  Hard.  Concil.  torn.  xi.  fol.  143,)  re- 
jects the  proposition,  No.  n.  "  Interiori  gratise  in  statu  naturre  lapsas  nunquam  re- 
sistitur  ;"  and  the  Constitution  Unigenitus  (  Hard.  1.  c  fol.  1634,)  No.  xin.  "  Quando 
Deus  vult  animam  salvain  facere,  et  cam  tangit  interiori  gratias  suae  manti,  nulla  volun- 
tas humana  ei  resistit."  No.  xvi.  "Nullae  sunt  illecebrse,  qute  non  cedant  illecebris 
gratiae  :  quia  nihil  resistit  omnipotent!  "  No.  xix.  "  Dei  gratia  nihil  aliud  est,  quam 
ejus  omnipotens  voluntas  :  hajc  est  idea,  quam  Deus  ipse  nobis  tradit  in  omnibus  suis 
Scripturis."  No.  xx.  "Vera  gratioe  idea  est,  quod  Ueus  vult  sibi  a  nobis  obediri  et  obe- 
ditur,  imperat  et  omnia  fiunt,  loquitur  tanquam  dominus,  et  omnia  sibi  submissa  sunt." 


174  EXPOSITION   OF  DOCTRINAL  DIFFERENCES 

precisely  the  faculty  capable  of  co-operating  with  God.  Accordingly, 
they  leach,  that  man  remains  quite  passive,  and  God  is  exclusively  ac- 
tive. Even  so  early  as  the  celebrated  disputation  at  Leipsig,  Luther 
defended  this  doctrine  against  Eck,  and  compared  man  to  a  saw,  that 
passively  lets  itself  be  moved  in  the  hand  of  the  workman.  Afterwards 
he  delighted  in  comparing  fallen  man  to  a  pillar  of  salt,  a  block,  a  clod 
of  earth,  incapable  of  working  with  God.*  It  may  be  conceived,  that 
not  only  was  such  a  doctrine  necessarily  revolting  to  Catholics,  but 
that  even  among  Luther's  disciples,  who,  in  the  first  unreflecting  ex- 
citement of  feelings,  had  followed  him,  a  sound  Christian  sense,  rallying 
by  degrees,  must  offer  resistance  to  such  errors.  In  Melancthon's 
school,  more  enlightened  opinions  spread  ;  and  his  followers,  after 
Luther's  death,  had  even  the  courage  openly  to  defend  them.  Pfeffin- 
ger,"]"  and,  after  him,  the  above-named  Victorinus  Strigel:}:  arose ;  but 
their  power  went  no  further  than  to  occasion  a  struggle,  wherein  they 
succumbed.  Luther's  spirit  gained  so  complete  a  victory,  that  his 
views,  nay  his  very  expressions,  were  adopted'  into  the  public  formula- 
ries. § 

I  shall  take  the  liberty  of  citing  a  passage  from  Plank,  which  states 
the  opinion  of  Arusdorf,  on  the  nature  of  God's  operation  in  respect  to 
man, — an  opinion,  which  was  put  forth  amid  the  synergistic  controver- 
sies. Nicholas  von  Arnsdorf  said  :  "  By  his  will  and  speech,  God 
worketh  all  things,  with  all  creatures.  When  God  wills,  and  speaks, 
stone  and  wood  are  carried,  hewn,  and  laid,  how,  when  and  where  He  will. 
Thus,  if  God  wills,  and  speaks,  man  becomes  converted,  pious  and  just. 
For,  as  stone  and  wood  are  in  the  hand  and  power  of  God,  so,  in  like 
manner,  are  the  understanding  and  the  will  of  man  in  the  hand  and 
power  of  God  ;  so  that  man  can  absolutely  will  and  choose  nothing,  but 
what  God  wills  and  speaks,  either  in  grace  or  in  wrath."||     Who  will 

*  Lutlier  in  Genes,  c.  xix.  "  In  splritualibus  et  divinis  rebus  quae  ad  animte  salu- 
tem  spaclanl,  hoinj  est  instar  statuje  salis,  in  quam  uxor  patriarchae  Loth  est  con. 
versa,  imo  est  siinilis  trunco  et  lapidi,  statuae  vit4  carenti,  quce  neque  oculorum,  oris, 
aut  uUorum  sensuuin  cordisque  usum  habet." 

t  FlctJiiigcr  piopositioncs  de  liberu  arbitrio.  Lips.  1555,  4.  Compare  Plank,  lib. 
cit.  p.  5b7. 

X  Plank,  lib  cit.  p.  584. 

§  Solid  dcclar.  ii.  de  lib.  arbitr.  §  43,  p.  644,  ad  conversionem  suam  prorsus  nihil 
conferre  potest."  §  21),  p.  635.  "  Prseterea  sacriE  lilerae  hominis  conversionem,  fidem 
in  Chnstum,  regencrationem,  renovationem  ....  simpliciter  suli  divinas  operationi  et 
Spiritui  Sancto  adscnbunt."  On  the  comparison  of  man  with  a  stone,  and  so  forth, 
see§  16.  p.  633,  §43,  p.  644. 

II  Plank,  History  of  the  rise,  the  changes,  and  the  formation  of  the  Protestant 
system  of  doctrine,  vol.  iv.p.  708. 


BETWEEN  CATHOLICS  AND  PROTESTANTS.  175 

Rot  here  see  the  remarkable  influence,  which  Luther's  theory,  touching 
the  mutual  relation  between  the  divine  and  the  human  operations,  con- 
sidered in  themselves,  and  even  independently  of  the  fall,  has  exerted 
on  this  article  of  belief?  God's  wrath,  thought  Nicholas  von  Arnsdorf, 
forces  one  person  to  evil,  in  the  same  way  as  His  grace  absolutely  de- 
termines another  to  good.  So  much  doth  the  human  mind  find  itself 
constrained  to  reduce  to  general  laws,  that  special  relation  between 
God  and  man,  which  was  revealed  by  the  redemption  of  Christ  Jesus. 
Remarkable  is  the  subterfuge,  which  the  Formulary  of  Concord  saw 
itself  forced  to  adopt,  in  order  to  prevail  upon  men  to  hear  preaching, — 
a  subterfuge  which  of  itself  should  have  convinced  its  authors,  how  er- 
roneous was  the  doctrine  which  they  inculcated.  For  as,  according  to 
their  view,  man  on  his  part  can  contribute  nought  towards  justification, 
as  he  possesses  not  even  the  faculty  of  receiving  the  Divine  influences, 
and  thus,  in  consequence  of  the  loss  of  every  trace  of  similitude  to  his 
Maker,  is  cut  off  from  all  possibility  of  union  with  God,  what  blame 
could  be  uttered,  and  what  reproaches  made,  if  any  one  remained  ob- 
durate, when  it  depended  on  God  alone  to  remove  that  obduracy  ? 
What  blame  was  yet  possible,  when  any  one  was  disinclined  to  read  the 
Bible,  or  obstinately  resisted  hearing  the  evangelical  sermon,  which  was 
laid  down  by  the  Reformers,  as  the  condition  for  receiving  the  Divine 
Spirit  ?  •  To  be  asked  to  listen  to  a  sermon,  must  certainly  seem  to  one, 
devoid  of  all  spiritual  qualities  and  susceptibilities,  as  the  most  singular 
demand, — not  less  singular  than  if  he  were  asked  to  prepare  for  flying; 
nay,  more  singular,  for  in  the  latter  case  he  could  understand  the  pur- 
port of  the  demand,  while,  in  default  of  every  spiritual  organ  for  under- 
standing the  sermon,  he  could  not  even  comprehend  what  was  the  pro- 
posed design  :  he  might  conjecture,  indeed,  that  it  was  intended  to  pass 
a  joke  on  him  !  The  Formulary  of  Concord  can  say  nought  else  than, 
that  man  hath  still  the  power  to  move  from  one  place  to  another  ;  he 
still  possesses  outward,  though  no  inward,  ears ;  his  feet  and  his  exter- 
nal ears  he  need  only  exert,  and  the  consequences  he  must  attribute  only 
to  himself,  if  he  fail  to  do  so.  So  must  the  feet  supply  the  place  of  the 
will,  which,  according  to  the  Catholic  doctrine,  has  yet  survived  the 
fall ;  the  ears  discharge  the  functions  of  reason ;  and  the  body  under- 
take the  responsibility  of  the  mind."* 

*  The  Solida  Declaratio  ii.  (de  lib.  arbit.  §  19,  p.  636,)  allows  man  still  the  "  lo- 
comotivam  potentiam"  seu  externa  membra  rcgere.  §  33,  p.  640.  ''  Non  ignoramus 
autem  ct  cnlhusiastas  et  epicureos  p\k  hkc  de  impotentia  et  malitia  naturalis  liberi  ar- 
bitrii  doctrina.,  qua,  conversio  et  regeneratio  nostra  soli  Deo,  nequaquam  autem  nostris 
viribus,  trlbuitur,  impie,  turpiter  et  maligne  abuti.  Et  multi  impii  illorum  sermonibus 
offensi  atque  dcpravati,  dissoluti  et  feri  fiunt,  atque  omnia  pietatis  exercitia,  orationem, 


176  EXPOSITION  OF  DOCTRINAL   DIFFERENCES 

In  (Tcneral,  the  Reformers  were  unable  to  succeed  in  finding,  in  their 
system,  a  tenable  position  for  the  idea  of  human  responsibility,— an  idea 
not  to  be  efFaced  from  the  mind  of  man,  and  whereon  Kant  established 
what  he  deemed  the  only  possible  proof  of  the  existence  of  God.  They 
observe,  indeed,  as  we  have  seen,  that  man  can  repel  the  Divine  influ- 
ence, though  ho  cannot  co-operate  with  it ;  whereby,  they  think,  his 
guilt  is  suificiently  established.  But  this  solution  of  the  difficulty  in 
question  is  unsatisfactory,  because  every  man  can  only  resist ;  since  all 
are  in  a  like  degree  devoid  of  freedom,  and  of  every  vestige  of  spiritual 
faculties.  The  explication  of  the  fact,  that  some  become  just,  and 
others  remain  obdurate,  can  be  sought  for,  not  in  man,  but  in  God  only, 

> whom  it  pleases  to  remove  in  one  case,  and    to  let  stand  in  another, 

the  obstacle  which  is  the  same  in  all ! 

At  least,  we  cannot  at  all  see,  how  it  would  cost  the  Almighty  a 
greater  exertion  of  power,  to  supply  among  some,  rather  than  among 
others,  the  spiritual  faculties  that  are  wanting:  for,  all  are  herein 
equally  passive.  In  other  words,  the  doctrine  of  the  non-co-operation  of 
man,  which  rests  on  the  original  theory  of  Luther  and  Melancthon, 
touching  the  absolute  passiveness  of  the  created  spirit  towards  its  Cre- 
ator, finds  only  in  this  theory  its  metaphysical  basis,  and  presupposes 
accordingly,  absolute  predestination,  which,  in  the  course  of  the  syner- 
gistic controversies,  was  embraced  by  the  most  consistent  Lutheran  the- 
ologians, Fiacius,  HesshusH,  and  others,*  while  the  Formulary  of  Con- 
cord sacrificed  to  a  better  feeling  the  harmony  of  its  own  system.f 

Proceeding,  now,  to  the  task  of  more  nearly  determining  what  is  the 
work  of  regeneration,  which  the  exclusively  active  Spirit  of  God  hath 
to  achieve,  we  can  discover  nought  else  but  that  the  religious  and  moral 
qualities,— the  faculty  of  faith  and  of  will,  which  had  been  lost  through 
Adam's  fall,— must  be  inserted  anew  in  the  defective  spiritual  organi- 
zation ;  and,  accordingly,  the   inward  ears  be  replaced.     While,  there- 


Bacrum  lectioncm,  pias  mcditationes  rcmisse  tractant  aut  prorsus  negligunt,  ac  dicunt, 
— Quondoquidcm  propriis  siiis  naluralibus  viribus  ad  Deura  sese  convertere  ncqueant, 
perrecturos  se  in  ilia,  sua  adversus  Deum  contumacia,  aut  expcctatuios,  donee  a  Deo 
violenter,  et  ejtitra  suam  ipsorum  voluntatem  convertantur,"  etc.  $  39,  p.  642. 
"  Del  verbuin  homo  etiam  nondum  ad  Deum  eonversus,  nee  renatus,  extemis  auribus 
audirc  aut  legcre  potest.  In  ejusmodi  enim  extemis  rebus  homo  adhuc,  etiam  poet 
lapsum,  aliquomodo  llberum  arbitrium  habet,  utin  ipsius  potestate  sit  ad  ccEtuspuWu 
cos  eeclesiasticos  accedere,  verbum  Dei  audire,  vel  non  audire." 

*  Plank,  loc.  cit.  vol.  iv.  p.   704,  707. 

I  Solid,  declar.  p.  G44.     "  Etsi  autcm  Dominus  homincm  non  cogit,  ut  converta- 

tur  (qui  enim  semper  Spiritui  Sancto  resistunt ii  non  convertuntur),  attamen 

trahit  Deus  hominem,  quern  convertere  decreverit." 


BETWEEN  CATHOLICS  AND   PROTESTANTS.  177 

fore,  according  to  the  Catholic  system,  the  first  operation  of  God  con- 
sists in  the  resuscitation,  excitement,  higher  tuning,  strengthening,  and 
glorification  of  these  faculties,  it  is,  according  to  the  Lutheran  system, 
to  exert  itself  in  a  new  creation  of  the  same.  In  this  way,  we  can  un- 
derstand, in  some  degree,  the  remark  in  the  Formulary  of  Concord, 
that,  in  the  further  progress  of  regeneration,  man  co-operates  with  God, 
not  indeed,  as  to  the  integrity  of  his  being,  but  only  through  his  reno- 
vated parts, — through  the  new  divine  gift, — the  remaining  portion  of 
his  being, — the  mere  natural  man,  who  had  come  down  from  that  earlier 
state  of  alienation  from  God, — being  never  active  for  the  kingdom  of 
God.*  Moreover,  by  this  doctrine,  the  identity  of  consciousness  is 
destroyed  ;  and  we  cannot  see  how  the  man,  new-born  or  newly  crea- 
ted, can  recognize  himself  to  be  the  same, — at  least  it  is  not  easy  for 
him  to  do  so,  unless  he  stands  before  the  mirror,  and  perceives  to  his 
contentment,  that  he  has  ever  the  same  nose,  and  consequently  is  the 
same  person  as  heretofore.  Nor  can  we  conceive  how  repentance  can 
be  possible  ;  for  the  new-created  faculties  will  have  difficulty  to  repent 
for  what  they  have  not  perpetrated ;  and  the  old  cannot  repent,  for  the 
divine  is  not  within  their  competence. 

Here,  we  may  remark,  that,  by  the  Lutheran  doctrine  here  stated, 
the  reproach  which  its  professors  so  perpetually  urge  against  the  Ca- 
tholic tenet,  to  wit,  that  it  is  Pelagian,  receives  its  explanation. f  In 
truth,  we  discover  everywhere  we  might  almost  say,  an  intentional 
misrepresentation  of  the  Catholic  doctrine :  and  Melancthon,  in  this, 
surpasses  Luther  himself.     Want  of  solid  historical  information  had  an 


*  Solid,  declar.  ii.  de  lib.  prbitr.  §  45,  p.  645.  "  Ex  his  conscquitur,  quam  pnmum 
Spiritus  Sanctus,  per  vcrbum  et  sacramcnta,  opus  suum  regenerationis  et  renovationis 
in  nobis  inchoavcrit,  quod  revera  tunc  pcrvirtutem  SpintusSancti  co-operaripossimus, 
ac  debcamus,  quamvis  multa  adliuc  infirmitas  concurrat.  Hoc  vero  ipsum,  quod  co- 
optTarnur,  n  >n  ex  nostris  carnalibusct  naturalibus  viribus  est,  sedex  novis  illis  viribus 
et  donis,  qua  Spiritus  Sanctus  in  convcrsionc  in  nobis  inchoavit."  This  decision,  of 
necessity,  presupposes  the  opinion,  that  the  faculty  lost  through  original  sin,  and  re- 
curring in  regeneration,  can  be  no  mere  quality  of  the  human  spirit.  It  is  the  higher 
faculty  of  will  and  of  knowledge,  if  the  passage  cited  is  to  bear  any  sort  of  sense. 

1"  Calvin  (Instit.  lib.  iii.  c.  14,  §  11,  fol.  279)  is  far  more  just  and  equitable.  "  De 
principle  jvistificationis  nihil  inter  nos  et  sanioresscholasticos  pugnfs  est,  quin  peccator 
gratuito  a  damnatione  libcratus  justitiamobtineat,  idque  per  rcmissioncm  peccatorum, 
nisi  quod  illi  sub  justificationis  vocabulo  renovationem  comprehendunt,  qua  per  Spirit- 
urn  Sanctum  rcnovamur  in  vitae  novitatem.  Justitiam  vero  hominis  regenerati  sic 
dcscribunt,  quod  homo  per  Christi  fidem  Deo  semel  conciliatus,  bonis  operibus  Justus 
ccrscatur  et  corum  merito  sit  acceptus."  In  this  there  is  something  inaccurate,  but 
.how  much  more  conscientious  is  Calvin  here,  than  the  Solida  Declaratio,  ii.  52, 
p.  648. 

12 


178  EXPOSITION  OF  DOCTRINAL  DIFFERENCES 

undoubted  share  in  this  charge  ;  and  this  becomes  more  evident,  when 
we  sec  the  Thomists  called  Pelagian  ;  nay,  the  views  of  Luther,  on  the 
relation  of  Grace  and  Nature,  represented  as  containing  the  true  old 
Catholic  doctrine  in  opposition  to  Pelagianism  ;  for  never  was  it  taught, 
Bot  even  by  St.  Augustine,  that,  by  original  sin,  man  was  bereft  of  the 
moral  and  religious  faculties.  But  in  all  this  there  evidently  existed  an 
internal  obstacle  to  the  full  comprehension  of  the  Catholic  doctrine, — 
an  obstacle  which  we  feel  ourselves  called  upon  to  point  out, — while  it 
makes  the  Lutheran  view  appear  more  pardonable  since  it  shows  that  it 
sprang  out  of  a  true  Christian  zeal,  which,  in  this,  as  in  almost  every 
instance,  was  foolishly  directed.  The  Catholic  dogma,  that  even,  in 
fallen  man,  moral  and  religious  faculties  exist, — faculties  which  are  not 
always  sinful  in  themselves,  and  must  be  exercised  even  in  the  work  of 
regeneration, — led  some  to  believe,  that  such  an  exercise  of  the  facul- 
ties in  question  was  the  natural  transition  to  grace,  so  as  to  suppose  that, 
according  to  Catholic  principles,  a  very  good  use  of  them  was  the  me- 
dium of  grace,  or  in  other  words,  merited  it.  Such  an  opinion  were 
undoubtedly  Pelagian  ;  and  in  that  case,  not  Christ,  but  man,  would 
merit  grace,  or  rather,  grace  would  cease  to  be  grace.  To  escape  now 
the  like  errors,  the  Reformers  supposed  man  was  unable  to  achieve  any- 
thing, and  received  only,  in  regeneration  itself,  those  faculties  which  can 
be  active  in  and  for  the  kingdom  of  God.  But  the  fine  and  delicate 
sense  of  the  Catholic  dogma,  which  very  carefully  distinguishes  between 
nature  and  grace,  totally  escaped  the  perception  of  the  Reformers. 
The  finite,  even  when  conceived  as  without  sin,  though  it  may  stretch 
itself  on  every  side,  can  never  attain  to  the  infinite,  nor  ever  cling  to  it 
but  with  an  illusive  grasp. 

Nature  may  honestly  exert  all  her  powers  ;  she  will  never  of  herself, 
and  by  herself,  reach  a  supernatural  transfiguration  :  the  human,  by  no 
strain  of  power,  will  become  of  itself  the  divine.  There  would  remain 
an  eternal  gap  betwixt  the  two,  if  it  were  not  filled  up  by  grace  :  the 
divinity  must  stoop  to  humanity,  if  humanity  is  to  become  divine. 
Hence  did  the  Son  of  God  become  man,  and  not  man  become  God,  in 
order  to  reconcile  humanity  with  the  Godhead.  The  like  must  typi- 
cally recur  in  every  believer.  Thus  the  Church  may  look  on  the  non- 
regenerated  as  endowed  with  the  fairest  faculties  of  nature,  and  as 
turning  them  to  the  best  account.  Yet  it  is  not  by  the  use  of  such 
faculties  that  they  acquire  life  in  grace,  either  its  beginning,  its  middle, 
or  its  end.  On  the  contrary,  Divine  grace  must  ever  compassionately 
stoop  to  our  lowliness,  and  impart  to  our  sin-polluted  faculties  the  first 
heavenly  consecration,  in  order  to  prepare  them  for  the  kingdom  of 
heaven,  and  the  receiving  of  Christ's  image.     Here,  accordingly,  we 


BETWEEN  CATHOLICS  AND  PROTESTANTS.  179 

see  how  important  is  the  difference,  which  divides  the  Confessions  in 
their  view  of  man's  original  state.  As  in  the  finite,  though  yet  un- 
stained, faculties  of  the  paradisaic  man,  Cathohcs  deem  the  aid  of  a 
high  supernatural  power  to  have  been  absolutely  necessary  to  preserve 
him  in  a  living  intimate  communion  with  God  ;  so  they  must  necessa- 
rily look  on  the  restoration  of  the  fallen  Adam  to  that  communion,  by 
means  of  his  mere  unaided  natural  powers,  as  a  thing  utterly  imposible, 
or,  in  other  words,  as  solely  the  result  of  grace.  But  while  the  Protes- 
tants, on  the  other  hand,  conceived  that  primeval  man  accomplished 
this  union  with  God  through  his  finite  faculties  alone,  they  necessarily 
considered  the  existence  of  a  Divine  similitude  in  the  natural  powers  of 
fallen  man,  and  still  more,  the  exercise  and  expansion  of  such  powers 
in  the  work  of  regeneration,  as  quite  incompatible  with  the  notion  of 
grace,  and  as  very  derogatory  to,  if  not  utterly  subversive  of,  the  merits 
of  Christ.  That  man  should  retain  the  possession  of  all  his  natural 
powers  and  faculties,  signifies,  according  to  the  Protestant  system,  that 
he  is  able  of  himself  to  attain  to  the  perfect  knowledge  and  love  of 
God.  Thus,  if  the  Protoslants  wished  to  maintain  the  notion  of  grace, 
they  were  obliged  to  exhibit  man  as  absolutely  passive  in  the  work  of 
regeneration,  and  as  devoid  of  all  powers  acted  on  by  grace.  It  was 
far  otherwise  in  the  Catholic  system,  which  they  were  unwilling  to 
probe. 

When  we  endeavour  to  trace  the  cause,  which  led  the  Reformers  to 
the  adoption  of  such  a  view,  we  must  search  for  it  in  another  quarter. 
They  confounded,  as  it  appears  to  us,  what  was  objective,  and  subjec- 
tive, in  the  matter  of  justification.  In  relation  to  the  former,  man  is 
completely  and  entirely  passive  ;  but,  not  so  in  respect  to  the  latter. 
Fallen  man  cannot  be  justified,  unless  he  confess  before  God,  and  to 
himself,  that  he  is  utterly  incapable  of  discovering  within  him  any 
means  capable  of  reconciling  him,  sinner  as  he  is,  with  his  God.  He 
must,  with  the  most  heartfelt  confession  of  his  own  nothingness,  with 
perfect  humility,  give  himself  up  to  God, — resign  himself  to  His  all- 
gracious  disposal,  acknowledging  that  he  can  only  receive,  and  thus,  is 
merely  passive. 

In  this  way,  only,  doth  man  fall  back  into  the  natural  relation  of  the 
creature  to  the  Creator.  But,  should  he  wish  to  present  to  God  any- 
thing,— be  they  works,  or  aught  else, — in  order  thereby  to  exhibit  the 
Almighty  as  his  debtor,  and  to  demand  His  grace,  as  his  wages,  and  in 
this  manner  to  display  his  activity, — he  would  then  be  raising  himself 
to  an  equality  with  God,  and,  if  I  may  so  speak,  be  placing  himself  on 
the  same  footing  with  the  Deity,  and  by  such  arrogance,  would  throw 
himself  out  of  the  relative  sphere  of  the  creature  to  the  Creator.     But, 


180  EXPOSITION  OF  DOCTRINAL  DIFFERENCES 

when  man  rests  on  the  merits  of  Christ  alone,  and  knows  nothing  of 
his  own  merits,  he  is  then  passive,  and  inactive,  letting  God  alone  work. 
But,  when  man  coincides  with  these  operations  of  God,  he  then  becomes 
himself  active,  and  co-operates  with  (iod  ;  and  the  free  acknowledgment, 
that  in  the  sense  above-mentioned,  he  can  be  in  the  relation  only  of  a 
passive  recipient,  forms  the  very  highest  activity,  whereof  he  is  capable. 
Now,  the  Reformers  did  not  accurately  distinguish  between  these  two 
things,  and,  in  the  excess  of  a  pious  zeal,  rejected  all  exertion,  all 
a«Tencv,  in  every  sense  of  the  word,  on  the  part  of  man.  The  Catholic 
recognizes  the  necessity  of  a  completely  passive  demeanour,  since  he 
rejects  all  merits  that  could  earn  the  redemption  ;  but  he  insists  on  the 
necessity  likewise  of  an  active  demeanour,  since  he  is  convinced,  that 
it  is  only  by  his  free  and  faithful  co-operation,  that  he  can  receive  and 
appropriate  to  himself  the  workings  of  God.  When  man  possesses  the 
first,  he  gives  the  glory  to  God  ;  and,  when  he  declares  the  second,  he 
gives  thanks  to  God  for  his  ability  to  render  glory  to  Him  ;  and  this, 
without  freedom,  he  wove  unable  to  do.* 


*  The  Reformers,  Luther,  Mclancthon,  and  others,  and,  after  them,  all  modem 
Protestant  theologians,  reproach  the  Church  with  admitting  the  opinion  of  "  meritum 
de  congruo  ;"  that  is  to  say,  an  opinion  that  it  is  to  be  expected  of  God  (congruum 
esse,)  that  upon  a  heathen,  who  should  make  the  best  and  most  serious  use  of  his 
natural  faculties,  He  would  bestow  His  grace,  and  admit  him  into  His  divine  king, 
dom.  This  would  be  the  admission  of  a  quasi-mcrit,  and  consequently  Pelagian. 
The  Council  of  Trent  knows  nothing  of  such  Bcholastic  distinctions,  that  is  to  say, 
distinctions  which  were  current  in  many  schools,  and  therefore  takes  no  notice  of 
the  above-mentioned  meritum  de  congruo.  Tliose  schoolmen,  who  adopted  this 
opinion,  appealed  particularly  to  t  nc  centurion  Cornelius,  in  the  Acts  of  tlie  Apos- 
tles, c.  X.  22-35 ;  they  might  have  also  pointed  to  the  fact,  that  so  many  Platonists 
became  converts  to  Christianity,  while  no  ancient  document  states  the  conversion  of 
any  Epicurean.  We  should  be  very  desirous  to  hear  an  explanation  of  this  phenome- 
non from  an  orthodox  Lutheran.  Such  a  man  would  undoubtedly  pronounce  as 
heretical  one  of  the  finest  portions  of  Neandcr's  Church  History, — the  one  wherein 
he  points  out  those  elements  favourable  to  Christianity,  or  preparatory  to  it,  in  the 
"  Religious  and  philosophical  systems  of  antiquity."  Sec  more  particularly  vol.  i. 
part  i.  p.  31.  According  to  the  orthodox  Protestantism,  no  pliilosophy  of  history  is 
possible.  In  fine,  tUs  Protestantism  should  be  made  to  observe,  that  it  is  one  thing 
to  assert  that  God  will  certainly  have  regard  to  the  sincere  seeking  and  desire  of  a 
heathen,  and  another  tblng  to  maintain  that  all  should  believe  that  Divine  grace  is 
due  to  him,  on  account  of  this  his  seeking  and  desire. 

Moreover,  the  German  Reformers  reproached  the  theology  of  that  day  with  teach- 
ing, that  by  his  owai  powers  man  was  enabled  to  love  God  above  all  things.  But 
whoever  has  only  the  most  superficial  acquaintance  with  the  theology  of  the  Middle 
Age,  must  be  astounded  when  he  hears  this  ;  and  that  when  the  respected  professor 
Hahn  lately  referred  to  this  subject,  in  his  Dogmatic  Theology,  he  should  not  have 
expressed  his  astonishment,  would  afford  no  favourable  idea  of  his  historical  acquire- 


BETWEEN  CATHOLICS  AND  PROTESTANTS.  ISl 


§  XII. — Doctrine  of  the  Calvinists  on  the  relation  of  grace  to  freedom,  and  human 
co-operation. — Predestination. 

The  doctrine  of  the  Calvinists,  respecting  original  sin,  which,  accord- 
ing to  them,  commils  fearful  ravages  on  the  human  mind,  without, 
however,  eradicating  the  faculties  of  faith  and  will,  extends  its  influence 
to  the  matter  in  question.  They  necessarily  teach,  that  grace  first 
determines,  and,  consequently,  goes  before,  all  the  truly  pious  endea- 
vours of  man  ;  so  that  on  this  subject  we  meet  with  a  gratifying  general 
uniformity  between  all  the  Confessions.  On  account  of  their  milder 
and  sounder  view  of  original  sin,  the  Calvinists  are  enabled,  moreover, 
to  uphold  the  doctrine  of  the  active  co-operation  of  man  with  God  ;* 
and  herein  they  again  coincide  with  the  Catholics,  but  oppose  the 
Lutherans.     By  this  power  of  co-operation,    however,  the  Calvinists 


ments,  did  we  not  know  the  object  he  had  in  view.  There  were,  doubtless,  some 
obscure  individuals,  destitute  of  all  consideration,  who  taught  something  of  the  like; 
and  to  these  we  may  apply  the  following  passage  from  the  intellectual  Pallavicini, 
though  it  is  directed  against  a  degenerate  scholasticism  in  general : — "  Si  vitium 
aliquorum  accusat,  reminisci  debucrat  (Sarpi)  in  omnibus  disciplinis,  ac  potissimum  in 
nobilissimis,  adcdque  maximc  arduis,  tolerandos  esse  professorum  plerosque  vitiis 
laborantes :  plurimis  concedi,  ut  in  illis  ingenia  exerceant,  quo  doctrinee  praestantia 
in  paucis  cfflorescat  ...Nulli  datum  reipublicfe  est,  ut  in  su&,  quisque  arte  prEecclIat : 
vel  ipsa  natura,  quaconquc  solertla  Immana  major,  vitiosos  partus,  abortus,  monstra 
prsepcdire  non  valet.  Unicum  supcrest  remedium,  ut  videlicet  eos  artifices  adhibeas, 
quos  communis  existimatio  comprobat.  Id  usu  venit  scholasticfc  theologite.  Disci- 
plinarum  omnium  prajstantissima  simulquc  difficlllima  ca  est :  ejus  possessionem  sibi 
multi  arrogant,  pauci  obtinent :  hoc  constanter  admiratur  hominum  consensio  :  alii 
processii  tcmporis,  qui  neglecti,  qui  ignoti  jacent,  qui,  etiam  derisi." — Hist.  Concil. 
Trid.  lib.  vii.  c.  14,  p.  253. 

*  Calvin  Instit.  lib.  ii.  c.  3,  n.  6.     "Scd  erunt  forte,  qui  conccdent,  a  bono  suopte 
ingenio  aversam,  sola  Dei  virtute  convert!  (voluntatem  :)  sit  tamen  ut  prmparata  suas 

deinde   in  agendo  partes  habeat."     (Calvin  here  combats  Peter  Lombard.) "Ego 

autem contendo,  quod  et  pravam  nostram  voluntatem  corrigat  Dominus,  vel  potius 

abolcat,  et  a  seipso  bonam  submittat.  Quatenus  a  gratia  prfevenitur,  in  eo  ut  pedis- 
sequam  appelles,  tibi  permitto,  sed  quia  rcformata  opus  est  domini."  Hereby  Calvin 
appears  to  establish  the  distinction  between  the  Catholic  view  and  hisowm,  in  thispoint, 
namely,  that  God  alone  in  the  first  place  heals  the  will,  without  any  co-operation  on 
the  part  of  man  (how  this  is  to  come  about,  let  him  understand  who  can  ;)  and  that 
next  the  will  (which  is  the  natural  faculty,)  co-operates:  whereas  the  Catholic  teaches 
that  the  human  will  must  labour  with  God  at  its  own  improvement.  But  the  difTer. 
ence  between  Calvin  and  Luther  is  this  :  that  according  to  the  latter,  nothing  of  the 
old  man  is  any  longer  fit  for  an  active  co-operation. — Confess.  Helvct.  i.  c.  ix.  p.  21 : 
"  Duo  obscrvanda  esse  docemus  ;  primum,  regenerates  in  boni  electione  et  operatione, 
non  tantum  agere  passive,  sed  active.  Aguntur  enim  a  Deo,  ut  agant  ipsi,  quod 
agant.  Recte  enim  Augustinus  adducit  illud,  quod  Deus  dicitur  noster  adjutor. 
Nequit  enim  adjuvari,  nisi  is,  qui  aliquid  agit." 


182  EXPOSITION  OF  DOCTRINAL  DIFFERENCES 

mean  not  to  affirm,  that  it  is  in  the  power  of  man  to  receive,  or  to  re- 
ject, the  action  of  Cod.  Where  Divine  grace  knocks,  the  door  must 
be  opened  ;  it  works  qitUe  imnncihly,  and  those,  who  enter  not  into  Hfe, 
are  never  touched  by  it.  Here  we  immediately  come  to  the  doctrine 
of  Predestination. 

By  the  side  of  many  very  shallow  and  steril  conceptions,  there  were 
ever  agitated,  in  the  bosom  of  the  Catholic  Church,  the  most  manifold, 
profound,  and  speculative  theories  on  divine  predestination,  and  its  re- 
lation to  human  freedom.  To  philosophical  talent  and  acuteness,  as 
well  as  to  the  imagination,  a  wide,  and  (according  to  the  favourite  term 
of  speculation,  in  every  age)  a  very  enticing  field  is  here  opened,  which 
constantly  invites  the  hand  of  cultivation.  The  Church,  however,  has 
deemed  it  her  duty  to  set  certain  limitations  to  this  spirit.  For  God 
can  be  represented  in  such  relations  to  man,  as  to  make  the  latter 
entirely  disappear  ;  or  man,  again,  may  be  conceived  in  such  a  posi- 
tion, relatively  to  God,  as  to  subvert  tlie  notion  of  the  Almighty,  as 
the  dispenser  of  grace.  According  to  the  first  view,  God  appears  act- 
ing M'ith  a  cruel  caprice,  Avhich  cannot  be  conceived  by  man  ;  according 
to  the  second,  so  ruled  by  the  caprice  of  man,  that  He  ceases  to  be 
He  who  is,  and  through  whom  all  goodness  springs.  Accordingly, 
the  Catholic  Church  alike  rejects  an  overruling  of  God  on  the  part  of 
man,  to  impart  sanctifying  and  saving  grace  ;  and  an  overruling  of 
man  on  the  part  of  God,   to  compel  the  former  to  become  this  or  that. 

On  the  contrary,  she  teaches,  in  the  former  case,  as  is  well  known, 
that  divine  grace  is  unmerited  ;  in  the  latter,  that  it  is  oflered  to  all 
men,  their  condemnation  depending  on  the  free  rejection  of  redeeming 
aid.* 

The  Lutheran  formularies  emancipated  themselves,  in  this  respect, 
from  the  authority  of  Luther  ;  and,  in  accordance  with  the  Catholics, 
taught,  not,  indeed,  as  we  before  observed  (§  xr.,)  without  detriment  to 
the  internal  consistency  of  their  system,  that  Christ  died  for  all  men, 
that  he  calleth  all  sinners  to  himself,  and  earnestly  willeth  that  all  men 
should  come  to  him,  and  receive  his  proffered  aid.f 


*  Concil.  Trident.  Scss.  vi.  c.  2.  '«  Hunc  proposuit  Deus  propitiatorem  per  fidem  in 
sanguine  ipsius  pro  peccatis  nostris,  sed  etiam  pro  totius  mundi."  C.  iii. :  "  Ille  pro 
omnibus  mortuus  est."  Can.  xvii. :  "  Si  quis  justificationis  gratiam  non  nisi  prasdes- 
tinatis  ad  vitam  contingere  dixerit ;  reliquos  vero  omnes,  qui  vocantur,  vocari  quidem, 
Bed  gratiam  non  accipcre,  utpole  divina  potestate  prredestinatos  ad  malum  ;  anathe- 
ma  sit."  Pope  Innocent  X.,  in  his  constitution  against  Janscnius,  rejected  the  pro- 
position, (n.  V. :)  "  Semipelagianum  est  dicere,  Christum  pro  omnibus  omnino  ho- 
minibus  mortuum  esse,  aut  sanguinem  fudisse." — Hardin.  Concil.,  tom.  xi.  fol.  143. 

t  Solid.  Declar.  xi.  de  setema  Dei  prsedestinat.  $  28,  p.  765.    "  Si  igitur  Eetemam 


BETWEEN  CATHOLICS  AND  PROTESTANTS.  183 

It  is  otherwise  with  Calvin.  He  assures  us,  indeed,  that  he  will 
move  cautiously  between  two  shoals,  one  consisting  in  the  temerity  of 
the  believer,  to  scrutinize  the  unfathomable  mysteries  of  God, — the 
second,  consisting  in  the  studious  avoidance  of  the  subject  of  predesti- 
nation,— speaking  of  it  as  a  dangerous  sandbank.*  He  finds,  for  his 
own  part,  a  great  practical  interest  in  this  doctrine.  The  sweet  fruits 
{suavissimvs  frvctus,)  which  he  discovered  in  the  dogma  of  absolute 
predestination,  and  which  tended  to  confirm  him  in  his  opinion,  are 
thus  noted  by  him.  In  the  first  place,  men  can  have  no  firm  and 
deep  conviction  of  the  truth,  that  it  is  only  God's  mercy  which  hath 
insured  human  salvation,  unless  the  believer  be  assured,  that  not  all  are 
destined  for  happiness;  nay,  that  God  grants  to  one,  what  He  refuseth 
to  another.  In  the  second  place,  ignorance  in  this  respect,  obscures; 
the  glory  of  God, — plucks  humility  up  by  the  roots  {ipsam  hwnilitatis 
radicem  evellit,) — renders  a  sense  of  internal  gratitude  towards  God 
impossible,  and  disturbs  the  quiet  of  conscience  in  the  pious  ;  for  the 
consciousness  that,  in  respect  to  sins,  no  difference  exists  between 
him  and  the  reprobate,  and  that  faith  alone  establishes  the  difference, 
comprises  a  source  of  the  purest  consolation,  f 

Calvin  has  left  a  warning  example  to  those,  who,  from  any  subjec- 
tive practical  motives,  think  they  are  obliged  to  adopt  any  new  or 
strange  doctrine ;  an  example  that  shows  it  to  be  the  exclusive  duty  of 
the  theologian  to  seek  out  with  humility  what  the  doctrine  of  the 
Church  prescribes,  for  the  promotion  and  excitement  of  religious  and 


electionem  ad  salutem  utiliter  considerare  voluerimus,  firmissime  et  constanter  illud 
retinendum  est,  quod  non  tantum  prasdicatio  poenitentiffi,  verura  etiam  promissio 
Evangelii  revera  sit  universalis,  hoc  est,  quod  ad  omnes  homines  pertineat."  Here 
follow  many  Scripture  texts.  §  29,  p.  766  :  "  Et  banc  vocationem  Dei,  quae  per  ver* 
bum  Evangelii  nobis  ofFertur,  non  existimemus  simulatam  et  fucatam  :  sed  certo  sta- 
tuamus,  Deum  nobis  per  earn  vocationem  voluntatem  suam  rcvelare  :  quod  videlicet 
in  iis,  quos  ad  eum  modum  vocat,  per  verbum  efficax  esse  velit,  ut  illuminentur,  con- 
vertantur,  et  salvcntur."  §  38,  p.  769  :  "  Quod  autem  verbum  Dei  contemnitur,  non 
est  in  causa  Dei  vel  prsescicntia  vel  prredestinatio,  sed  perversa  hominis  voluntas." 
*  Calvm.  Instlt.  lib.  iii.  c.  21,  fol.  336. 

t  L.  c.  c.  21,  §2,  fol.  336;  c.  24,  §  17,  fol.  390:  "Nempe  tutius  piorum  con- 
scientiaj  acquiescent,  dum  intelligunt,  nullam  esse  pcccatorum  difFerentiam,  modo 
adsit  fides."  Calvin  (de  ffltema.  Dei  prasdest.  opusc.  p.  883,)  goes  still  further:  "  In- 
primis  rogatos  velim  lectores.  .  .  .  non  esse,  ut  quibusdam  falso  videtur,  argutam 
hanc  vel  spinosam  speculationem,  quae  absque  fructu  ingenia  fatiget :  sed  disputa- 
tionem  solidam  et  ad  pietatis  usum  maxime  accommodatam  :  nempe,  quee  et  fidem 
probe  aedificet,  et  nos  ad  humilitatem  erudiat,  et  in  admirationem  extollat  immensae 
erga  nos  Dei  bonitatis,  et  ad  hanc  celebrandam  excitet,"  etc. 


184  EXPOSITION  OF  DOCTRINAL  DIFFERENCES 

moral  feelings ;  since  the  truth  and  objectivity  of  the  Church  doctrine 
imparts,  Hkewise,  to  all  the  practical  precepts  it  sanctions,  the  charac- 
ter of  truth  and  objectivity.  For  the  reasons  above  stated, — that  is  to 
say,  in  order  to  call  forth  a  deep  Christian  piety,  Calvin  lays  down  the 
followino- notion  of  predestination  : — "We  call  predestination  that  eter- 
nal decree  of  God,  whereby  He  hath  determined  what  the  fate  of  every 
man  should  be.  For  not  to  the  same  destiny  are  all  created :  for,  to 
some  is  allotted  eternal  life;  to  others,  eternal  damnation.  According 
as  a  man  is  made  for  one  end  or  for  the  other,  we  call  him  predestined 
to  life,  or  to  death."'*  The  same  idea  the  Reformer  again  expresses  in 
the  following  way  :  "  We  assert  that,  by  an  eternal  and  unchangeable 
decree,  God  hath  determined  whom  he  shall  one  day  permit  to  have  a 
share  in  eternal  felicity,  and  whom  he  shall  doom  to  destruction.  In 
respect  to  the  elect,  this  decree  is  founded  in  His  unmerited  mercy, 
"without  any  regard  to  human  worthiness  ;  but  those,  whom  He  deliv- 
ers up  to  damnation,  are,  by  a  just  and  irreprehensible  judgment, 
excluded  from  all  access  to  eternal  life."! 

It  is  scarcely  credible  to  what  truly  blasphemous  evasions  Calvin 
resorts,  in  order  to  impart  to  his  doctrine  an  air  of  solidity,  and  to  se- 
cure it  against  objections.  As  faith  was  considered  by  Calvin  a  gift 
of  the  Divine  mercy,  and  yet,  as  he  was  unable  to  deny,  that  many  are 
represented  in  the  Gospel  to  be  believers,  in  whom  Christ  found  no 
earnestness,  and  no  perseverance,  and  whom  consequently  he  did  not 
recognize  to  be  the  elect,  Calvin  asserts,  that  God  intentionally  pro- 
duced within  them  an  apparent  faith ;  that  He  insinuated  himself  into 
the  souls  of  the  reprobate,  in  order  to  render  them  more  inexcusable.:]: 


*  Calvin.  Instit.  lib.  iii.  c.  21,  n.  5,  p.  337.  "  PrredestinatioDem  vocamus  sBtemum 
Dei  decretum,  quo  apud  sc  conslitutum  habuit,  quid  de  unoquoque  homine  fieri  vel. 
let.  Non  enim  pari  conditione  creantur  omnes :  scd  aliis  vita  setema,  aliis  damnatio 
ajtema  prasordinatur.  Itaque  prout  in  alterutrum  finem  quisque  conditus  est,  ita  vel  ad 
vitam,  vel  ad  mortem  praedestinatum  dicimus." 

t  L.  c.  n.  7,  p.  33'J.  "  Quos  vero  damnation!  addicit,  his  juste  quidem  et  irrepre- 
hensibili,  sed  incomprehensibili  judicio  vitas  aditum  praecludi."  And  how  did  Calvin 
treat  those  who  opposed  such  a  doctrine  ?  His  work,  De  (Bterna  Dei  prcedestinationc, 
is  directed  against  Albcrtus  Pighius,  a  very  intellectual  and  learned  divine;  as  also 
his  treatise,  De  libera  arbitrio.  In  the  latter  work  Pighius  is  treated  with  sufficient 
decency,  but  in  the  former  we  read  as  follows  :  "  Albertus  Pighius  Campensis,  homo 
phrenetica  plane  audacia  preeditus.  .  .  .  Paulo  post  librum  editum,  moritur  Pighius. 
Ergo  ne  cani  mortuo  insultarem,  ad  alias  lucubrationes  me  converti.  ...  In  Pighio 
nunc  et  Georgio  Siculo,  belluarum  par  non  male  comparatum,"  etc. 

t  Calvin.  Instit.  lib.  iii.  c.  2,  n.  11,  p.  194.  "  Etsi  in  fidem  non  illuminantur,  nee 
Evangelii  cfficaciam  vere  sentiunt,  nisi  qui  pra^ordinati  sunt  ad  salutem  ;  experientia 
tamen  ostendit  reprobos  interdum  simili  fere  sensu  atque  electos  affici,  ut  ne  sue  qui- 


BETWEEN  CATHOLICS  AND  PROTESTANTS.  185 

Instead  of  acknowledging,  in  the  above-stated  facts,  the  readiness  of 
the  Almighty  to  confer  His  grace  on  all,  who  only  wish  it,  he  explains 
them  by  the  supposition  of  intentional  deceit,  which  he  lays  to  the 
charge  of  the  Almighty  !  Equally  strange  is  the  reason  assigned  for 
the  doctrine  of  predestination,— that  God  wishes  to  manifest  His  mer- 
cy  towards  the  elect,  and  His  justice  towards  the  condemned ;  as  if 
the  two  divine  qualities  were  severed  one  from  the  other,  and  were 
mutually  ignorant  of  each  other's  existence  !  God  will  be  at  once  just 
and  merciful  to  all  without  exception, — not  just  merely  towards  these, 
and  merciful  only  towards  those,  as  the  prejudiced  judges  of  this  world 
are  wont  to  be  !  We  must  also  bear  in  mind,  that  the  notion  of  jus- 
tice, considered  in  itself,  cannot  even  be  upheld,  if  no  fault  exists  ;  and 
no  fault  can  be  charged  on  the  reprobate,  if,  without  possessing  the  use 
of  freedom,  they  are  condemned  ;  nay,  have  been  condemned  from  all 
eternity !  Equally  baseless  would  be  the  notion  of  mercy,  as  it  has 
necessarily  for  its  subject  sinners,  who,  by  the  free  determination  of 
their  own  will,  and  not  by  extraneous  compulsion,  have  transgressed 
the  divine  moral  law,  in  order  then  again  to  receive  pardon :  for  in 
this  case,  the  whole  process  would  be  a  mere  absurd  farce. 

It  was,  moreover,  only  by  the  greatest  efforts  of  Calvin  and  his  dis- 
ciples, particularly  Beza,  that  this  doctrine  was  enabled  to  pervert  the 
sound  understanding  of  Christians.  Bern  especially  resisted  for  a  long 
time,  till  the  consensus  Tigurinorum  was  brought  about.  The  Gallic 
Confession  immediately  adopted  this  doctrine,*  and  the  Belgic  like- 
wise.f  That  the  Synod  of  Dort  should  sanction  Calvin's  doctrine  of 
predestination,  was  to  be  expected. |  However,  other  Reformed  com- 
munities had,  from  their  very  origin,  much  softened  the  doctrines  of 


dem  judicio  quicquam  ab  electis  differant.Q  lira  ii'Hil  abHurii  e3t,  qaid  coelestium 
donorum  gustus  ab  Apostolo,  et  temporalis  fides  a  Christo  illis  adscribitur;  non  quod 
vim  spintualis  gratias  solidc  percipiant,  ac  certum  fidei  lumen  ;  sed  quia  Dominus,  ut 
magis  convictos  et  incxcusabiles  reddat,  se  insinuat  in  eorum  mantes,  quatenus  sine 
adoptionis  spiritu  gustari  potest  ejus  bonitas,"  p.  195.  "  Commune  cum  illis  (filiis 
Dei,)  fidei  principium  habere  videntur,  sub  integumento  hypocriseos." 

*  Confess.  Gallic,  c.  xii.  p.  115. 

+  OonfcRs.  Bolg.  c.  Tvi.  p.  189.  "Crpdimus,  posteaquam  tota  Adam  progenies  sic 
in  perditionem  et  exitium,  primi  hominis  culpa  prsecipitata  fuit,  Deura  se  talem  de- 
monstrasse,  qualis  est;  nimirum  misericordem  etjustum; — misericordem  quidem,  eos 
ab  hac  perditione  liberando  et  servando,  quos  ajtcrno,  et  immutabili  suo  consilio,  pro 
gratuity,  8U&.  bonitate  in  Jesu  Christo  Domino  nostro  elegit  et  selegit,  absque  uHo  ope- 
rum  eorum  respectu :  justum  vero,  reliquos  in  lapsfi  et  perditione,  in  quam  sese  pi'»- 
cipitaverant,  relinquendo." 

J  Synod.  Dordrac.  c.  i.  art.  vi.  eeq.  p.  303,  seq. 


186  EXPOSITION  OF  DOCTRINAL  DIFFERENCES 

Calvin.  Among  these  we  may  notice  the  Articles  of  the  Anglican 
Church,*  while  the  Catechism  of  the  Palatinate  maintains  silence  upon 
the  subject,  and  the  Confession  of  the  Marches  positively  declares 
against  the  decree  of  absolute  predestination. f 

§  xni, — Of  the  Catholic  notion  of  justification. 

The  want  of  a  deeper  acquaintance  with  the  usages  of  antiquity, 
particularly  of  a  vivid  insight  into  the  spirit  of  its  language,  gave  the 
outward  occasion  at  least  to  a  confusion  in  the  notion  attached  to  jus- 
tification in  Christ  Jesus,  and  served  strongly  to  confirm  the  obstacle 
which  existed  in  the  interior  of  minds,  and  prevented  the  entire  appre- 
ciation, and  comprehensive  understanding,  of  this  practical  and  funda- 
mental doctrine  of  Christianity. 

The  ancients  are  wont  to  put  the  form  in  which  the  inward  essence 
outwardly  manifests  and  reveals  itself,  for  the  inward  spirit  itself,  be- 
cause the  latter,  concealed  in  its  form,  is  thus  brought  out.  Hence, 
when  in  the  Old  Testament  the  justification  of  a  man  through  and 
before  God  is  represented  in  the  form  of  a  human  and  judicial  act,  and 
consequently  of  a  mere  outward  acquittal  and  release,  it  is  the  grossest 
error,  and  a  proof  of  entire  ignorance  of  the  ways  of  thinking,  and 
modes  of  speech,  among  ancient  nations,  not  to  connect  such  expres- 
sions with  the  idea  of  an  inward  deliverance  and  discharge  from  evil. 
How  much  in  the  Protestant  Church  the  style  of  the  ancient  world 
was  misunderstood,  we  may  perhaps  most  clearly  discern  from  a  pas- 
sage in  Gerhard,  where  he  says,  the  Mhole  act  of  justification  is  de- 
scribed only  by  expressions  borrowed  from  judicial  usage.  For  exam- 
ple :  "judgment,"  Psalm  cxliii.  ;  "judge,"  John  v.  27  ;  "tribunal," 
Rom.  xiv.  10;  "accused,"  Rom.  iii.  19;  "accuser,"  John  v.  45; 
"witness,"  Rom.  ii.  15  ;  "handwriting,"  Col.  ii.  14;  "advocate,"  1 
John  ii.  1  ;  "  acquittal,"  Psalm  xxxii.  1  ;  etc.*  Even  the  multitude 
of  these,  and  similar  expressions,  should  have  inspired  a  certain  caution, 
and  have  encouraged  the  idea,  that  they  must  have  in  part  at  least  a 
figurative  signification.      Rarely,  even  in  the  Catholic  Church,  was 


*  Confess.  Anglic,  art.  xvii.  p.  132. 

t  The  Scotch  Confession  (Art  viii.  p.  141)  speaks  a  language  extremely  mild, 
such  as  a  Catholic  might  employ.  The  Declaration  of  Thorn  (Art.  xvni.  p.  4Q3,)  is 
doubtful.  Confess.  March.  Art.  xv.  p.  383.  The  Hungarian  Confession  slurs  very 
well  over  the  matter,  p.  252. 

i  Gerhard,  loci,  theolog.  Ed.  Cotta,  torn.  iii.  p.  6. 


BETWEEN  CATHOLICS  AND  PROTESTANTS.  187 

the  right  view  unfolded  with  perfect  scientific  exactness,  and  brought 
back  by  means  of  an  accurate  philology  to  its  first  principles.* 

But  though  the  true  sense  of  the  ancients  might  not  be  explained 
with  the  clearest  scientific  evidence,  yet  it  was  adhered  to  in  life.  The 
Church  being  connected  by  her  origin  with  the  close  of  the  ancient 
world,  the  knowledge  of  the  old  modes  of  speech  passed  to  her  by  a 
living  and  immediate  contact,  although  this  knowledge  did  not  rise 
through  the  medium  of  reilcction  to  abstract  science.  If  St.  Augus- 
tine says  with  reason,  that  the  Old  is  but  the  New  Testament  still 
veiled,  and  the  New  the  Old  Testament  unveiled,  the  true  sense  of  the 
latter  must  evidently  be  better  known  to  the  Church  than  to  the  syna- 
gogue itself  The  former  imparted  to  the  sense  of  the  Old  Testament, 
in  the  matter  before  us,  a  more  appropriate  form, — and  this  is  the  case 
with  all  the  religious  ideas,  which  the  Church  and  the  synagogue  have 
in  common, — in  order  that  the  unshackled  spirit  may  show  itself  purer, 
and  more  transparent,  and  that  the  form  may  correspond  to  the  matter. 


*  Bossuet  (Exposition  de  la  doctrine  de  I'Eglise  Cathol.  c.  vi.)  expresses  himself 
thus  briefly,  according  to  the  usual  interpretation  :  "  Comme  TEcriture  nous  expli- 
que  la  remission  do  p^ch^s,  tant6t,  en  disantque  Dieu  Icscouvre.et  tantot  en  disant, 
qu'il  les  6te  et  qu'il  les  efface  par  la  grace  du  Saint  Esprit,  qui  nous  fait  nouvelles 
creatures ;  nous  croyons  qu'il  faut  joindre  ensemble  ces  expressions,  pour  former  I'idee 
parfaite  de  la  justification  du  pecheur."  From  the  want  of  a  deeper  knowledge  of 
the  Oriental  languages,  spring  so  many  strange  and  half  explanations  of  scriptural 
passages,  which  were  adduced  by  the  Protestants  against  the  Catholics,  and  vice  versa,. 
One  example  may  serve  for  many.  Calvin,  in  his  Instit.  iii.  11,  appealed  to  Rom.  iv. 
8,  where  from  Psalm  xxxi.  the  following  passages  are  taken  :  "  Blessed  is  he,  whose 
transgression  is  forgiven,  whose  sin  is  covered."  "  Blessed  is  the  man,  unto  whom 
the  Lord  imputeth  not  iniquity."  Now  Calvin  observes:  "A  complete  definition  of 
justification  is  cither  here  given,  or  it  is  not :  if  it  be  complete,  then  justification  con- 
sists merely  in  the  forgiveness  of  sins,  which  is  sufficiently  explained  by  the  words, 
'  cover  and  not  impute.'  To  justify,  means  accordingly,  to  declare  any  one  free  from 
punishment,  in  despite  of  yet  existing  sin.  But  if  by  the  mere  covering  and  remis- 
sion of  guilt  and  sin,  the  notion  of  justification  is  not  completed,  how  can  it  be  said 
that  he  is  blessed,  whose  sins  are  covered  ?  Bellarminc  now  answers  (De  Justifica- 
tione,  1.  1 1 ,  c.  9,)  it  is  said :  "  Beati  immaculati  in  via,  qui  ambulant  in  lege  Domini ;" 
and  in  Matthew,  c.  v.  "  Blessed  are  the  poor  in  spirit,  the  meek,  the  merciful,  the 
clean  of  heart,"  &c  ;  and  he  asks,  "  If  the  description  of  the  just  man  be  complete, 
why  is  no  mention  made  of  the  covering,  and  of  mere  forgiveness  ?  If  it  be  but  an 
mcomplete  description,  how  are  those  called  Blessed,  who  are  only  imperfectly  just  ?" 
Then  he  adds:  "  Potest  igitur  ad  omnes  ejusmodi  quiEstiones  responderi,  non  poni  in 
his  locis  integram  dcfinitionem  justificationis,  aut  beatitudinis  ;  sed  explicari  solum 
aliquid,  quodpertinet  ad  justificationem  aut  beatitudinem  acquirendam  :" — an  excel- 
lent refutation  of  Calvin,  without,  however,  being  quite  satisfactory  in  a  scientific 
point  of  view. 


188  EXPOSITION  OF  DOCTRINAL  DIFFERENCES 

It  is  worthy  of  remark,  that  the  Protestants  conceive  justification  to  be 
a  thing  chiefly  external,  and  the  Church  to  be  a  thing  chiefly  internal ; 
so  that,  in  cither  respect,  they  are  unable  to  bring  about  a  permeation 
of  the  inward  and  the  outward.  The  one,  however,  determines  the 
other  :  for,  as  they  consider  not  justification  to  be  internal,  the  Church, 
according  to  their  system,  could  not  become  external.  When  justifica- 
tion is  not  the  inmost  property  of  man,  it  is  then  too  weak  to  po-^sess 
the  power  to  produce  a  complete  effect,  and  to  throw  out  the  invisible 
into  the  visible,  and  consequently  to  make  the  inward  Church  simul- 
taneously and  indubitably  an  outward  one.  Hence  that  painful  oscil- 
lation between  the  invisible  and  the  visible  Church,  because  justifica- 
tion was  not  conceived  to  be  an  internal  thing. 

The  Council  of  Trent  describes  justification  to  be  an  exaltation  from 
the  state  of  sinfulness  to  that  of  grace,  and  of  adoption  of  the  children 
of  God  ;  that  is  to  say,  an  annihilation  of  the  union  of  the  will  with  the 
sinful  Adam  (a  removal  of  original  sin,  and  of  every  other  sin  com- 
mitted before  justification,)  and  the  contraction  of  fellowship  with  Christ, 
the  Holy  and  the  Just  One, — a  state  which  is,  in  a  negative  sense,  that 
of  remission  of  sin,  and  in  a  positive  sense,  that  of  sanctification.*  The 
Council  further  represents  justification  as  a  renewal  of  the  inward  man, 
by  means  whereof  we  become  really  just,"}"  as  inherent  [inhcerens)  in 
the  believer,  and  as  a  restoration  of  the  primeval  state  of  humanity.  On 
this  account,  the  same  synod  observes,  that,  by  the  act  of  justification, 
Faith,  Hope,  and  Charity,  are  infused  into  the  heart  of  man  ;  and  that 
it  is  only  in  this  way  he  is  truly  united  with  Christ,  and  becometh  a 
living  member  of  his  body.;]:  In  other  words,  justification  is  considered 
to  be  sanctification  and  forgiveness  of  sins,  as  the  latter  is  involved  in 


•  Concil.  Trid.  Sess.  vi.  c.  5.  "  Quibus  verbis  justificationis  impii  descriptio  in- 
sinuatur,  ut  sit  translatio  ab  co  statti,  In  quo  homo  nascitur  filius  primi  Adx,  in  sta- 
tiim  gratiae  et  adoptionis  filiorum  Dei  per  secundum  Adam  Jesuin  Christum,  salvato- 
rem  nostrum." 

t  L.  c.  c.  vii.  "  Quffi  (justificatio)  non  est  sola  peccatorum  remissio,  sed  et 
sanctificatio  ct  renovatio  interioris  honiinis  per  voluntariam  susceptionem  gratiae  et 
donorum :  undo  homo  ex  injusto  fit  Justus,"  etc. 

1  L.  c.  c.  vii.  "  Quamquam  nemo  possit  esse  Justus,  nisi  cui  merita  passionis 
Domini  nostri  Jesu  Christi  communicantur  ;  id  tamen  in  hac  impii  justificatione  fit, 
dum  ejusdem  sanctissimae  passionis  merito  per  Spiritum  Sanctum  chavitas  Dei  dif- 
funditur  in  cordibus  eorum,  qui  justificantur,  atque  ipsis  inhseret :  unde  in  ipsS,  Justifi- 
catione cum  remissione  peccatorum  hsec  omnia  simul  infusa  accipit  per  Jesum  Chris- 
tum, cui  inseritur,  per  fidcm,  spem  et  charitatem.  Nam  fides,  nisi  ad  eam  spes  acce- 
dat  et  charitas,  neque  unit  pcrfecte  cum  Christo,  neque  corporis  ejus  vivum  membrum 
efficit." 


BETWEEN  CATHOLICS  AND  PROTESTANTS.  189 

the  former,  and  the  former  in  the  latter  :  it  is  considered  an  infusion  of 
the  love  of  God  into  our  hearts,  through  the  Holy  Spirit;  and  the  in- 
terior  state  of  the  justified  man  is  regarded  as  holy  feeling, — as  a  sanc- 
tified inclination  of  the  will, — as  habitual  pleasure  and  joy  in  the  Divine 
law, — as  a  decided  and  active  disposition  to  fulfil  the  same  in  all  the  oc- 
currences of  life, — in  short,  as  a  way  of  feeling,  which  is  in  itself  accepta- 
ble and  well-pleasing  to  God.  When  God  declares  man  to  be  just  and 
well-pleasing  to  Him,  he  really  is  so.* 

The  Scriptural  word  Grace  hath  several  significations  ;  but  not  rarely 
corresponding  to  it  is  the  German  expression,  " gnddige,  wohhroUende, 
huldvolle  Gesi7i}iung" — a  gracious,  benevolent,  condescending  feeling, 
towards  any  one  :  this  signification  is  the  basis  of  all  the  others  ;  nay, 
it  is,  if  we  will,  the  only  one.  But  if  the  question  be  as  to  the  appli- 
cation of  Divine  grace  towards  men,  especially  sinners,  then  this  feel- 
ing is  by  no  means  a  mere  quiescent  one,  but  the  condescending  will 
becomes  at  once  an  act  ;  is  life,  and  engenders  life  ;  so  that  the  grace 
of  God,  extended  spiritually  to  the  dead,  calleth  them  back  to  life  :  the 
grace  of  God  is  sanctifying. 

As  little  can  it  be  disputed,  that  the  words,  "justify,"  "  rcchtfertigen," 
*' tTiJcflOowv,"  "  justificare,"  signify  also  to  acquit.  This  signification 
is  used  when  we  speak  of  just  or  innocent  men,  who  have  been  acquitted 
by  their  judges,  of  the  charges  brought  against  them ;  who,  after  in- 


*  It  may  be  useful  to  lay  before  the  reader  some  descriptions  of  justification,  to  en- 
able him,  amid  the  variety  of  expression,  to  recognize  the  unity  of  idea.  Thorn.  Aq. 
Prima  Sec  q.  cxiii.  art.  i.  et  art.  vi. :  "Justificatio  importat  transmutationcm  de 
statu  injustitiae  ad  statum  justitise  praedictae."  But  justice  he  had  described  as  "  rcc- 
titudinem  quandam  ordinis  in  ipsa  mtcriori  dispositione  hominis,  prout  suprcmum 
hominis  subditur  Deo,  et  inferiores  vires  animas  subduntur  supreniae,  sc.  rationi." 
Bcllarm.  de  justificatione,  lib.  ii.  c.  vi.  ''Justificatio  sine  dubio  motus  quidam  est  de 
peccato  ad  justitiam,  et  nomen  accipit  a  termino,  ad  quern  ducit,  ut  omnes  alii  simi- 
les motus,  illuminatlo,  calefactio,  et  caetcri  :  non  igitur  potest  intelligi  vera  justifica- 
tio, nisi  aliqua  praeter  remissionem  peccati  justitia  acqi^iratur.  Quemadiaodum  nee 
vera  erit  illuminatio,  nee  vera  calefactio,  si  tcncbris  fugatis  vel  ftigore  depulso,  nulla 
lux,  nuUusque  calor  in  subjecto  corpore  subsequatur."  St.  Augustine  says  (de  Spiritd 
et  lit.  c.  17  :)  "  Ibi  [among  the  Jews]  lex  extrinsecus  posita  est  quk  mjusti  terreren- 
tur,  hie  [in  Christianity]  intrinsecus  data  e.st,  qua  justilicarentur."  On  this  observes 
Bellarmine  :  "  Quo  loco  dicit  CAugustinus,J  hominem  justificari  per  legem  scriptam 
in  cordibus,  quae,  ut  ipse  ibidem  explicat,  nihil  est  aliud,  nisi  charitas  Dei  diffusa  in 
cordibus  nostris  per  Spiritum  Sancluin,  qui  datus  est  nobis."  lib.  ii.  c.  vii.  Bellarmine 
continues:  "  Itaque  per  justitiam.  qua  jusiificamur,  inteiligitur  fides  et  charitas,  quae 
est  ipsa  facullas  bene  operandi  "  Pallavicini  says  (lib  viii.  c.  4,  p.  259,;  "Consense- 
runt  oranes  [at  Trent]  de  nominissignificatione,  justificalionem,  scilicet,  esse  transit- 
vun  i  statd  inimici  ad  statum  araici,  filiique  Dei  adoptivi." 


190  EXPOSITION   OF  DOCTRINAL  DIFFERENCES 

quiry  instituted,  had  been  pronounced  to  be  what  they  are — guiltlessi 
This  sense,  in  the  matter  under  consideration,  is  inadmissible,  because 
the  question  is  not  about  just  and  innocent  men,  who  have  been  wickedly 
brouo-ht  before  the  judicial  tribunal,  but  about  men  really  and  truly 
guilty,  and  unrighteous.  Here  we  see  the  real  signification  of  the 
Greek  word  above  adduced,  and  of  the  corresponding  Hebrew  and  La- 
tin words,  namely,  "  to  make  just."  The  absolving  and  acquitting 
^ord — the  word  which  forgives  sin — is  a  power  truly  emancipating, 
dissolving  the  bonds  of  evil,  and  extirpating  sin  ;  so  that,  in  the  room 
of  darkness,  light  is  admitted  :  death  gives  way  before  life,  and  despair 
yields  to  hope.  Hence  the  forgiveness  of  sins  for  Christ's  sake,  is  un- 
doubtedly a  remission  of  the  guilt  and  the  punishment,  which  he  hath 
taken  and  borne  upon  himself;  but  it  is  likewise  the  transfusion  of  his 
spirit  to  us,  so  that  we  enter  into  a.  full  vital  communion  with  the 
second  Adam,  in  like  manner  as  we  had  with  the  first. 

There  can  be  no  doubt,  that  the  transition  from  the  life  of  the  flesh 
to  the  life  of  the  spirit,  as  above  described,  cannot  ordinarily  be  sudden  ; 
that,  on  the  contrary,  the  substitution  of  the  latter  for  the  former  must 
be  represented  as  the  final  term  of  many  preliminary  stages  in  the  his- 
tory of  the  internal  man.*  The  act  of  justification,  indeed,  fills  up  only 
one  portion  of  time  ;  for  the  communication  of  a  vital  principle  cannot 
be  considered  other  than  as  consummated  in  a  single  moment. "j"  How- 
ever, the  development  of  the  same  may  be  subjected  to  a  succession  of 
periods.  Susceptibility  for  the  act  of  Divine  justification  is  dependent 
on  a  series  of  preliminary,  mutually  qualifying  emotions,  in  the  interior 
man.  From  the  period  wherein  our  faculties  of  discernment  have  clung 
with  undoubting  firmness  to  revealed  truths,  the  struggling  soul  moves 
on  through  fear  and  hope,  through  grief  and  intuitive  love,  through 
struggle  and  victory,  up  to  that  happy  moment,  where  all  its  better  en- 
ergies, hitherto  dissipated,  unite  under  the  impulse  of  a  higher  power,  for 
obtaining  a  decisive  conquest ;  where,  by  the  full  infusion  of  the  Holy 
Spirit,  the  union  with  Christ  is  consummated,  and  we  belong  wholly  to 
him,  and  he  again  joyfully  recognizes  himself  in  us.  In  other  words; 
in  order  that  man  may  be  completely  adopted  by  God  in  the  place  of  a 


*  Bellarmin.  de  justif.  lib.  i.  c.  13.  "  Quos  enim  diligit  (Deus,)  primum  vocat  ad 
fidem,  tunc  spem  ct  timorem  et  dilectioncni  inchoatam  inspirat,  postremo  justificat,  et 
perfectam  charitatem  infundit." 

t  Dun  Scotus  (1.  iv.  Sent.  dist.  i.  p.  8)  says,  justification  is  momentary :  "  Quia 
non  est  successio  in  inductione  alicujus  formiB,  nisi  penes  partes  mobiles,  vel  penes 
partes  ipsius  formse."  Compare_my  work,  New  Investigations  (in  German,)  second 
edition,  p.  206. 


BETWEEN  CATHOLICS  AND   PROTESTANTS.  191 

child,  or  be  justified,  He  requires  on  the  part  of  man,  a  gradually  prepara- 
tory susceptibihty.  Hence  we  may  clearly  see  how  singular  is  the  ob- 
jection urged  by  Protestants,  that  the  acts  preparatory  to  the  great  act 
of  justification,  indicate  a  Pelagian  tendency  in  the  whole  Catholic  sys- 
tem.* Because,  according  to  our  doctrine,  so  much  must  be  endured 
and  wrought,  so  much  must  be  consummated  in  the  spirit,  ere  the  one 
great  divine  act  can  ensue,  they  think  we  must  needs  believe,  that,  by 
that  preliminary  spiritual  action  and  suffering,  the  fulness  of  God's  grace  - 
is  merited.  It  is,  however,  far  otherwise.  The  history  of  regeneration 
forms  one  great  whole,  most  intimately  united  in  all  its  parts,  so  that  the 
third  and  fourth  grade  cannot  be  made,  till  the  first  and  the  second  have 
been  passed. 

As  divine  grace  can  alone  unpart  the  power  for  the  execution  of  the 
first  step, — and  it  is  so  with  all  the  others,  as,  accordingly,  all  parts  of  the 
great  whole  are  determined  by  higher  aid,  and  consequently  are  a  work 
of  Divine  favour, — it  follows,  that  what  holds  good  of  the  parts,  must 
hold  good  of  the  whole.  Without  human  exertion,  indeed,  the  first  mo- 
tion of  our  spirit  cannot  be  made,  precisely  because  it  must  move  itself. 
It  is  so  with  the  second  and  third  motion.  In  other  words,  without  human 
agency,  God  can  produce  in  man  no  faith,  no  fear,  no  germ  of  love,  no 
hope,  no  repentance,  and,  therefore,  not  the  real  justification  determined 
by  them.  But  does  it  follow,  that  because  the  Cathohc  balieves  this,  he 
must  also  believe,  that  God  communicates,  on  this  account,  his  further 
manifestations  of  grace,  because  man  had  not  refused  his  co-operation  to 
the  earlier  ones?  The  notion  of  a  necessary  prr  liminary  condition  to  a 
thing,  is  here  confounded  with  the  cause  of  that  thing  itself. 

In  order,  however,  to  complete  the  Catholic  theory  of  justification,  we 
must,  according  to  the  Council  of  Trent,  subjoin  two  observations.  In 
the  first  place,  the  Catholic  Church  docs  not  dispute,  that  even  in  the 
justified  man,  notwithstanding  that  original  sin,  together  with  all  actual 
sin,  has  been  forgiven  him,  and  has  been  obliterated  from  his  soul,  there 
still  subsists  a  perverse  sensuality  (co«CMj>isccrtiia).  Yet  it  is  taught  that 
this  in  itself  is  no  sin,  and  that,  if  it  occurs  in  Holy  Writ  under  this  de- 
nomination, it  is  only  because  it  appears  as  a  consequence  of  sin,  and 
leads  again  to  real  sin,  when  the  will  hearkens  to  its  suggestions.  The 
Council  saith  :  "  God  hateth  nought  in  the  regenerated,  because  nothing 


*  Chemnit.  Exam.  Concil.  Trid.  part  i.  p.  281  ;  Gerhard  loc.  lorn  vii  p.  22!.  (loc. 
xvii.  c.  3,  sect,  v.)  Th;it  to  him,  who  has  been  prepared  by  faith  and  fear,  by  hope 
and  contrition,  God  doth  Cthrough  baptism)  impart  the  sanctifying  grace,  the  best 
Bchoolmen  term,  not  without  reason,  a  meritum  de  congruo,  but  not  a  meritum  de 
condigno. 


192  EXPOSITION  OF  DOCTRINAL  DIFFERENCES 

is  damnable  in  those  who  have  been  truly  buried  with  Christ  in  baptism, 
who  walk  not  according  to  the  flesh,  but,  putting  off  the  old  man,  put  on 
the  new,  created  after  God,  and  are  become  innocent,  immaculate,  pure, 
and  pleasing  unto  God,  heirs  indeed  of  God,  and  co-heirs  with  Christ,  so 
that  nothing  hindcreth  their  entrance  into  heaven.  That,  however,  con- 
cupiscence, or  the  stimulus  to  sin,  remains  in  the  baptized,  the  holy 
Council  avows  and  acknowledges ;  but  as  this  stimulus  is  left  for  our 
trial,  it  is  unable  to  injure  those  who  will  not  consent,  but  who  resist 
victoriously  by  the  grace  of  Christ  :  for  he  is  not  crowned  except  he 
strive  lawfully."* 

As  the  Catholic  Church  deduces  original  sin,  and  with  it  all  evil  in 
the  world,  in  the  last  degree,  from  the  abuse  of  free-will,  it  cannot  find 
any  further  traces  of  sin  in  man,  so  soon  as  his  spirit  has  been  averted 
from  the  creature,  and  hath  turned  to  God  ;  so  soon  as  his  will  hath 
been  again  healed,  and  his  inmost  feelings  been  sanctified.  By  the  in- 
born evil,  and  by  that  habit  of  sin  which  hath  grown  out  of  it,  and  hath 
become  more  or  less  inveterate,  more  or  less  confirmed,  a  mechanical 
readiness  to  incline  towards  sin  hath  been  engendered  in  the  body  and 
the  inferior  faculties  of  the  soul.  The  new  bent  of  the  will,  therefore, 
cannot  immediately  draw  into  its  orbit  the  movements  of  the  soul  and 
the  body.  But  since,  to  those  regenerated  in  spirit,  such  emotions  are 
alien,  and  even  an  abomination  ;  since  the  spirit  and  the  flesh  are  com- 
pletely severed  one  from  the  other  ;  since  they  are  involved  in  a  de- 
cisive, and,  for  the  former,  a  victorious  struggle  ;  so  most  certainly  a 
carnal  emotion  in  confiict  with  the  will,  yet  mastered  by  it,  cannot  con- 
taminate it,  and  therefore  not  convict  it  of  sin.  If  the  will  give  not  in 
to  the  desires  of  the  flesh,  or  the  desires  of  the  flesh  reach  not  the  will  ; 
if,  accordingly,  there  be  no  consent,  then  there  is  no  sin.f  Thus  evil, 
and  (in  the  strict  sense  of  the  word)  the  sinfulness  in  concupiscence,  is 
removed,  as  it  is  driven  back  from  the  inward  to  the  outward  man,  in 
whom  it  survives  as  the  consequence  and  the  chastisement  of  sin,  and 


*  L.  c.  Scss.  V.  decret.  de  peccato  original!. 

t  Bellarmin.  de  amiss,  grat.  et  statft  peccati,  Jib.  v.  c.  5.  torn.  iv.  p.  278.  "  Tota 
controvcrsia  est,  utrum  corruptio  natursB  ac  prffisertim  concupiscentiapersc  ct  ex  na- 
tura,  sua,  qualis  etiam  in  baptizatisac  justificatis  est,  sitproprie  peccatiim  originis.  Id 
eniin  adversarii  contendunt,  catholici  autem  negant ;  quippe  qui  tsanata.  voluntate  per 
gratiam  justificantcm  docent  reliquosmorbosnon  solum  non  constituere  homines  reos, 
sed  neque  posse  constituere,  cum  non  habeant  veram  peccati  rationem.  Addit  Thom- 
as Aquinas  in  sola  aversione  mentis  k  Deo  consistcre  proprie  et  formaliter  peccatum 
originis,  in  rebeUione  autcm  partis  inferioris,  qui  fuit  effectus  rebellionis  mentis  k  Deo, 
non  consistcre  peccatum,  nisi  materialiter." 


BETWEEN  CATHOLICS  AND  PROTESTANTS.  193 

wifha]  as  a  temptation,  which  may  conduce  either  to  the  more  exalted 
glorification  of  the  soul, 'or  to  its  relapse  into  the  deepest  fall.  In  the 
former  case,  it'  summons  us  to  struggle  and  to  victory,  and  to  the  con- 
firmation  and  expansion  of  virtu  > ;  in  the  latter,  it  can  easily  surprise 
the  inattentiv^e,  and  draw  him  into  its  toils,  or  penetrate  into  his  inmost 
soul. 

But  that  gap  which,  in  consequence  of  regeneration,  is  established 
between  the  interior,  now  sanctified,  man,  and  the  outward  man,  is  by 
no  means  a  fixed,  immutable  separation.  On  the  contrary,  in  the  be- 
liever, faithfully  co-operating  with  sanctifying  grace,  it  is  in  a  state  of 
constant  decrease,  and  gradual  declension  ;  for  the  continued  exercise 
of  virtue,  and  the  ever  more  and  more  powerful  development  of  the  di- 
vine principle  of  life  thereby  occasioned,  restore  the  harmony  of  all 
the  parts  of  man  in  his  new  course,  with  a  constant,  though  not  always 
perceptible,  increase  (although,  without  the  extraofdinary  interposition 
of  a  higher  power,  that  harmony  in  this  life  is  never  perfect;)*  so  that 
man's  inferior  faculties  learn  to  move  in  progressive  unison  with  the 
sanctified  spirit,  and  have  a  share  in  its  glorification,  as  they  had  before 
moved  in  accord  with  the  unholy  spirit,  and  participated  in  its  disso- 
nance. However,  the  regenerated  man  looks  anxiously  for  deliverance 
from  the  body,  not  in  order  to  be  then  only  freed  from  any  sinful  incli- 
nation of  the  will,  but  to  be  delivered  from  trial,  and  the  fear  of  trial. 

The  second  observation  which  we  have  to  make,  is,  that,  according 
to  the  doctrine  of  the  Catholic  Church,  the  just  man  can  never  hold 
himself  quite  free  from  the  so-called  venial  sins,  and  transgresses  in  di- 
vers ways,  and  therefore  it  is  not  without  reason  that  he  daily,  in  the 
Lord's  prayer,  prays  for  forgiveness  of  sins.  As  the  will  of  the  regene- 
rated, however,  is  not  thereby  alienated  from  God,  and  His  holy  law 
which  he  loves ;  and  as  such  transgressions  proceed  more  from  the  in- 


*  The  Council  of  Vienna  (in  the  Hb.  v.  Clement,  tit.  de  hoeret.)  has  pronounced 
against  the  Beguards  what  Pope  Innocent  XI.  repeated  against  Michael  Molinos. 
He  condemned,  in  his  bull,  the  following  propositions:  "No.  55.  Per  hanc  viam  in- 
ternam  pervenitur  ad  purgandas  et  distinguendas  omnes  animcE  passiones,  ita  quod 
nihil  amplius  sentitur,  nihil,  nihil.  No.  56.  Duae  leges  et  duae  cupiditates,  aniraa  una, 
et  amoris  proprii  altera,  tamdiu  perdurant,  quamdiu  perdurat  amor  proprius,  unde 
quando  purgatus  est  et  mortuus,  ut  fit  per  viam  intemam,  non  adsunt  amplius  duae 
illas  leges,  nee  aliquid  sentitur  amplius."  A  doctrine  of  this  kmd  is  ever  connected 
with  the  other,  that  at  this  grade  of  the  spiritual  life  a  fall  is  no  longer  possible. 
Hence  the  following  propositions  of  the  Quietists  are  rejected  : — "  No.  61.  Anima, 
quum  ad  mortem  mysticam  pervenit,  non  potest  amplius  velle  aliud,  quam  quod  Deus 
vult.  quia  non  habet  amplius  voluntatem,  et  Deus  eam  illi  abstulit."  No.  C3.  "  Per 
viam  intemam  pervenitur  ad  statum  continuum,  immobilem  in  pace  impcrturbabili." 
Compare  my  work,  New  Investigations,  (in  German,)  second  edition,  p.  21 1. 
13 


194  EKPOSITION  OF  DOCTRINAL  DIFFERENCES 

tirtnity  of  the  now  man,  than  from  any  remnant  of  pcrversencss  iri 
the  will,  sins  of  this  nature  occasion  no  interruption, in  the  newly 
established  relations  with  God  ;  and  internal  justification,  therefore, 
according  to  Bossuet's  expression,  appears  not  untrue,  though  it  be  not 
perfect.  IJut  this  infirmity  requires  us  in  every  instance  to  observe 
constant  sclf-vvatchfulncss,  and  to  practise  uninterrupted  prayer  for  ob- 
taining Divine  grace,  and  increase  of  sanctification.* 

6  XIV. — -Doctrine  of  the  Protestants  on  justification  and  sanctification. 

The  notions  which  the  Protestants  form  of  justification,  is  thus  briefly 
defined  in  the  Formulary  of  Concord:  "The  word  'justification' sig- 
nifies, the  declaring  any  one  just,  the  acquitting  him  of  sins,  and  the 
eternal  chastisements  of  sm,  on  account  of  the  justice  of  Christ,  which 
is  by  God  imputed  to  faith  ;"f  and  it  expressly  says,  our  justice  is  not 
of  us.X  With  these  declarations  Calvin  perfectly  coincides.^  Justifi- 
cation, in  the  Protestant  sense,  is  a  judicial  act  of  God,  whereby  the 
believing  sinner  is  delivered  from  the  punishments  of  sin,  but  not  from 
sin  itself:  while  Catholics  teach  that,  on  one  hand,  the  remission  of  sin, 
the  debt  as  well  as  the  penalty,  and  on  the  other  hand,  positive  sancti- 
fication, follows  in  a  like  way,  through  the  divine  act  of  justification. 
The  great  difference  between  the  Confessions  consists,  accordingly,  in 
this, — that,  according  to  the  Catholic  doctrine,  the  justice  of  Christ,  in 
the  act  of  justification,  is  immediately  appropriated  by  the  believer, 
becoming  part  of  his  inward  self,  and  changing  his  whole  moral  ex- 
istence ;  while,  according  to  the  Protestant  system,  justice  remains  in 
Christ,  passes  not  into  the  inward  life  of  the  believer,  and  remains  in  a 
purely  outward  relation  to  him ;  covering  his  injustice,  not  only  past, 


*  Concil.  Trid.  Sess.  vi.  can.  11.  "Si  quis  hominem  semcl  justificatum  dixerit 
amplius  pcccare  non  posse,  ncquc  gratiam  amittcre,  atque  idco  eum,  qui  labitur  ct 
pecca^,  nunquam  verc  fuissc  justificatum,  nut  contra,  posse  in  totam  vitam  pcccata 
omnia,  etiam  venialia  vitare  nisi  ex  speciali  Dei  privilcgio.  .  .  .  anathema  sit." 

t  Solid,  dcclar.  iii.  dc  fid.  juslif.  §  11.  p.  655.  "  Vocabulum  justificationis  in  hoc 
negotio  significat,  justum  pronuntiare,  a  peccatis  et  feternis  peccatorum  suppliciis  ab- 
solvere  propter  justitiam  Christi,  quae  a  Deo  fidei  imputatur." 

X  L.  c.  §  48,  p.  GG1.  "  Cum  igitur  in  ecclcsiis  nostris  apud  theologos  AugUstanse 
Confessionis  extra  controversiam  positum  sit,  totam  justitiam  nostram  extra  nos  esse 
.  •  .  quserendam,  eamque  in  solo  Domino  nostra  Jcsu  Christo  eonsistcre,"  etc. 

§  Calvin.  Instit.  lib.  iii.  c.  11,  §  2,  foi.  i260.  "  Ita  nos  justificationcin  simpliciter 
interpretamur  acceptioncm,  qua  nos  Deos  in  receptos  pro  justis  habet.  Earn  in  pec- 
catorum remissione  ac  justitiae  Christi  imputationc  positam  esse  dicinius."  <5i  3  :  "  Ut 
pro  justis  in  Christo  censearaur,  qui  in  nobis  non  suraus." 


BETWEEN  CATHOLICS  AND  PROTESTANTS.  195 

but  still  outstanding,  since  by  justification  the  will  is  not  healed.  We 
therefore  may  say, — according  to  Catholic  principles,  Christ,  by  justifi- 
cation, stamps  inwardly  and  outwardly  his  living  impress  on  the  be- 
liever ;  so  that  the  latter,  though  a  feeble  and  imperfect,  becometh  yet 
a  real,  copy  of  the  type.  On  the  other  hand,  according  to  the  Protes- 
tant doctrine,  Christ  casts  on  the  believer  his  shadow  only,  under  which 
his  continued  sinfulness  is  merely  not  observed  by  God.  Hence  the 
explicit  remark  of  the  Formulary  of  Concord,  that  the  faithful,  on  ac- 
count of  the  obedience  of  Christ,  are  looked  upon  as  just,  although  by 
virtue  of  corrupt  nature  they  be  truly  sinners,  and  remain  such  even 
unto  death.* 

These  avowals  prove  of  themselves,  that  the  Protestants  have  adopt- 
ed those  notions  of  grace  and  justification,  which  we  pointed  out  above 
(§  XIII.,)  as  one-sided  and  erroneous.  But  the  opposition  between  the 
Confessions,  in  this  matter,  derives  a  stronger  illustration  from  consider- 
ing the  following  points,  which  show  the  wide  practical  consequences 
of  this  opposition.  Concupiscence,  which,  as  Catholics  avow,  still  re- 
mains after  justification,  the  mere  incitement  to  sin,  is  represented  by 
Protestants  as  sin  in  itself,  and  indeed  as  the  yet  subsisting  original  sin ; 
while  the  distinction  between  the  mere  feeling  of  that  incitement  to 
sin  and  the  consent  to  the  same,  is  rejected  by  them  as  unessential,  nay, 
as  untrue.  It  is  precisely  on  this  ground  that  they  rest  the  assertion, 
that  justification  consists  in  the  mere  declaration  of  the  remission  of 
sin,  not  in  the  purification  from  sin  itself,  because  original  sin  still  sub- 
sists, and  adheres  even  to  the  will.  In  like  manner  it  is  asserted,  that 
between  venial  and  mortal  sin  there  is  no  internal  and  essential  differ- 
ence ;  for  (so  the  Protestants  teach,)  all  sins,  in  themselves,  whatever 
be  their  nature,  accuse  man  in  a  like  degree  before  the  tribunal  of  God  : 
all  merit  (eternal)  death.  Faith  in  the  merits  of  Christ,  according  to 
them,  constitutes  the  only  decisive  distinction  between  sinners  in  the 
eyes  of  God.  When  man  believes,  and  so  long  as  he  believes,  all  his 
sins,  so  they  teach,  are  mere  venial  sins ;  as  on  the  other  hand,  without 
this  faith  none  of  his  sins  can  be  pardoned  ;  for,  in  reality,  unbelief  is 
the  only  sin. 

These  most  astounding  maxims  involve  in  themselves  the  following 
consequences.  If  the  justified  man,  considered  in  himself,  be  as  much 
a  sinner  and  as  damnable  as  the  unjust  man,  then  no  internal  and 
essential  difference,  as  to  moral  being,  is  recognized  between  the  con- 


*  Solid,  declar.  iii.  de  fid.  justif.  iji  15,  p.  657.  "Per  fidem  propter  obedientiam 
Christi  justi  pronunciantur  et  reputantur,  etiamsi  ratione  corruptee  naturse  suffi  adhuc 
sint,  maneantque  peccatores,  dum  mortale  hoc  corpus  circumferunt." 


190  EXPOSITION  OF  DOCTRINAL  DIFFERENCE'S' 

verted  and  the  unconverted ;  the  scriptural  antitheses  of  the  old  and 
the  new  man,  of  the  old  and  the  new  life,  of  the  new  creation,  of  the 
first  birth,  and  of  regeneration,  lose  not  only  their  point,  but  in  a  great 
degree,  their  ?noral  signijicat'wn  (§  29  ;)  the  notion  of  penance,  whereby 
the  transition  from  the  one  state  to  the  other  is  brought  about,  must  be 
conceived  in  a  one-sided,  nay,  totally  mistaken  sense  (§  33  ;)  and  the 
impressive  language  of  Holy  Writ,  respecting  the  deliverance  from  sin 
wrought  through  Christ,  and  the  mortification  (eradication)  of  sin  in 
believers  (Rom.  vi.  viii.  1-4)  is  then   nothing  more  than  unmeaning 
bombast,  nay,  the  occasion  of  the  most  deplorable  and   ridiculous  self- 
delusion.     But  the  ulterior  consequences  of  the  doctrine,  that,  in  those 
who  believe  in  the  merits  of  Christ,  all  distinction  between  venial  and 
mortal  sins  is  effaced,  will  in  a  subsequent  part  of  this  work  (§  xvi.)  be 
made  fully  manifest.     Here  we  shall  cite  some  passages  that  will  show,- 
to  what  subversion  of  morality  a  system  leads,  that  will  make  no  essen- 
tial distinction  between  the   feeling  of  the  incitement  to  sin,  and  the 
wilful  consent  to  the  same.     As  the  former,  as  long  as  we  live,  is  una- 
voidable, so  the  latter  is  represented  to  be  simultaneous  with  it ;  and 
from  this  point  of  view  of  moral  worthiness,  the  deed  is  made  to  be 
not  more  punishable  than  the  most  involuntary  sensual  enticement  to 
the  same.     Thus  Melancthon  appeals  to  the  testimony  of  every  Chris- 
tian conscience,  which  saith  to  each  one,  that  even  the  Christian  ha& 
nothing  less  in  his  power,  than  his  own  heart,  whose  entire   emotions 
are  unclean.*     Hence,  the  same  Melancthon  proposes  to  Catholics  the 
question :  Do  not  the  saints  seek  their  own  interest  ?  and  he  is  really 
of  opinion,  that  the  saint,  the  man  truly  justified  before  God,  remains 
necessarily  enslaved  to  vain  glory,  to  avarice,  and  the  like.f     Luther 
.speaks  of  wicked  lust,  avarice,  anger,  immodesty,  adding  a  significant 
et  cetera,  which  are  all  to  be  found  in  the  just  man-l     Calvin,  too, 

*  Melancth.  loc.  theolog.  p.  18.  "  Christianns  agnoscet,  nihil  minus  in  potestate 
sua,  esse,  quam  cor  suum,"  etc.  Melancthon  uses  the  word  "  cor"  instead  of  "  vo- 
luntas," because,  according  to  him,  man  has  really  no  will,  but  merely  impulses  and 
desires. 

t  L.  c.  p.  138.  "  Annon  sua  etiam  quaerunt  sancti  ?  Annon  in  Sanctis  amor  est 
vitse,  glorias,  securitatis,  tranquillitatis,  rerum  ?"  Let  the  reader  observe  the  singular 
identification  of  "  amor  glorite"  and  "securitatis,  tranquillitatis,"  as  if  the  latter 
were  in  itself  as  much  as  tlic  former,  which,  a  few  linos  lower,  is  further  explained  by 
the  word  mv^io^ix.  But  when  Melancthon  says,  the  Parisienses  (the  doctors  of  Sor- 
bonne,  as  representatives  of  Catholic  theology)  did  not  look  to  the  affectus  internos, 
but  directed  their  view  to  mere  outward  observances,  so  for  this  assertion  he  may 
answer  at  the  tribunal  of  God. 

t  Interpretation  of  the  Epistle  to  the  Galatians.  Wiitjnberg,  1556.  Parti,  p, 
202,  b. 


BETWEEN  CATHOLICS  AND  PROTESTANTS.  197 

makes  us  acquainted  with  saints  of  this  sort.*  A  singular  saint,  for- 
sooth, who  seeks  his  own  interest,  and  not  Christ's  glory !  Equally 
strange  is  the  combination  of  ideas,  when  we  are  required  to  conceive 
an  immodest  or  avaricious  saint ;  for,  according  to  the  laws  of  logic, 
the  predicate  destroys  the  subject.  Yet,  what  is  the  meaning  of  the 
words,  when  men  speak  of  the  covetousness,  the  avarice,  the  choler, 
and  immodesty,  of  saints  ?  Do  they  mean  thereby  a  stimulus  inserted 
in  the  flesh,  which  incites  them  indeed  to  works  of  the  flesh,  but  at  last 
wearies  itself  out  in  unsuccessful  efforts?  Then  we  cannot  understand 
how  such  idle,  unsuccessful  temptations  can  be  denominated  covetous- 
ness,  avarice,  choler,  and  immodesty.  But  if  we  imagine  this  stimulus 
to  be  victorious  over  the  will,  or  its  impulse  to  be  consummated  into  an 
outward  act,  how  can  the  conquered  be  called  saints  and  just  ones  ? 
Rom.  viii.  1-9,  13.  Such  a  confusion  of  language  hath  its  ground  in 
the  confusion  of  essentially  different  ideas  ;  and  we  must  marvel  much, 
when  the  identifying  of  what  is  most  distinct,  nay,  most  opposite  in 
notion  and  in  language,  fails  to  produce  in  life  also  a  corresponding 
identification. 

Having  spoken  thus  far  of  the  Protestant  system  of  justification,  it 
remains  for  us  to  notice  their  view  of  sanctification  ;  for  it  would  be 
in  the  highest  degree  unjust,  if  we  did  not  show,  that,  according  to  the 
Lutheran  systena,  the  renovation  of  sinful  man,  the  moral  change, — 
in  a  word,  sanctification, — must  attach  to  the  confiding  reception  of 
the  declaration  of  the  forgiveness  of  sin.  Man,  conscious  of  so  gracious, 
so  unmerited  a  remission  of  sin,  must,  in  thankful  return  for  so  great  a 
benefit,  earnestly  strive  to  improve,  and  to  observe,  with  ever  greater 
fidelity,  the  commandments  of  God.  In  the  justified  man,  according 
to  the  same  system,  original  sin  by  the  communication  of  the  Holy 
Spirit  is  weakened,  though  not  extirpated  ;  and,  in  proportion  as  it  is 
weakened,  sanctification  increases.  Calvin,  approximating  to  the 
Catholic  view,  goes  even  so  far  as  to  confess,  that,  as  Christ  cannot  be 
divided,  man  in  communion  with  Him  must  partake  at  once  of  justifi- 
cation and  sanctification.  Thus,  whosoever  is  received  by  God  into 
His  grace,  possesses  thereby  the  spirit  of  the  Sonship,  through  whose 
power  the  transformation  into  the  likeness  of  God  ensues. f     Pleasing 


*  Calvin.  Instit-  lib.  iii.  c.  3,  ^  10,  fol.  213.     Yet  his  language  is  much  milder. 

t  Calvin.  Instit.  lib.  iii.  c.  11,  ^6.  Compare  Calvin.  Antidot.  in  Concil.  Trid. 
opusc.  p.  702.  "  Ncque  tamen  interea  ncgandum  est  qua,  ratione  (juxta  quorumdam 
cpinionem,)  per  sola m  quidem  fidcm  coram  Deo  justificatur;  sod  tamcn  ila,  ut  absque 
operibus  salutem  feternam  conscqui  impossibile  sit."  Tiius,  witli  justification  with- 
jQut  works,  salyation  without  works  is  promised. 


198  EXPOSITION  OF  DOCTRINAL  DIFFERENCES 

as  it  is  to  witness  this  improvement  in  doctrine,  and  closely  as  it  ts 
connected  witli  Calvin's  representation  of  original  sin,  and  his  descrip- 
tion of  the  process  of  regeneration  ;  yet  an  essential  ditfercncc  will 
ever  be  lound  between  the  two  systems,  Catholic  and  Protestant,  in- 
cluding, under  the  latter,  the  Calvinistic  view.  For  since  a  mere  weak- 
ening, not  an  extirpation,  of  original  sin  is  admitted,  no  essential  moral 
difference,  but  a  mere  gradual  one,  can  then  be  maintained  between 
the  old  and  the  new  man  :  but  this  is  as  much  opposed  to  the  doctrine 
of  the  Cathohc  Church,  as  it  is  to  the  dignity  of  Christianity,  to  the 
notion  of  a  new  principal  of  life  communicated  by  it,  which  in  conse- 
quence supersedes  the  old  one,  and  to  the  most  explicit  declarations  of 
.Scripture.  If  the  influence  of  Christ  over  man  were  merely  confined 
to  this,  that  the  latter  was  a  somewhat  morally  better,  not  quite  a  mo- 
rally different,  man  from  the  heathen,  then,  in  a  strict  sense,  it  were 
impossible  to  speak  of  sanctification ;  for  both  the  Heathen  and  the 
Christian  would,  in  their  inward  life,  be  like,  and  differ  only  in  their 
degree  of  discipline.  The  Catholic  Church,  above  all  things,  insists 
on  a  radical  internal  change.  Moreover  the  difference  consists  in  this, 
that  with  the  Protestant  the  external  relation  to  Christ  is  by  far  the 
most  important  thing  ;  so  that  at  this  point  of  his  spiritual  life  he  can 
calmly  sit  down,  and,  without  advancing  a  step  further,  be  assured  of 
eternal  felicity  ;  since,  by  what  the  Reformers  call  justification,  his  sins 
have  been  once  forgiven,  and,  at  the  same  time,  the  gates  of  heaven 
opened  to  him  ;*  while  the  Catholic  can  obtain  the  forgiveness  of  his 
sins  only  when  he  abandons  them,  and  in  his  view  the  justified  man, — 
the  man  acceptable  to  God, — is  identical  in  every  respect  with  the 
sanctified.  Even  with  Calvin,  forgiveness  of  sins  is  quite  abstracledly 
the  only  ground  for  hope  of  salvation  ;  and  if  he  at  length  has  pene- 
ti-ation  to  perceive,  that  justification  and  sanctification  cannot  be  sepa- 
rated in  the  interior  life,  he  yet  divides  them  in  his  theory,  and  deduces 
from  one  and  the  same  thing  different  effects  ;  since  he  says,  that  it  is 
only  by  the  declaration  of  God    remitting  sins,   that   righteousness  is 


*  Calvin  (Instit.  lib  iii.  c  II,  ^  15)  first  attacks  Prtcr  Lombard,  whose  doctrine 
he  thus  states:  '*  Primuin,  inquit,  mors  Christi  nos  justificat,  dum  per  earn  excitetur 
charitas  in  cordibus  nostris,  qua,  justi  efficimur  :  deinde  quod  per  camdein  cxtinctum 
est  peccatum"  .  .  .  He  then  turns  against  Augustine :  "Ac  ne  Augustini  quidem 
sententia  recipienda  est.  Tametsi  enim  egregie  hominem  omni  Justitiae  laude  spoliat 
....  gratiam  tanien  ad  justificationem  refert,  qua  in  vitoe  novitatcm  per  spiritum 
regeneramur."  Hereupon  he  says  :  "  Scriptura  autcm,  cum  de  fidei  justitia  loquitur, 
longe  alio  nos  ducit."  At  last  he  concludes  (Ji  21  :)  "  Ut  talis  justitia  uno  verbo  ap. 
pelari  queat  peccatorum  remissio." 


BETWEEN  CATHOLICS  AND  PROTESTANTS.  199 

acquired,  and  not  by  any  sanclifying  power,  which,  together  with  the 
consciousness  of  such  a  remission,  has  been  imparted.  Hence  it  fol- 
lows, that  even  a  minimum  of  real  improvement, — without  which,  ac- 
cording to  Calvin,  the  certainty  of  being  favoured  with  grace  cannot 
take  place, — would  entirely  suffice  for  salvation. 

To  this  statement  of  doctrines  it  will  be  well  to  subjoin  some  remarks, 
directed  towards  a  deeper  scientific  appreciation  of  the  Lutheran  sys- 
tem. The  point  to  which  we  would  here  particularly  direct  attention, 
is  the  fact  how  well  the  doctrine  of  original  sin  couples  with  that  of 
justification  ;  how  well  the  one  prepares  the  way  for  the  other  !  The 
former  was  so  deeply  engraven  in  the  essence  of  man,  that  the  latter 
cannot  extend  beyond  his  surface.  If  original  sin  had  been  represented 
as  so  destructive  to  man,  in  order  thereby  to  exalt  the  power  of  Chris- 
tianity, so  that  it  could  be  said,  "  Behold,  though  original  sin  had  sunk 
so  deep  into  the  inmost  core  of  human  existence,  yet  Christianity  sinks 
still  more  deeply ;  it  penetrates  into  the  lowest  depths  of  the  soul,  and 
works  healingly,  and  creates  anew ;  if  the  power  of  the  evil  principle 
be  great,  that  of  the  good  principle  is  still  greater;"  then  this  mistaken 
view  of  original  sin  ought  to  have  been  entirely  excused  as  a  theoretical 
error.  But  now  it  is  taught,  its  ravages  are  so  frightful,  that  they 
remain  in  the  will,  even  of  the  regenerated  :  the  disease  under  which  we 
labour  is  so  malignant,  that  we  cannot  be  radically  cured  of  it ;  and, 
as  we  cannot,  so  we  need  not  be.  Hence  Christ,  our  righteousness,  is 
out  of  us :  the  unrighteousness  in  the  old  Adam  is  within  us ;  the 
righteousness  in  the  new  Adam  out  of  us. 

Moreover,  the  essence  of  original  sin,  according  to  Luther's  ex- 
pression, recurs  very  evidently  here.  If  Catholics  teach,  that  it  is  only  in 
the  case  where  the  solicitation  to  sin,  proceeding  from  the  flesh,  is  with 
full  consciousness  entertained,  and  consented  to  by  the  will,  that  the 
real  character  of  sin  appears,  so  the  Lutherans  and  Calvinists,  with 
unexampled  obstinacy,  assert,  that  that  solicitation,  even  when  repelled 
with  decided  resistance,  is  in  itself  sinful.  Let  us  weigh  this  doctrine 
well,  and  inquire,  whether  evil  be  not  then  considered  as  something 
existing  apart,  independent  of  the  will,  and  extraneous  to  it,  and  be  not 
regarded  as  an  essence  ?  What  else  can  be  meant,  when  it  is  said, 
something  evil  in  itself  remains  in  man,  and  is  yet  evil,  even  when  the 
will  resists  and  overcomes  it  ?  Here  the  sinfulness,  certainly,  lies  no 
longer  in  a  perverted  bent  of  the  will,  because  the  will,  in  this  instance, 
cannot  be  perverted  ;  and  yet  sin,  that  is  to  say,  original  sin,  is  still  in 
man.  This  is  strikingly  corroborated  by  the  assertion,  that  we  can  be 
then  only  liberated  from  sin,  when  we  have  put  off  our  dear  "  corpus- 


200  EXPOSITION  OF  DOCTRINAL  DIFrERENCES 

ruhtm."*     This  assuredly  is  to  conceive  sin  as  something  very  sub- 
stantial ! 

And  yet  it  is  uncommonly  difficult  to  conceive,  how  Luther  should 
have  regarded  sin  as  really  something,  which,  in  the  strict  sense  of  the 
word,  Avas  an  evil  essence.  Perhaps  the  following  considerations  may 
enable  us  to  understand  Luther  better  than  he  understood  himself. 
Two  facts  above  all  are  very  remarkable.  In  the  first  place,  it  is  as- 
serted of  God,  that  He  conceals  from  His  eye  the  sins  of  believers,  or 
regards  these  as  just,  though  they  be  not  so.  Now,  it  is  very  difficult 
to  imagine,  how  God  can  view  anything  other  than  as  it  is  in  itself; 
or  how  a  really  unjust  man  can  be  accepted  as  just  by  an  omniscient 
Deity.  If  we  would  do  justice  to  Divine  omniscience,  no  alternative 
remains  but  to  suppose,  that  what  is  looked  upon  by  man  as  sin,  is 
really  none  in  the  eyes  of  God,  and  is  a  mere  consequence  of  human 
finiteness;  and  in  this  way  we  can  comprehend  the  security,  which 
is  felt  in  the  faith  in  a  mere  outward  justification.  That  something 
of  this  sort  lies  concealed  in  the  back-ground  of  the  minds  of  those  who 
adopt  this  view  of  justification,  is  strongly  confirmed  by  the  second 
fact,  to  which  we  must  now  draw  attention.  The  act  of  justification, 
and  the  whole  work  of  regeneration,  are  represented  as  the  doing  of 
God  alone. f  Now,  it  must  afTord  ample  matter  for  astonishment,  that 
God,  who  is  here  the  exclusive  agent,  should  not  entirely  pervade  His 
own  work,  and  extirpate  the  very  roots  of  sin,  and  exert  His  unshackled 
might  in  all  its  splendour.  Man,  whose  conduct  is  entirely  passive 
during  this  process  of  justification,  could  yet  be  entirely  transformed. 
Wherefore  does  not  this  change  occur  ?  We  are  compelled  to  recur  to 
the  same  thought  which  we  expressed  above,  though  in  a  somewhat 
altered  form  ;  to  wit, — that  sin  is  an  essential  condition  in  the  original 
constitution  of  man,  and,  being  thus  necessary,  is  therefore  not  im- 
puted to  us  by  God.  For  the  observation  of  Calvin, — who  seems  to 
have  felt  the  revolting  nature  of  the  theory,  that  God  is  the  exclusive 
agent  in  regeneration,  without  being  withal  the  thorough  agent, — the 
observation  of  Calvin,  that  this  defective  influence  was  grounded  in  the 
motive  of  God,  to  be  able  to  summon  before  His  tribunal  men  at  every 

*  Solid  Declar.  de  fid.  justif.  §  7,  p.  686.  "  Dum  hoc  morfalc  corpusculum  cir. 
cumferunt,  vetus  Adam  in  ipsa  nature,  omnibus  illius  interioribus  et  exterioribus  viri- 
bus  inhEeret." 

t  Solid.  Declar.  ii.  de  lib.  arbit.  §  44.  p.  645.  "  Tantiim  boni,  et  tamdiu  bonum 
operatur,  quantum  et  qiiamdiu  a  Spiritti  Dei  impellitur."  Far  other  is  the  belief  of 
the  Catholic,  who  knows  that  the  Divine  Spirit  ever  urges  man  on,  but  that  man  vrill 
often  not  let  himself  be  so  urged,  and  by  his  own  fault,  will  not  correspond  to  the  di- 
vine impulse. 


BETWEEN  CATHOLICS  AND  PROTESTANTS.  201 

moment  of  their  lives,  cannot  seriously  satisfy  any  one.*  Calvin 
should  have  called  to  his  aid  his  absolute  necessity  of  all  occurrences, 
as  an  explanation  ready  at  hand.  This  necessity  of  sinning,  in  the 
present  stage  of  human  existence,  is,  then,  the  true  ground  of  this 
theory,  and  of  the  possibility  of  that  profound  tranquillity  in  a  state  of 
continued  sinfulness, — though  such  never  entered  into  the  minds  of  the 
Reformers.  At  least,  no  other  speculative  notion  of  the  Protestant 
account  of  original  sin,  considered  in  connexion  with  the  doctrine  of 
justification,  can  be  established. 

Luther,  accordingly,  did  not  express  himself  well,  when  he  said, 
original  sin  is  a  part  of  man''s  essence ; — he  should  have  said,  sin  cleaves 
necessarily  to  the  essence  of  man.  Thus  did  the  dogmatic  decisions  of 
Luther  and  Calvin  against  human  freedom  meet  the  vengeance  due  to 
them :  and  though  they  had  so  much  enlarged  on  the  magnitude  of 
sin,  yet,  in  consequence  of  the  relation  to  man,  wherein  they  placed 
the  Deity,  they  were  at  last  compelled,  in  despite  of  themselves,  to 
deny  the  very  existence  of  sin.  What  they  taught  as  to  the  origin  of 
evil,  manifests  itself  again  in  this  matter  ;  and,  even  in  the  Lutheran 
system,  the  consequences  of  that  doctrine  remained,  though  the  doc- 
trine itself  the  Lutherans  rejected.  It  is  far  otherwise,  as  we  have 
above  said,  in  the  Catholic  Church.  Because  she  clings  so  firmly,  and 
with  such  a  bleeding  heart,  to  the  truth,  that  it  is  only  in  freedom  that 
the  ultimate  cause  of  sin  is  to  be  sought  for  ; — for  this  very  reason,  she 
can,  she  must,  likewise  maintain  a  real  redemption  from  sin. 


ON   JUSTIFYING   FAITH. 

§  XV. — Catholic  view  of  this  subject. 

The  doctrine  of  justifying  faith  experienced  the  same  fate  as  all  the 
other  fundamental  doctrines  of  Christianity.  For  fifteen  hundred 
years.  Christians  had  lived  in  and  by  that  faith,  had  formed  many  in- 
tellectual conceptions  upon  it,  and  had  laid  down  the  same  in  numerous 
writings,  but  had  withal  felt  much  deeper  things  than  could  be  compre- 
hended in   notions,  or  defined  by  words.     Yet,  in  default  of  an  erro- 


*  Calvin.  Instit.  lib.  iii.  c.  ii.  §  11,  fol.  169.  "  Nam  hoc  secundum  (Reformation- 
cm  in  vitEB  novitatem)  sic  inchoat  Deus  in  electis  suis,  totoque  vitae  curriculo  paulla- 
tim,  et  interdura  lente  in  eo  progreditur,  ut  semper  obnoxu  sint  ad  ejus  tribunal  mortis 
judicio."  Here  progress  in  good  is  made  to  depend  on  God  alone,  and  the  cause 
of  retrogression  in  the  path  of  virtue  deliberately  referred  to  the  Deity. 


202  EXPOSITION   OF  DOCTRINAL  DIFFERENCES 

ncous  view  of  that  faith  decisively  put  forth,  and  asserted  by  many, 
men  were  as  far  from  arriving  at  a  truly  sifting  point,  and  at  the  high- 
est degree  of  evidence  upon  the  matter,  as,  before  Arius,  upon  the 
doctrine  of  Christ's  divinity,  and  before  Pelagius,  upon  that  of  Grace. 
Hence  it  happened,  that,  in  the  same  way  as  in  the  above-named 
articles  of  faith,  much  that  was  obscure,  much  that  was  self-contra- 
dictory, was  found  among  Christian  writers  before  the  Nicene  Council 
and  the  African  and  the  Gallic  Synods,  so  it  proved  in  the  various  ex- 
positions of  justifying  faith,  prior  to  the  general  Council  of  Trent;  and 
it  became  the  great  and  earnest,  as  well  as  astonishing  task  of  its 
assembled  Fathers,  to  define  the  pure  truth,  and  separate  it  from  the 
dross  of  error.*  As  Arius  and  Pelagius,  men  widely  different  in 
character  from  Luther,  and  far  his  inferiors,  did  not  draw  their  opinions 
from  their  own  fancy,  but  only  embraced  with  warmth,  and  developed 
to  the  fullest  extent,  obscure  conceptions  here  and  there  current  ;  so 
Luther  merely  adhered  to  some  opinions  that  had  previously  been 
started,  as  we  learn  from  that  celebrated  Confession  delivered  by  him 
before  the  breaking  out  of  the  Reformation.  In  opposition  to  his 
teaching,  the  Church  exalted  now  to  the  highest  degree  of  certainty, 
what,  from  her  origin,  had  been  taught  perpetually  and  universally, 
established  this  in  the  form  of  a  dogma,  and  separated  it  from  mere 
individual  opinions. 

Some  of  the  theologians  assembled  at  Trent  applied  themselves, 
especially,  to  determine  the  nature  of  the  opposition  which  St.  Paul 
establishes  between  non-justifying  works  and  justifying  faith.  The 
bishops  of  Agatha  and  Lanciano,  showed,  at  great  length,  that  Paul 
merely  disputes  the  justifying  power  of  those  works,  which  precede 
faith,  and,  accordingly,  spring  not  out  of  it.f  In  conformity  with  this 
opinion,  the  bishop  Cornelius  Mussus  observed,  that  the  apostle  denies 
merely  the  value  of  the  exterior  part  of  the  works  ;  for  instance,  Abra- 
ham was  not  acceptable  to  God,  merely  because  he  offered  up  his  son 
in  sacrifice,  or  performed  other  like  actions,  but  he  became  so  by  the 
inward  exercise  of  faith  and  other  virtues,  connected  with  a  sanctified 
course  of  will  proceeding  from  faith,  and  manifesting  itself  actively  in 
good  works. :}:  Very  rightly  was  it  said,  that  Paul  had  not  in  view  the 
works  of  a  man  sanctified  in  Christ,  and  excluded  these  from  consi- 
deration, when  he  denied  to  works,  in  opposition  to  faith,  the  power  of 


*  Pallavic.  Hist.  Cone.  Trid.  lib.  viii.  c.  4,  n.  18,  p.  262.     "  Ingens  omnes  inces. 
serat  cura  explicandi  effatum  apostoli,  hominem  justificari  per  fidem." 

t  Pallavic.  1.  c.  n,  13,  p.  261.  t  Pallavic.  1.  c.  n.  14,  p.  261. 


BETWEEN  CATHOLICS  AND  PROTESTANTS. 


2C3 


rendering  us  acceptable  to  God.  In  other  words,— they  observed,  that 
Paul  opposed  to  the  old,  unsatisfactory,  legal  order  of  things,  the  new 
way  of  salvation  pointed  out  by  God,  and  attributed  only  to  the  living 
adherence  to  the  same,  (-<Vt/5,)  the  power  of  making  us  pleasing  unto 
the  Deity. 

These  definitions  were,  however,  of  a  more  negative  kind  ;  the  fol- 
lowing are  more  positive  in  their  nalure.  That  faith  in  Christ  justifies, 
observes  another  theologian,  signifies  as  much,  as  that  faith  is  the 
necessary  root,  from  which  all  spiritual  actions,  agreeable  to  God,  spring 
forth  ;  so  that  consummate  righteousness  is  not  conferred  by  faith,  im- 
mediately and  in  itself,  but  only  in  its  ulterior  development.  And 
Claudius  Jajus  added,  with  as  much  brevity  as  truth, — through  faith  is 
the  grace  given  to  us,  not  to  be  absolutely  acceptable  to  God,  but  to 
enable  us  to  become  so ;  and  this  observation  Bertonus  illustrated,  by 
remarking  that  Paul  did  not  say,  that  man  is  justified  by  faith,  but 
through  faith  ;  for  our  righteousness  is  not  faith  itself,  but  in  the  latter 
is  the  power  given  to  us  to  acquire  the  same.  (John  i.  12.)*  An  ex- 
pression of  Bernard  Diaz  is  also  worthy  of  mention.  This  theologian 
observed,  that  the  justifying  power  is  on  this  account  ascribed  to  faith, 
— because  it  raises  us  from  our  native  lowliness,  (our  earthward  views,) 
and  consists  in  certain  movements,  which  transport  us  to  a  grade  of 
spiritual  life,  exalted  above  natural  existence  ;  so  that  we  may  be  con- 
sidered by  God  as  having  entered  on  the  way  to  acquire  His  approval 
(by  attachment  to  Christ. )f 

All  these  definitions  express,  only  in  various  ways,  one  and  the  same 
thing,  which  the  Council  of  Trent  approves,  when  it  says  :  "  Faith  is 
the  beginning  of  al  salvation, — the  basis  and  the  root  of  all  justification  : 
for,  without  it,  it  is  impossible  to  please  God,  and  to  attain  to  His  adop- 
tion.'':j:     Thus  is  faith  the  beginning  of  salvation  ;  but  yet  not  a  begin- 


»  Ibid.  n.  3,  p.  260. 

+  L.  c.  n.  16,  p.  262.  "  Ideo  dici  hominera  per  fiderajustificari,  quod  haec  exhu- 
mllitate  nativa  nos  attollit,  raotusque  quosdam  super  conditionem  naturse  nobis  impn- 
mit,  efScitque  ut  a  Deo  respiciamur  ecu  iter  justitise  jam  ingressi." 

I  Concil.  Trid.  Sess.  vi.  c.  viii.  "  Quomodo  intelligitur,  impium  per  fidem,  et 
gratis  justificari.  Cum  vero  apostolus  dicit,  justifican  hominem  per  fidem,  et  gratis  ; 
ea  verba  in  eo  sensu  intelligenda  sunt,  quern  perpetuus  ecclesiae  Catholicse  consensus 
tenuit,  et  expressit ;  ut  scilicet  per  fidem  ideo  justificari  dicamur,  quia  fides  est  hu. 
manae  salutis  initium,  fundamentum  et  radix  omnis  justificationis:  sme  qua  impossi- 
bile  est  placere  Deo,  et  ad  filiorum  ejus  consortium  pervcnire  :  gratis  autem  justificari 
ideo  dicamur,  quia  nihil  eorum,  quse  justificationem  prajcedunt,  sive  fides,  sive  opera, 
ipsam  justificationis  gratiam  promeretur.  Si  enim  gratia  est,  jam  non  ex  operibus  : 
alioquin,  ut  idem  apostolus  inquit,  gratia  non  est  gratia." 


204  EXPOSITION  OF  DOCTRINAL  DIFFERENCES 

nino;  which,  during  this  period  of  life,  can  be  again  abandoned,  after 
important  progress  hath  been  made  ;  for  it  is  likewise  the  permanent 
ground-work,  whereon  the  whole  structure  of  salvation  is  erected  ;  yet 
is  it  not  a  mere  substratum,  standing  in  no  immediate  organic  connexion 
with  the  superincumbent  parts  ;  for  it  is  the  root  of  justification.  To 
its  power  and  activity  is  attributed  the  justifying  grace,  the  new  vital 
principle,  transforming  man  from  an  enemy,  into  a  friend  of  God  ;  di- 
vine love,  in  a  word  ;  {fides  impetrat  justijicationem,  say  the  school- 
men,) although  faith  does  not  merit  even  this  grace.  A  real  definition 
of  faith,  however,  the  Council  of  Trent  has  not  given  :  such  a  one  is 
found  in  the  Roman  catechism,  when  it  says  :  "  The  word  '  faith'  signi- 
fies not  so  much  the  act  of  thinking,  or  opining,  but  it  has  the  sense  of 
a  firm  obligation  (contracted  in  virtue  of  a  free  act  of  submission,) 
whereby  the  mind  decisively  and  permanently  assents  to  the  mysteries 
revealed  by  God."*  Catholics  consider  faith  as  the  re-union  with  God 
in  Christ,  especially  by  means  of  the  faculties  of  knowledge,  illumina- 
ted and  confirmed  by  grace,  with  which  the  excitement  of  various  feel- 
ings is  more  or  less  connected.  It  is,  in  their  estimation,  a  divine  light, 
whereby  man  discerns,  as  well  as  recognizes,  the  decrees  of  God,  and 
comprehends  not  only  what  God  is  to  man,  but  also  what  man  should 
be  to  God. 

As  justification  now,  in  the  Catholic  sense,  consists  in  a  total  change 
of  the  whole  inward  man,  we  can  understand  why  the  Catholic  Church 
should  so  urgently  insist,  that  faith  alone  doth  not  justify  before  God  ; 
that  it  is  rather  only  the  first  subjective,  indispensable  condition  to  be 
justified ;  the  root  from  which  God's  approval  must  spring ;  the  first 
title,  whereon  we  can  establish  our  claim  of  divine  filiation.  But  if 
faith  passes  from  the  understanding,  and  the  feelings,  excited  through 
the  understanding,  to  the  will ;  if  it  pervades,  vivifies,  and  fructifies  the 
will,  through  the  new  vital  principle  imparted  to  the  latter,  and  engen- 
ders, in  this  way,  the  new  man  created  after  God  ;  or  (to  make  use  of 
the  expression  of  Seripandus  at  the  Council  of  Treut,)f  if  love  is  en- 
kindled out  of  faith,  as  fire  out  of  brimstone,  then,  only  after  faith  and 
love  doth  regeneration  or  justification  ensue. 

*  Catechism-  Cone.  Trid.  p.  17.  "  Igitur  credendi  vox  hoc  loco  putare,  existi. 
mare,  opinari,  non  significat,  sed  ut  docent  sacrce  litcrae,  certissimfe  assensionis  vim 

habet,  qua.  mens  Deo  sua  mysteria  apcrienti  firme  constanterque    ^ssenlitur 

Deus  enim,  qui  dixit,  do  tcncbris  lumen  splcndcscere,  ipse  illuxit  in  cordibus  nostris, 
ut  non  sit  nobis  opcrtum  Evangelium,  sicut  iis,  qui  percunt." 

t  Pallav.  hist.  Concil.  Trid.  lib.  viii.  c.  9,  n.  6,  p.  270.  "  Quemadmodum  a  sul- 
phure  ignis  emicat,  ita  per  earn  (fidem,)  in  nobis  charitatem  extcmplo  succendi. 
Quae  praeceptorum  observationem  et  salutem  secum  trahit." 


BETWEEN  CATHOLICS  AND  PROTESTANTS.  20& 

Hence,  theschools  of  the  middle  age  recognized,  likewise,  a  faifh,  where- 
of they  said,  that  it  alone  justified  ;  it  is  known  by  the  designation  of  the 
fides  formata,  under  which  the  schoolmen  understood  a  faith,  that  had 
love  in  itself  i'S  its  soul,  its  vivifying,  its  plastic  principle  {forma  ;)  and 
on  this  account  it  was  called  ^r/e,?  char  if  ate  formatd,  animala,  fides  vivOf 
vivida.  This  is  that  higher  faith,  which  brings  man  into  a  real  vital 
communion  with  Christ,  fills  him  with  an  infinite  devotion  to  God,  with 
the  strongest  confidence  in  Him,  with  the  deepest  humility  and  inmost 
love  towards  Him  ;  liberates  him  from  sin,  and  causes  all  creatures  to 
be  viewed  and  loved  in  God. 

We  shall  take  the  liberty  of  quoting  some  passages,  extolling  this 
faith,  from  writings  composed  prior,  as  well  as  subsequent,  to  the  Re- 
formation. Thomas  Aquinas,  in  answer  to  the  question,  whether  we 
were  dehvered  from  sin  through  the  sufteringsof  Christ,  says  ;  "  Through 
faith  we  appropriate  to  ourselves  the  suflferings  of  Christ,  so  that  we 
become  partakers  of  the  fruits  of  the  same.  (Romans,  iii.  25.)  But 
the  faith,  through  which  we  are  cleansed  from  sin,  is  not  the  unliving 
faith  {fides  informis,)  which  can  co-exist  wiih  sin,  but  the  faith  living 
through  love  {fides  for  mala  ;)  so  that  the  sutferings  of  Christ,  not  only 
by  means  of  the  understanding,  but  by  means  of  feeling,  become  appro- 
priated by  us.  In  this  way  are  sins  forgiven  us  through  the  power  of 
Christ's  passion."* 

Cardinal  Nicholas,  of  Cusa,  in  one  of  his  most  intellectual  writings, — * 
that  on  religious  peace,  wherein  he  lays  down  principles  for  the  union 
of  all  religions  in  one,  observes:  "Faith  alone  justifies;"  but  then  he 
adds,  "it  must  be  full-formed  faith  {fides  formata),  for  without  works  it 
is  dead.""]*  More  fully  he  explains  his  meaning,  in  one  of  liis  exhorta- 
tions, to  the  following  effect ;;}:  "  It  is  love,  the  vivifying  principle  {amor 

*  Thom.  Aquin.  Summa.  tot.  theol.  p.  iii.  quaest.  xliv.  art.  i.  edit.  Thomas  a  Vio, 
Lugd.  1580, yol.  iii.  p.  2  i3.  "  Fides,  autem,  per  quam  a  peccato  mundatur,  non  est 
fides  informis,  quae  potest  esse  etiam  cum  peccato  sed  est  fides  formata  per  charita- 
tem,  ut  sic  passio  Christi  nobis  applicetur,  non  solum  quantum  ad  intellectum,  sed 
etiam  quantum  ad  affectum.  Et  per  hunc  etiam  modum  peccata  dimittunturex  vir- 
tute  passionis  Christi."  Cf.  q.  cxiii.  art.  iv.  ''  Motus  fidei  non  est  perfectus,  nisi  sit 
charitate  informatus,  unde  simul  in  justificatione  impii  cum  motti  fidei  est  etiaro. 
motus  chaiitalis  ;  movetur  autem  liberum  aibitrium  in  Deum  ad  hoc,  quod  ei  sesub. 
jiciat,  unde  et  concurrit  actus  timoris  fihalis  et  actus  humilitatis,"  etc. 

t  Nicol  Cusan.  de  pace  fidei  Dial.  op.  edit.  Basil,  p  876.  "Vis  igitur,  Deum  in 
Christo  nobis  benedictionem  repromisisse  vitas  seternaB  ? — Sic  volo.  Quapropter 
oportet  credere  Deo  prout  Abraham  credidit,  ut  sic  credens  justificetur  cum  fideli 
Abraham,  ad  assequendam  repromissionein  in  uno  semine  Abrahse  Christo  Jesu,  quae 
repromissio  est  divina  benedictio,  omne  bonum  in  se  complicans. —Vis  igitur,  quod 
sola  fides  ilia  justificet  ,d  perceptionem  aeternEe  vitie  ?... .Oportet  autem,  quod  fides 
sit  formata,  nam  ame  <  peribus  est  raortua." 

\  Nicol.  Cusan.  Excitat.  hb.  iv.  opp.  edit.  Bas.  1565,  p.  461.     Confer.  Pet.  Lom- 


206  EXPOSITION   OF  DOCTRINAL  DIFFERENCES 

qui  est  forma,)  whicli  consummates  faith  and  confidence  ;  which  seizes, 
upholds,  and  transforms  the  soid.  From  Christ  redemption  was  desired, 
and  he  answered.  Faith  and  confidence  secure  what  is  loved  and 
wished  for.  For  nothing  is  anxiously  desired,  save  what  we  love ;  if 
thus  the  Redeemer  be  loved,  he  then  redeems  :  love  consequently  re- 
deems, for  it  is  the  love  of  the  Redeemer.  In  love,  accordingly,  is  the 
beloved  object ;  hence,  too,  the  beloved  Redeemer  is  in  love.  For  God 
is  love  ;  and  he  who  abideth  in  love,  abideth  in  God,  and  God  in  him. 
It  is  the  consummate  faith,  or  the  consummate  confidence,  which  we 
call  the  faith  vivified  by  love  (Jides  charitate  formata^  whereof  the  Sa- 
viour saith,  that  it  maketh  us  well-pleasing  unto  God.  Thus  he  who 
knoweth  Christ,  and  doth  not  approach  him  ;  or  he  who  goeth  towards 
him,  but  dolh  not  enter  into  fellowship  with  him ;  or  he  who  goeth  to- 
wards him,  and  entereth  into  some  fellowship  with  him,  but  doth  not 
embrace  him,  and  knit  the  ties  of  the  closest  fellowship  with  him,  hath 
no  part  in  redemption." 

To  the  words  of  this  theologian,  we  shall  subjoin  a  passage  from 
Bellarmine,  who  flourished  nearly  about  the  same  length  of  time  after 
the  rise  of  Luther,  as  Nicholas  of  Cusa  did  before  him.  On  that  pas- 
sage of  Galatians  v.  6  :  "  For  in  Jesus  Christ,  neither  circumcision 
availeth  any  thing,  nor  uncircumcision  ;  but  faith  which  worketh  by 
charity,"  he  observes,  in  order  that  there  may  be  no  occasion  for  errors, 
the  same  apostle  (St.  Paul)  declares  what  sort  of  faith  he  calls  the  jus- 
tifying one,  when  he  says  :  in  Jesus  Christ,  neither  circumcision  avail- 
eth any  thing,  nor  uncircumcision,  that  is  to  say,  neither  the  law  given 
to  the  Jews,  nor  the  works  of  the  Heathens,  can  render  men  acceptable 
before  God,  but  only  faith  ;  yet  not  every  faith,  but  solely  that  "  which 
worketh  by  charity,"  to  wit,  the  faith  which  is  moved,  shaped  [forma' 
tur,)  and  vivified  by  charity.  If  love  accordingly  be  the  vivifying 
principle  {forma)  of  faith  ;  then,  say  the  Catholics  with  reason,  foith 
without  love  is  dead  (inforinis  ;)  with  love  it  is  living  [formata.)* 

To  this,  we  may  add  the  explanations  which  a  celebrated  Catholic 
exegetist,  at  the  commencement  of  the  seventeenth  century,  has  given 
on  the  '-22d  verse  of  the  thud  chapter  of  Romans.  After  the  apostle 
has  said,  that,  by  the  works  of  the  law,  no  one  is  justified  before  God, 


bard,  lib.  iii.  dist.  23,  c.  1,  edit.  1516,  p.  136.  "  Credere  Dcum  est  crcdendo  amare, 
credendo  in  eum  ire,  credendo  ei  adhaerere,  et  ejus  mcmbris  incorporari  ;  per  banc 
fidcm  justificatur  impius,  ut  deinde  ipsa  fides  incipiat  per  dilectioncm  operari ;  fides 
ergo,  quam  dasmones  ct  falsi  Christiani  babont,  qualitas  mentis  est,  sed  informis ; 
quia  sine  charitate  est." 

*  Bellarra.  de  justif.  lib.  ii.  c.  4,  opp.  torn.  iv.  p.  709. 


BETWEEN  CATHOLICS  AND  PROTESTANTS.  207 

he  adds,  a  new  path  of  salvation  without  the  law  has  been  now  opened 
by  God  :  to  wit,  through  faith  in  Christ ;  so  that  all  believers  may  be- 
come just.  On  the  word  "  believers "  Cornelius  k  Lapido  now  ob- 
serves: "Those  are  meant,  who  are  not  contented  with  a  mere  naked, 
empty  faith,  such  as  the  demons  possess;  but  those,  who,  like  friends, 
have  a  faith  matured  by  love  (Jides  charitate  formata,)  who  believe  in 
Christ  in  such  a  way,  as  to  fulfil  his  commandments,  who  possess  an 
humble,  living  and  obedient  faith  ;  in  short,  who  believe  not  merely 
theoretically,  but  practically,  {qui  credunt  non  specidat/re,  sed  practice 
Chri.sio.'')*  This  view  presents  itself  so  naturally  to  the  unprejudiced 
inquirer,  that  Heinroth,  for  example,  probably  without  having  ever  read 
a  Catholic  theologian,  observed  in  his  Pisteodicea :  "  Faith  is  the  basis, 
but  love  is  the  principle,  of  a  righteous  life.""!" 


§  XVI. — Lutheran  and  Calvinistic  view  of  faith. 

As  we  now  proceed  to  unfold  the  Protestant  view  of  faith,  it  will  be 
desirable  in  the  first  place,  in  order  to  throw  the  clearest  light  on  this 
obscure  point,  to  make  our  readers  acquainted  with  the  position  where- 
in Luther  and  his  followers  placed  themselves  in  relation  to  the  Catho- 
lic doctrine  we  have  just  been  stating.  Above  all,  we  must  observe, 
that  they  combated  the  distinction  between  the  two  species  of  faith,  of 
which  we  spoke  in  the  preceding  section,  not  to  maintain  one  of  the 
two  as  alone  true,  and  alone  worthy  of  the  name,  but  to  reject  both. 
Had  they  only  represented  as  inadequate  that  faith  which  Catholics 
denote  as  insufficient  for  justification,  to  wit,  the  dead  faith,  their  con- 
duct would  have  been  at  once  intelligible  and  laudable :  but  they  dis- 
puted its  very  existence,  clearly  and  frequently,  as  it  is  attested  by 
Holy  Writ. I  The  cause  of  this  fact  must  be  sought  for  in  the  opinion, 
that  faith  is  the  result   of  the    exclusive   working  of  the  Divinity  in 


*  Cornelii  a  Lap.  Comm.  in  omncs  divi  Paul!  cp.     Edit.  Antverp,  1705,  p.  57. 

t  Heinroth  Pisteodicea,  Leipzig,  1826,  p.  459.  We  have  much  pleasure  in  mak- 
ing mention,  on  this  occasion,  of  a  layman,  who  has  given  a  very  intellectual  com- 
mentary on  the  epistle  to  the  Romans  (William  Benekc,  Brief  an  die  Romcr,  Heidel- 
burg,  1831.)  Let  the  reader  compare  pp  64,  74,  145,  241.  We  are  at  a  loss,  how- 
ever, to  understand  how  he  could  find  in  the  epistle  to  the  Romans,  the  doctrine  of  the 
pre-existence  of  souls. 

X  Luther,  Commentary  (in  German)  on  the  Epistle  to  Galatians,  loc.  cit  p.  70. 
"  Therefore,  faith  is  not  such  an  otiosa  qualifas,  that  is  to  say,  such  an  useless,  lazy, 
dead  thing,  that  it  can  lie  concealed  in  the  heart,  even  of  a  mortal  sinner,  just  like 
useless  chaif,  or  as  a  dead  fly,  during  winter-time,  sticks  in  some  chink,  till  the  dear 
sun  comes  and  rouses  it,  and  warms  it  into  life." 


2U3  EXPOSlTIOxV  OF  DOCTRINAL  DIFFERENCES 

man, — an  opinion  which  appeared  incompatible  with  the  other,  that  it 
could  show  itself  dead  and  ineffectual ;  whereas  the  Catholic  doctrine 
exjjlains  the  want  of  a  progressive  movement  of  faith,  not  pervading 
and  transforming  the  whole  man  by  the  resistance,  which  human  free- 
dom, everywhere  co-operating,  or  refusing  its  co-operation,  offers.  To 
what  surprising  interpretations  of  Scripture  the  Protestant  view  leads, 
in  so  far  as  it  disputes  the  distinction  between  the  tw  o  aforesaid  species 
of  faith,  we  have  already  shown  in  the  Twelfth  Section,  when  we  had 
occasion  to  speak  of  the  Calvinistic  theory  of  predestination. 

But  even  the  notion  "  of  the  faith,  which  worketh  by  charity,"  de- 
scribed by  Catholics  as  the  one  alone  justifying,  is  rejected  by  Protes- 
tants.  When,  in  the  year  1541,  deputies  of  Catholics  and  Lutherans 
assembled  at  Ratisbon,  in  order  to  bring  about,  if  possible,  a  reconcilia- 
tion of  parties,  they  agreed  on  the  following  exposition  of  the  article 
on  Faith:  "It  is  a  settled  and  sound  doctrine,  that  sinful  man  is  justi- 
fied by  living  and  active  faith  ;  for  by  it  are  we  rendered  agreeable  and 
well-pleasing  unto  God  for  Christ's  sake."*  Luther  pronounced  con- 
demnation on  this  article  in  these  words :  "  It  is  a  wretched,  botched 
note."t 

We  will  now  take  the  liberty  of  bringing  before  our  readers  the  follow- 
ing passages  from  Luther's  Commentary  on  the  Epistle  to  the  Gala- 
tians.  "Our  papists,  and  sophists,"  says  he,  "  have  taught  the  like,  to 
wit,  that  we  should  believe  in  Christ,  and  that  faith  was  the  ground- 
work of  salvation  ;  but,  nevertheless,  that  this  faith  could  not  justify  a 
man,  unless  it  were  the  Jides  formata ;  that  is  to  say,  unless  it  first 
received  its  right  form  from  charity.  Now  this  is  not  the  truth,  but 
an  idle,  fictitious  illusion,  and  a  false,  deceitful,  misrepresentation  of 

*  "  Firma  igitur  est  et  sana  doctrina  per  fidem  vivam  et  efBcacem  justificari  horai- 
nem  peccatorem;  nam  per  Ulam  Deo  grati  ct  accept!  sumus." 

t  How  Plank  endeavours  to  excuse  this  dissatisfaction  on  the  part  of  Luther,  the 
reader  may  see  in  his  History  of  the  Protestant  System  of  Doctrine,  vol.  iii.  part  ii. 
p.  91.  That  very  many  modern  Protestant  theologians,  even  such  as  are  by  no 
means  Rationalists,— as,  for  example,  tlie  sagacious  Menken,  should  reject  Luther's 
theory,  is  by  no  means  astonishing.  But  is  worthy  of  notice,  that  the  untenable  na- 
ture of  this  theory  is  manifest  to  many  Lutheran  divmes,  in  proportion  as  they  uncon- 
sciously ascribe  to  Luther  and  his  followers  the  Catholic  doctrine.  Thus,  Dr. 
Augustus  Hahn,  professor  in  Leipzic,  in  a  letter  to  Bretschneider,  entitled  State  of 
Christianity  in  our  time,  writes  as  follows:  "  Tlius  Melancthon,  in  his  Apnlogy  (art. 
3,)  rectifies  the  Catholic  notion  of  justification  through  good  works,  as  he  shows  the 
Gospel  has  perfected  the  Old  Testament  doctrine  respecting  the  free  grace  of  God 
in  Christ  towards  all,  who  with  sincere  contrition  manifest  a  living  faith,  working  by 
chanty,"  etc.  (p.  64.)  In  fact,  the  true  notion  of  Lutheran  orthodoxy  often  totally 
escapes  those  who,  above  all  things,  wish  to  be  orthodox. 


BETWEEN  CATHOLICS  AND  PROTESTANTS.  209 

\he  Gospel.  On  this  account,  what  the  senseless  sophists  have  taught 
respecting  the  Jides  fonnala,  that  is  to  say,  the  faith,  which  should 
receive  its  true  form  and  shape  from  charity,  is  mere  idle  talk.  For 
that  faith  alone  justifies,  which  apprehends  Christ  by  the  word  of  Scrip- 
ture, and  which  adorns  or  decorates  itself  with  Hira,  and  not  the  faith, 
which  embraces  in  itself  charity.  "^Por  if  faith  is  to  be  certain  and 
constant,  it  should  apprehend  nought  else,  cling  to  nought  else,  save  the 
one  Christ.  For,  in  the  anguish  of  the  conscience,  it  hath  no  other 
stay,  but  this  precTous  pearl.  Therefore,  should  the  law  affright  a  man, 
and  the  weight  of  «in  oppress  him,  as  much  as  they  are  able,  he  can, 
nevertheless,  when  he  hath  apprehended  Christ  by  faith,  ever  boast  that 
he  is  yet  just  and  pious.  But  how  cometh  this  to  |  ass  ?  And  by 
what  is  he  rendered  so  just  ?  By  that  noble  treasure  and  pearl,  which 
is  called  Jesus  Christ,  whom  by  faith  he  hath  made  his  own."* 

In  the  same  work  of  the  Reformer,  we  read  on  the  same  subject  as 
follows :  "  But  if  a  man  hears,  that  he  is  to  believe  in  Christ,  and  yet 
that  such  faith  is  of  no  avail,  and  profiteth  him  nothing,  unless  charity 
be  added  thereto,  which  giveth  force  to  faith,  and  renders  it  capable  of 
justifying  a  man,  then  it  must  needs  come  to  pass,  that  a  man  will 
immediately  fall  away  from  the  faith,  despair,  and  think,  if  this  be  so, 
that  faijii  without  charity  doth  not  justify  ;  tjien  it  is  undoubtedly  use- 
less, and  nothing^worthj^  and -charity  alone  can  justify.:  for  if  faith  hath 
not  charity  by  its  side,  which  iraparteth  to  it  the  right  form,  which 
constitutes  it  in  such  a  manner,  that  it  can  justify,  then  is  it  nought  ; 
but  if  it  be  nought,  how  can  it  then  justify  1 

"  The  adversaries,  in  support  of  this  their  pernicious  and  poisonous 
doctrine,  adduce  the  text  from  the  thirteenth  chapter  of  the  First  Epistle 
to  the  Corinthians  :  '  If  I  spake  with  the  tongues  of  men  and  of  angels, 
and  if  I  should  prophesy,  and  should  know  all  mysteries,  and  all  know- 
ledge  ;  and  if  I  should  have  all  faith,  so  that  I  could  remove  mountains, 
and  have  not  charity,  I  am  nothing.'  This  text  the  papists  regard  as 
their  wall  of  iron.  But  the  dull,  stupid  asses  can  neither  understand 
nor  perceive  anything  in  the  writings  of  St.  Paul,  and  therefore,  with 
this  their  false  interpretation,  they  have  not  only  done  violence  to  the 
words  of  St.  Paul,  but  they  have  moreover  denied  Christ,  and  set  all 
his  blessings  aside.  Therefore  we  must  beware  of  this  doctrine,  and 
regard  it  as  a  very  diabolical  and  hellish  poison ;  and  conclude  with  St. 
Paul,  that  we  be  justified  by  faith  only,  and  not  '  per  fidem  formatem 
«haritate."'f 


*  Luther's  Works,  part  i.  p.  47,  c.  6,  ed.  Wittenberg. 

t  L.  c.  p.  70.    The  Reformers  often  recur  to  thisjides  formata  in  a  tone  of  great 

u 


210  EXPOSITION  OF  DOCTRINAL  DIFFERENCES 

What,  now,  is  justifying  faith  in  the  Protestant  sense  ?  Man  belieresv 
when  he  trusts  that  he  has  been  received  by  Gcd  into  grace,  and  that, 
for  Christ's  sake,  who,  by  his  death,  has  offered  up  atonement  for  oue 
sins,  he  receives  forgiveness  of  the  same.*  Melancthon  expresses  him- 
self still  more  clearly,  when  he  says,  "  Faith  is  the  unconditional  acqui- 
escence in  the  Divine  mercy,  vvf^hout  regard  to  our  good  or  evil 
works."f  By  these  definitions  is  the  essence  of  that  faith,  which  the 
Reformers  require,  by  no  means  made  clear  :  we  must  more  accurately 
point  out  the  manner  wherein  faith  exhibits  the  property  of  justification. 
Negatively  this  is  explained  by  the  express  observation,  that  it  is  not 
the  love  connected  with  faith,  or  faith,  in  as  far  as  it  nmnifests  its 
activity  in  works,,  which  possesses  the  power  of  justifying.^  Positively 
this  is  explained  by  the  declaration,  that  it  is  the  instrument  and  the 
mean,  which  lays  hold  of  the  grace  (the  campassion)  of  God,  and  the 
promised  merits  of  Christ.^ 

If  this  more  accurate  explanation  should  not  yet  place  in  the  fullest 
light  the  nature  of  the  Protestant  idea  of  faith,  this  will  be  most  cer- 
taiidy  effected,   by  considering  the  comparison,   which   Calvin,   on  a 

indignation.  Thus,  Luther  in  a  disputation,  says,  (0pp.  Jen.  loin.  i.  fol.  538,  Thcs. 
iv. :)  "  Docent  (sophistse;  ncque  infusuin  Spiritu  Sancto  fidem  justificare  nisi  chari- 
tate  sit  forniata."  Melancthon,  loci,  theol.  p.  8.^  :  "  Fingunt  ''vulgus  sophistarum) 
aliam  fidem  formatam,  id  est,  cfiaritate  conjunctam  ;  aliam  informem,  id"  est,  quee 
sit  etiam  in  impiiscarentibus  charitate."  Calvin.  Instit.  lib  iii.  c  4,  n  8,  |).  I!>5  : 
"  Frira6  refutanda  est,  qusae  in  scholis  volitat  nugatoria-  fidei  formatEB  efi  infoiinis  dis- 
tinctio,"  etc. 

*  Confess.  Aug.  art.  iv.  fol.  13.  "  Item  docent,  quod  homines  non  possint  justifi- 
cari  coram  Deo  propriis  viribus,  mentis,  aut  opcrlbus,  sed  gratis  justificentur  propter 
Christum  per  fidem,  cum  credunt  se  in  gratiam  recipi,  et  pecc.ifa  remitti  propter 
Christum,  qui  suS-morte  pro  nostris  peccatis  satisfecit." 

t  Melancthon  loc.  theol.  p.  93.  "  Habes,  in  quara  partem  fidei  noirten  usurpet 
acriptura,  nempe  pro  eo,  quod  est  fidere  gratuita  Dei  misericordia,,  sine  uUo  operunt 
nostrorum,  sive  bonorum  sive  malorum,  rcspectu  :  quia  de  Ciiristi  plcnitudine  omnes 
accipimus."  Most  complete  is  the  definition  which  Calvin  gives :  Instit.  lib.  iii.  c. 
2  §  7,  fol.  195.  "  Justa  fidei  definitio  nobis  constabit,  si  dicamus  esse  divintE  erga 
nos  benevorentise  firraam  certamque  cognitionem,  quae,  gratuitae  in  Christo  promis- 
sionis  veritatc  fundata,  per  Spiritum  Sanctum  et  rcvelatur  mentibus  nostris,  et  cor- 
dibus  obsignatur." 

X  Apol.  iv.  de  justif.  §  26,  p.  76.  "  Sola  fide  in  Christum,  non  propter  dilectionem 
aut  opera  consequimuv  remissionem  pcccatorum,  etsi  dilcctio  sequitur  fidem  " 

§  Solid.  Dcclar.  iii.  de  fide  just.  §  36,  p.  662  :  "  Fides  enim  tantum  earn  ob  causam 
justificat,  ct  inde  vim  illam  habet,  quod  gratiam  Dei  et  mcritum  Christ!  in  promis- 
sionc  evangelii  tanquam  medium  et  instrumentum  apprehcndit  et  amplectitur."  §  23> 
p.  659  :  "  Et  quidem  neque  contritio,  ncque  dilectio,  nequc  ulla  alia  virtus,  sola  fides 
est  illud  instrumentum,  quo  gratiam  Dei,  meritum  Christi,  et  remissionem  pcccato- 
rum apprehcndere  et  accipcre  possumus." 


BETWEEN  CATHOLICS  AND  PROTESTANTS.  211 

certain  occasion,  employed  for  this  object.  Osiander,  a  preacher  in 
Nuremberg  and  afterwards  in  Konigsbcrg,  one  of  the  most  celebrated 
of  Luther's  followers  at  the  commencement  of  the  Reformation,  had 
taken  the  liberty  to  put  forth  a  peculiar  theory  of  justification,  which, 
if  we  duly  elucidate  his  obscure  phraseology,  and  the  want  of  precision 
in  his  ideas,  was  quite  Catholic, — a  circumstance  which  was  often 
urged  as  a  matter  of  reproach  against  him.  He  taught,  among  other 
things,  that  the  justifying  power  lies  not  in  faith  considered  in  itself, 
but  only  inasmuch  as  it  essentially  embraces  Christ ;  that  is  to  say 
according  to  Catholic  language,  inasmuch  as,  by  the  real  communica- 
tion of  Christ's  righteousness,  it  places  man  in  a  real  communion  with 
him.  To  this  Calvin  replies  :  "  Doubtless  he  is  of  opinion,  that  faith 
by  no  means  justifies  through  its  intrinsic  energy  ;  for,  as  it  is  always 
weak  and  imperfect,  it  could  produce  only  a  defective  justification. 
Faith  is  only  the  mean  (organ)  through  which  Christ  is  offered  up  to 
God.  Thus  it  blesses  man  in  the  same  way  as  an  earthen  vessel,  in 
which  a  treasure  is  found,  makes  a  man  happy,  although  it  possess  in 
itself  no  worth."*  Thus  is  justifying  faith  regarded,  not  as  a  morally 
renovating  and  vital  principle,  flowing  from  the  spirit  of  Christ ;  but  as 
standing  in  the  same  relation  to  Christ,  as  the  earthen  vessel  to  the 
treasure.  In  the  same  way  as  the  two  become  not  one, — the  vessel 
remains  earthen,  the  treasure  golden, — so  the  believer  is  not  inwardly 
united  with  Christ  by  justifying  faith :  they  stand  merely  in  an  out- 
ward relation  one  to  the  other.  Christ  is  pure  ;  man,  on  the  other 
hand,  although  he  believes  in  a  way  agreeable  to  God,  is  inwardly  im- 
pure. Christ  is  offered  up  by  man  to  God  through  faith,  the  sacrificial 
vessel,  without  man  himself  being  a  victim  acceptable  to  God  through 
Christ ;  and  as  such  being  just,  and,  in  consequence  thereof,  obtaining 
eternal  felicity.     The  belief  in  an  extraneous  righteousness,  described 

*  Calvin.  Instit.  lib  iii.  c.  11,  §  7,  fol.  262.  "  Quod  objicit,  vim  justificandi  noa 
inessc  fidei  ex  se  ipsa,  sed  quatenus  Christum  recipit,  libenter  admilto,  nam  si  per  se, 
vel  intrinscca.,  ut  loquuntur,  virtutc  justificaret  fides,  ut  est  semper  debilis  et  imper- 
fecta, non  efficerct  hoc,  nisi  ex  parte  :  sic  manca  esset  justitia,  quoe  frustulum  salutis 

nobis  con  ferret Neque  tamenintcrca  tortuosashujus  sophistae  figures  admitto,  quum 

dicit  fidem  esse  Christum  :  quasi  vero  oUa  fictilis  sit  thesaurus,  quodm  ea  reconditum 
sit  aurum.  Neque  cnim  dlversa  ratio  est,  quia  fides  ctiamsi  nuUius  per  se  dignitatis 
sit  vel  pretii,  nos  justificat,  Christum  affcrendo,  sicut  olla  pecuniis  referta  hominem 
locuplctat. ... Jam  expeditas  est  quoque  nodus,  quomodo  intelligi  debeat  vocabulura 
fidei,  ubi  de  justificatione  agitur."  Cfr.  Apolog.  iv.  de  justif  §  18,  p.  71.  "Etrur- 
sus  quoties  nos  de  fide  loquimur,  intelligi  volumus  objectum,  scihcet  misericordiam 
promissam.  Nam  fides  non  ideo  justificat  aut  salvat,  quia  ipsa  sit  opus  perse  dignum, 
sed  tanium  quia  accipit  misericordiam  promissam."  Cf.  Chemnit.  Exam.  Cone. 
Trid.  part  i.  p.  294. 


212  EXPOSITION  OF  DOCTRINAL  DIFFERENCES 

in  the  Fourteenth  Section,  required  this  notion  of  faith  (justilia  extra 
nos.)  A  peculiar  conception,  likewise,  of  the  appropriation  of  the 
merits  and  obedience  of  Christ,  must  accordingly  be  formed.  Now, 
this  was  precisely  called  appropriation  of  obedience,  whereby  it  is  not 
appropriated  by  us,  not  made  our  own  in  an  inward  living  manner,  so 
that  we  may  become  obedient  like  unto  the  Redeemer.  It  is  the  same 
with  this  new  mode  of  appropriation,  as  if  any  one  were  to  purchase  a 
very  learned  book,  and  instead  of  stamping  its  contents  deeply  on  his 
mind,  and  in  this  way  appropriating  it,  so  that  he  might  become  a 
living  book,  should  hold  himself  very  learned,  the  learned  book  was  his 
(outward)  property ! 

Now,  the  rejection  of  the  above-stated  second  Catholic  view  of  faith, 
becomes  perfectly  inteUigible.  Moreover,  Calvin,  as  it  appears,  bor- 
rowed the  simile  in  question  from  Luther's  writings,  in  which  it  fre- 
quently occurs,  though  not  so  fully  carried  out.* 

After  these  explanations,  we  can  understand  the  purport  of  passages, 
like  the  following,  from  Luther's  writings  :  "  Now  thou  seest  how  rich 
is  the  Christian  or  the  baptized  man ;  for,  though  he  will,  he  cannot 
lose  his  salvation,  however  great  his  sins  may  be,  unless  he  refuse  to  be* 
lieve.  No  sin  can  damn  him,  but  unbelief  alone.  When  faith  in  the 
Divine  promise  given  in  baptism  returns,  or  is  not  effaced,  then  all  else 
will  be  made  to  vanish  in  a  moment  through  faith,  or  rather  the  veracity 
of  God  ;  for  He  cannot  belie  Himself,  if  thou  confess  Him,  and  acqui- 
esce faithfully  in  His  promises.  But  contrition  and  confession  of  sins, 
and  even  satisfaction,  and  all  those  efforts  invented  by  man,  will  quick- 
ly leave  thee,  and  make  thee  unhappier,  if  thou  forgettest  this  Divine 
veracity,  and  busiest  thyself  about  those  things.  Vanity  of  vanities, 
and  vexation  of  spirit,  is  all  which  we  strive  for,  beyond  faith  in  God's 
fidelity."-j-     In  this  passage  it  is  asserted,  that,  by  the  side  of  faith,  the 


*  Luther's  Commentary  on  the  epistle  to  the  Galatians,  part  i.  p.  70,  ed.  Witten- 
berg (in  German.)  "  The  reason  wherefore  faith  justifies,  is,  that  it  apprehends  and 
brings  to  itself  the  costly  noble  pearl,  to  wit,  Jesus  Christ." 

t  Luther  de  captiv.  Bab.  torn.  ii.  fol.  264.  "  Ita  vides,  qiiam  dives  sit  homo  Chris- 
tianus,  etiam  volcns  non potest  perdere  salutem  suam  quantiscunque  peccatis,  nisi  no- 

lifcredere.     Nulla  enim  peccata  cum  possunt  damnare,  nisi  sola  incrcdulitas Cse- 

tera  omnia,  si  rcdeat  vel  stet  fides  in  promissionem  divinam  baptizato  factam,  m  me- 
mento absorbentur  per  eandem  fidem,"  etc.  Here  we  may  appropriately  insert  the 
following  celebrated  passage  from  a  letter  of  Luther  to  Mclancthon,  although  from 
the  evident  excitement  of  mind  (so  we  would  willingly  believe)  under  which  the  au- 
thor writes,  peculiar  stress  ought  not  to  be  laid  upon  it;  but  it  will  still  ever  remain  a 
characteristic  monument  in  the  history  of  rchgious  opinions.  "  Sin  lustily,"  writes 
Luther,  "  but  be  yet  more  lusty  in  faith,  and  rejoice  in  Christ,  who  is  the  conqueror 


BETWEEN  CATHOLICS  AND    PROTESTANTS.  213 

greatest  sins  can  still  be  committed;  but  this  certainly  is  not  the  faith 
which  St.  Paul  recommends  to  us,  although  Luther  is  ever  appealing 
to  the  authority  of  this  apostle.  But  it  is  that  earthen  vessel  of  Calvin, 
on  whose  surface,  indeed,  Christ  as  the  Lamb  of  God  is  found,  but  with- 
out the  spirit  of  the  Redeemer  livingly  pervading  the  whole  man,  de- 
stroying sin,  and  trulv  engendering  a  new  life  within  us.  Who,  that 
had  ever  reflected  on  the  Pauline  notion  of  faith,  could  have  ever  taken 
pleasure  to  defend  the  thesis,  "  that  if  in  faith  an  adultery  could  be 
committed,  it  were  no  sin."*  Even  in  Melancthon,  we  find  similar 
passages,  of  which  we  shall  cite  only  one  :  "  Whatever  thou  mayest 
do,  whether  thou  eatest,  drinkest,  workest  with  the  hand,  teachcst,  I 
may  add,  shouldst  thou  even  sin  therewith,  look  not  to  thy  works  ;  weigh 
the  promise  of  God  ;  confide  in  it,  and  doubt  not  that  thou  hast  no 
longer  a  Judge  in  heaven,  but  only  a  Father,  who  cherisheth  thee  in 
His  heart,  as  a  parent  doth  his  child. ""f  In  other  words,  suppose  thou 
shouldest  be  a  drunkard,  or  a  glutton,  let  not  thy  hair  turn  gray  ;  only 
forget  not  that  God  is  a  kind  elder,  who  learned  to  forgive  much  sooner 
than  thou  didst  learn  to  sin. 

However,  we  have  pointed  out  only  one  side  of  the  Lutheran  princi- 
ple of  faith,  namely,  that  whereby  it  works  justification.     There   is 

of  sin,  of  death,  and  of  the  world.  Sin  we  must,  so  long  as  we  remain  here.  It 
suffices,  that,  through  the  riches  of  the  glory  of  God,  we  know  the  Lamb  which  ta- 
kcth  away  the  sins  of  the  world  :  from  Him  no  sin  will  sever  us,  though  a  million 
times  in  a  day  we  should  fornicate  or  commit  murder."  Epist.  Dr.  M.  Lutheria  Joh. 
Aurifabro  coll.  torn.  i.  Jena,  1556,  4,  p.  545,  b.     Luther  says  to  his  friend  : — 

"  Si  gratise  praedicator  es,  gratiam  non  fictam  sed  veram  praedlca  :  si  vera  gratia 
est,  vcrum  non  fictum  peccatum  ferto,  Deus  non  facit  salvos  ficte  peccatores. 

"  Esto  peccator  et  pecca  fortiter,  sed  fortius  fide  et  gaude  in  Christo,  qui  victor 
est  peccati,  mortis  et  mundi :  peccandum  est,  quamdiu  hie  sumus.  Vita  haec  non 
est  habitatio  justitiae;  sed  expectamus,  ait  Petrus,  ccelos  novos  et  terram  novam,  in 
quibus  justitia  habitat. 

"  SufEcit  quod  agnovimus,  per  divitias  glorice  Dei,  agnum  qui  tollit  peccata  mundi : 
ab  hoc  non  avellet  nos  peccatum,  etiamsi  millies,  millies  uno  die  fornicemur  aut  oc- 
cidamus.  Putas  tam  parvum  esse  pretium  et  redemptionem  pro  peccatis  nostris  fac- 
tam  in  tanto  ac  tali  agno  ?"  The  letter  was  written  from  the  Wartburg,  and  bears 
the  date  of  the  year  1521. 

*  Luther  disput.  torn.  i.  p.  523.  "  Si  in  fide  fieri  posset  adulterium,  peccatum  non 
easel." 

1  Melancthon  loc.  p.  92.  "  Qualiacunque  sint  opera,  comedere,  bibere,  laborarc 
manti,  docere,  addo  etiam,  ut  sint  palam  peccata,"  etc.  I  candidly  avow,  I  could 
as  soon  imagine  the  co-existence  of  day  and  night,  as  conceive  a  man  holding  the 
Pauline  ?n>T/;  (faith)  with  the  sentiments  and  conduct  described  by  Melancthon. 
And  what  should  prevent  us  from  representing  to  ourselves  such  a  man  as  unchaste, 
choleric,  &,c.,  if  the  qualities  stated  in  the  text  be  compatible  with  faith  ?  In  what 
respect  is  gula  morally  different  from  libido  ? 


214  EXPOSITION  OF  DOCTRINAL  DIFFERENCES 

another,  whereby  it  becomes  the  source  of  love  and  of  good  works. 
Luther,  in  many  places,  describes  this  in  nearly  the  same  terms  as  the 
Catholics  depict  the  divine  love  of  the  regenerated.  In  this  class  of  the 
Reformer's  writings,  are  included  those  on  Christian  freedom  and  on 
good  works  ;  and  who  knows  not  the  brilliant  description  of  faith  in 
his  preface  to  St.  Paul's  Epistle  to  the  Romans  1  "  Faith,"  says  he, 
"  is  a  divine  work  within  us,  which  changes  us,  makes  us  be  born  again 
out  of  God,  destroys  the  old  Adam,  and  transforms  us,  as  it  were,  into 
other  men,  in  heart,  in  feeling,  and  in  every  faculty,  and  communicates 
to  us  the  Holy  Spirit.  This  faith  is  something  living  and  efficacious  ; 
so  that  it  is  impossible  that  it  should  not  always  work  good.  Faith 
doth  not  first  ask,  whether  good  works  are  to  be  done ;  but,  before  it 
inquires  about  the  matter,  it  hath  already  WTOught  many  good  works, 
and  is  ever  busied  in  working."  Here,  in  the  most  amiable  contradic- 
tion with  the  Lutheran  theory  of  justification,  a  renovation  and  entire 
transformation  of  the  whole  inward  man  is  taught.  Faith  appears  as 
the  blossom,  springing  out  of  the  union  of  all  the  powers  constituting 
the  interior  man,  as  an  expression  of  their  combined  workings  ;  while 
a  strong  testimony  is  rendered  to  the  power  of  the  Saviour  over  sin 
and  death.  In  his  commentary,  likewise,  on  the  epistle  to  the  Gala- 
tians,  Luther  calls  faith  "  the  righteous  heart,  tide  thoroughly  good  will, 
and  the  new-created  understanding,  or  reason."  Here  also  Luther 
means  to  say,  that  faith  is  an  efi'ect  of  all  the  spiritual  powers  of  man, 
when  they  are  purified  and  glorified  by  the  Divine  Spirit.* 


APPRECIATION  OF  THE  THEORETIC  AND  PRACTICAL  GROUNDS,  WHICH 
THE  PROTESTANTS  ALLEGE  FOR  THEIR  VIEW  OF  FAITH. 


§  XVII. — Appreciation  of  the  theoretic  grounds. 

But  why,  now,  do  the  Reformers  so  much  insist  on  the  distinction  of 
two  principles  in  one  and  the  same  faith ;  to  one  whereof  is  reserved 
the  power  of  working  justification,  to  the  other,  that  of  evincing  itself 
in  charity  and  good  works,  and  in  unfolding  the  fulness  of  all  virtues? 
Luther  and  his  friends  conceived  they  had  very  weighty  theoretical  and 


*  Commentary  on  the  epistle  to  the  Galatians,  part  i.  p.  1 43 ;  German  edition  of 
Wittenberg.     Passages  similar  to  those  cited  in  the  text  often  occur. 


BETWEEN  CATHOLICS  AND  PROTESTANTS.  215 

practical  reasons  for  this  separation.  The  theoretical  reasons  will  first 
engage  our  attention.  It  is  very  usual  with  Luther  and  his  friends  to 
boast  of  faith,  as  the  instrument  emhracing  the  mercy  of  God  in  Christ, 
as  not  only  the  first  and  original,  but  also  the  only  pure  ordinance  of 
God  in  man,  unmixed,  and  consequently  untroubled,  with  any  human 
alloy ;  whereas  faith,  when  it  manifests  itself  in  love,  and  in  the  whole 
course  of  feelings  to  which  it  should  give  rise,  on  one  hand,  doth  not 
appear  itself,  but  rather,  if  we  may  so  speak,  as  the  fruit  of  itself,  and 
on  the  other  hand  penetrates  and  pervades  the  human  and  the  sinful 
element,  and  consequently  no  longer  exhibits  its  pristine  purity.*  Now 
it  is  the  exclusive  act  of  God,  according  to  them,  which  maketh  men 
agreeable  to  Him ;  it  is  consequently  the  instrumental  faith  only,  not 
the  faith  working  by  charity,  that  justifieth  before  God,  and  therefore 
the  distinction  in  question  must  be  regarded  as  well-founded,  nay,  as 
absolutely  necessary. 

The  naive  simplicity  of  these  theoretic  errors,  which  are  entirely 
based  on  the  doctrine  of  God's  exclusive  operation  in  the  work  of  sal- 
vation,  is  too  evident  to  need  any  special  comment.  Luther  in  one 
word  wished  to  say  :  in  us  God  believes — in  us  God  confides  in  himself 
— and  as  everywhere  He  can  rejoice  only  in  His  oicn  works,  so  He 
rejoiceth  solely  in  this  His  exclusive  act.  Evident  as  this  is,  yet,  on 
account  of  the  importance  of  the  matter,  and  for  the  sake  of  elucidat- 
ing the  notions  respecting  it,  it  behoves  us  not  to  pass  it  over  with  too 
much  haste.  The  Lutherans  describe  the  entire  spiritual  life  of  regen- 
erated man  as  the  act  of  God.  Is  it  not  therefore  extremely  singular, 
and,  according  to  their  theoretical  doctrines,  utterly  inconceivable,  that 
they  should  not  likewise  say,  God  in  Christ  Jesus  loveth  in  us,  and 
should  not  attribute  to  the  Creator  as  lively  a  joy  in  this  His  work,  as 
that  whereby  he  believeth  in  us  ?  If  the  one,  as  well  as  the  other,  be 
His  worV,  if  both  have  been  obtained  for  us  through  the  merits  of 
Christ,  what  imaginable  cause  is  there,  why  God  should  look  down 
graciously  upon  us,  inasmuch  as  He  excites  within  us  faith  in  the 
Redeemer  ;  but  cannot  love  us,  inasmuch  as  he  produces  within  us 
love  for  Christ  ?  The  doubt  that  in  love  something  human,  and 
therefore,  as  they  say,  something  meagre  and  insufficient,  exists,  the 
peculiar  theory  of  Protestants  cannot  allege ;  for  what  is  weak  and 
sinful  in  love,  that  is  to  say,  what  is  not  love  itself,  they  will  not  deno- 
minate  God's    work,    but   only  love    itself.     The  exotic  and  impure 

*  Luther  de  captly.  Babyl.  opp.  torn.  ii.  p.  284.  "  Opus  est  enim  omnium  operum 
«xcellentissimum  et  arduissimum,  quo  solo,  etiamsi  Cfeteris  omnibus  carere  cogeris, 
servaberis.  Est  enim  opus  Dei,  non  hominis,  sicut  Paulus  docet ;  caetera  nobiscum 
etpernos  operatur,  hoc  unicum  in  nobis  etsine  nobis  operatur." 


216  EXPOSITION  OF  DOCTRINAL  DIFFERENCES. 

elements  in  this  love  God  could  always  separate,  and,  as  to  that  whicfi 
should  be  proved  to  be  his  own  work,  graciously  accept,  and  even  as 
graciously  as  anything  else,  which  He  hath  ordained.  A  very  peculiar 
reason  must  have  induced  the  Lutherans  to  adopt  this  view ;  for 
although,  as  they  conceive,  faith  is  the  exclusive  work  of  God,  yet  it 
still  frequently  trembles,  becomes  now  and  then,  even  according  to  the 
symbolical  books  (for  example,  the  Apology.)  extremely  weak,  is 
scarcely  able  at  times  to  cling  to  the  stafi'of  Divine  Providence,  and 
forgets  itself  even  so  far  as  to  doubt  the  existence  of  God.  And  as 
regards  Luther  himself,  he  was  often  unable  to  put  off  the  doubt,  whe- 
ther he  had  conceived  justifying  faith  in  a  very  believing  spirit,  and 
dispelled  awakening  scruples,  not  by  the  power  of  faith,  hut  after  a  very 
human  fashion,  to  wit,  by  resolving  in  such  moments  to  inveigh  instan- 
taneously and  energetically  against  the  papacy,  and  in  this  way  to  set 
aside  disgust  by  pleasure.*  Now  this  dismay,  and  this  doubting  in 
divine  truths  and  divine  promises,  are  most  assuredly  no  gracious  work 
of  God  ;  but  in  both  we  recognize  the  human  alloy,  and  (in  the  sense 
of  the  Reformers,)  we  must  say  :  "  In  us  God  believes  ;  it  is  man,  on 
the  contrary,  who  trembles,  and  who  doubts.  In  despite  of  this  pertur- 
bation of  the  divine  element  within  us,  God  doth  not  yet  cease  to  look 
down  graciously  upon  the  seed  He  hath  sown  in  man."  Why  should 
the  Deity,  then,  on  account  of  the  human  alloy  intermingled  with 
charity,  be  induced  to  cast  no  friendly  eye  upon  it,  and  not  graciously 
to  recognize  that  portion  of  it,  which  is  His  own  work  ? 

*  Some  passages  of  this  kind  we  must  here  lay  before  the  reader.  Luther,  in  his 
Table-talk  (p.  166,  ed.  Jena,  1603,)  says  :  "  I  once  believed  all  that  the  Pope  and 
the  monks  told  me.  -But  now  what  Christ  saith,  who  cannot  lie,  this  I  cannot  put 
too  strong  a  faith  in.  But  this  is  a  wearisome  subject ;  we  must  defer  it  to  another 
day."  P.  167  :  "The  spirit  is  indeed  willing,  but  the  flesh  is  weak,  saith  Christ, 
when  he  speaks  of  himself.  St.  Paul  also  saith  :  The  spirit  will  give  itself  up  t» 
God,  and  trust  in  Him  and  obey  ;  but  reason,  flesh  and  blood  resist,  and  will  not  and 
cannot  upward  rise.  Therefore  must  our  Lord  God  bear  with  us;  the  glimmering 
wick  he  will  not  put  out ;  the  faithful  have  only  the  first-fruits  of  the  spirit,  not  the 
full  perfection,  and  the  ten  commandments  One  person  asked,  wherefore  doth  no6 
God  impart  to  us  full  knowledge  ?  Dr.  Martin  replied  :  If  any  one  could  indeed  be- 
Jicve,  then  for  very  joy  he  would  be  able  neither  to  eat,  nor  drmk,  nor  do  aught  else. 
As  at  Dr.  Martin's  table  the  text  from  the  prophet  Hosca,  Hcbc  dicit  Dominus,  was 
sung,  he  said  to  Dr.  Jonas,  '  As  little  as  you  believe  that  this  singing  is  good,  so  little 
do  I  firmly  believe  that  theology  is  true.  I  love  my  wife,  I  love  her  more  dearly  than 
myself — that  is  most  sure — I  mean  to  say,  I  would  rather  die  than  that  she  or  the  lit- 
tle ones  should  die.  I  love  Christ  very  dearly,  who  with  His  blood  hath  redeemed 
me  from  the  power  and  tyranny  of  the  devil :  but  my  faith  ought  in  justice  to  be 
greater  and  more  ardent  than  it  is  :  ah  !  Lord  !  enter  not  into  judgment  with  thy  ser- 
vant,' "  &c. 


BETWEEN  CATHOLICS  AND  PROTESTANTS.  217 

Love,  then,  is  an  efiect  of  faitli,  and  consequently  not  the  first  of  the 
divine  workings  within  us  ;  for  as  it  is  only  faith  which  with  God's  aid 
brings  forth  charity,  and  certainly  not  any  unhelief  ingrafted  on  faith, 
love  must  in  consequence  be  as  divine  as  faith  ;  because  it  is  the  pure, 
though  (as  the  Lutherans  assert)  the  later,  production  of  a  divine  prin- 
ciple. For  whatever  would  be  defective  in  charity,  would  be,  as  we 
remarked  above,  not  charity  itself,  but  only  the  effect  of  a  deficiency 
in  faith  ;  or,  to  express  ourselves  more  accurately,  (for  a  deficiency, 
that  is  to  say,  the  absence  of  being  can  do  nothing,)  a  smaller  degree 
of  charity  presupposes  a  small  degree  of  faith  ;  though  the  former,  be 
it  even  subsequent  in  its  origin,  is  as  divine  as  the  latter.  A  flame  is 
not  less  fire  than  a  spark,  though  the  spark  precedes  the  flame  ;  it  is  the 
same  with  a  little  flame,  though  it  were  only  the  effect  of  a  little  spark, 
and  both  in  the  same  way  would  be  comprised  in  the  notion  of  a  little 
fire. 

Whithersoever  we  turn  our  inquiring  glance,  we  can  discover  no- 
thing which  should  have  brought  charity  into  such  discredit,  that  it 
were  only  by  faith,  and  not  by  love,  we  can  be  acceptable  to  God. 
Holy  writ  is  not  in  the  slightest  degree  chargeable  with  the  evil  repute 
into  which  love  is  fallen.  Let  us  compare  only  John  xiv.  21,  23,  and 
1  Cor.  viii.  3.  If  the  Saviour  saith  in  the  former  place,  "  He  who 
loveth  me,  shall  be  loved  of  my  Father,  and  I  will  love  him,  and  will 
manifest  myself  to  him ;"  so  we  may  be  allowed  to  put  the  question, 
what  distinction  can  exist  "  between  receiving  any  one  into  his  grace," 
"  assuring  any  one  of  his  good-will,"  (declaring  him  just,)  and  "  loving 
any  one  ?"  It  is  also  useful  attentively  to  consider,  who  it  is,  accord- 
ing to  this  passage,  whom  the  Father  and  the  Son  love  ; — him,  it  saith, 
"  who  loveth  Christ."  Thus,  it  would  be  Faith,  in  so  far  as  it  loves, 
and  is  active  in  love,  wherein  consists  the  righteousness  that  availeth 
before  God,  and  whereby  we  become  well-pleasing  unto  Him. 

To  speak  out  plainly  our  own  opinion,  it  appears  to  us,  that,  in  the 
Protestant  mode  of  distinguishing  between  the  instrumental  faith,  and 
the  faith  working  by  charity,  there  has  been  always  wanting  a  clear- 
ness of  conception.  This  will  be  proved  most  evidently,  if  we  take  the 
pains  of  inquiring,  what  is  this  faith  considered  iji  itself,  and  what,  on 
the  other  hand,  it  ought  to  be,  according  to  Protestants ;  this  faith,  as 
we  should  premise,  being  always  understood,  in  the  Protestant  sense, 
of  confidence  in  the  Saviour,  as  the  Forgiver  of  sins.  The  discussion, 
which  we  have  just  concluded,  leads  us  to  a  certain  result.  Let  us 
once  more  place  ourselves  in  the  Protestant  point  of  view,  which  looks 
on  charity  as  an  effect,  or  a  fruit  of  faith.  If  charity  stands  really  in 
this  relation  to  faith,   it  is  necessarily  comprised  in  it,   for,  otherwise, 


218  EXPOSITION  OF  DOCTRINAL  DIFFERENCES 

it  could  not  proceed  from  it ;  it  would  be,  therefore,  most  certainly 
only  another  form  of  Faith's  existence,  or  faith  in  another  shape,  and 
would  determine  its  essence  in  such  a  degree,  that  it  could  not  be  con- 
ceived  without  it,  and  could  only  be,  through  it,  what  it  is.  It  would, 
therefore,  be  no  error  to  assert,  that  love  were  the  essence  of  faith,  and 
so  in  a  higher,  more  developed,  and  more  distinct  manner  ;  it  would  be 
the  essence  of  the  latter,  because  it  is  the  latter  which  is  manifested  in 
it,  as  the  cause  in  its  effect,  the  reason  in  its  consequence,  the  root  in 
the  tree.  Love  would  be  faith,  even  in  a  more  consummate  form,  be- 
cause faith  only,  after  a  gradual  growth,  hath  become  love.  Faith, 
in  so  far  as  it  embraces  Christ,  and  the  forgiveness  of  sins  in  him,  is, 
consequently,  love  itself,  although  (as,  until  more  accurate  definitions 
be  given,  we  are  willing,  for  argument's  sake,  to  concede,)  it  be  at  first 
only  love  in  its  infancy.  Love  is  thus,  without  doubt,  the  organ, 
which  rests  with  confidence  in  Christ,  and  the  efficacious  faith  is  the 
instrumental  one,  only,  as  we  said,  in  a  more  mature  and  a  more  con- 
firmed shape. 

The  truth  of  what  has  been  stated,  and,  consequently,  the  due  rela- 
tion in  which  faith  stands  to  charity,  may,  in  various  ways,  be  made 
evident.  The  first  is  as  follows  : — To  the  abstract  idea  of  God,  as  a 
Being  infinitely  just,  corresponds  the  sentiment  of  fear.  If,  on  the 
other  hand,  God  be  conceived  as  the  all  loving,  merciful  and  forgiving 
Father,  this  is  most  assuredly  possible  only  by  a  kindred  sentiment  in 
our  souls,  corresponding  to  the  Divine  love,  that  is  to  say,  by  a  love 
germinating  within  us.  It  is  awakening  love  only  that  can  embrace 
the  loving,  pardoning,  compassionate  God,  and  surrender  itself  up  en- 
tirely to  Him,  as  even  the  Redeemer  saith,  "  He  who  loveth  me,  shall 
be  loved  of  my  Father,  and  I  will  love  him,  and  will  manifest  myself  to 
him."  Thus  it  would  not  be  faith  (confidence)  which  would  be  the 
first  in  the  order  of  time,  and  love  in  the  next  place,  but  faith  would  be 
an  effect  of  love,  which,  after  she  had  engendered  faith  as  confidence, 
supported  by  this  her  own  self-begotten  help-mate,  would  come  for- 
ward  more  vigorously  and  efficaciously.  This,  at  least.  Holy  Writ 
teaches  very  clearly.  Compare  Romans  v.  5,  with  viii.  15,  16. — The 
second  mode,  wherein  what  we  have  said  may  be  made  evident,  is  as 
follows  :  Confidence  in  the  Redeemer  (for  this,  we  repeat  it  again, 
the  Reformers  denominate  faith,)  necessarily  pre-supposes  a  secret,  hid- 
den desire, — a  longing  after  Him.  For  our  whole  being,  having  re- 
ceived the  impulse  from  God,  forces  and  urges  to  apply  to  ourselves 
what  is  offered  through  the  mediation  of  Christ ;  and  our  deepest  ne- 
cessities, whereof  we  have  attained  the  consciousness  through  His 
Spirit,  are  satisfied  only  in  Him.     But  what  is  now  this  longing,  this 


BETWEEN  CATHOLICS  AND   PROTESTANTS.  219 

desire,  other  than  love  ?  Assuredly,  this  aspiring  of  our  whole  being  to- 
wards Christ,  this  effort  to  repose  in  Him,  to  be  united  with  Him,  to 
find  in  Him  only  our  salvation,  is  nought  else  than  love.  It  follows,  then, 
that  love,  even  according  to  this  view  of  things,  constitutes  the  founda- 
tion and  internal  condition  of  confidence — nay,  its  very  essence  ;  for, 
in  every  internal  consequence,  the  essence  is  again  manifested.* 

It  was  only  a  very  singular  confusion  of  the  manner  wherein  the  Gos- 
pel is  announced  to  us,  with  the  interior,  living  acceptance  of  the  same 
in  our  own  souls,  that  could  ever  have  given  rise  to  a  different  opinion. 
The  Redeemer,  doubtless,  announces  himself  to  us  from  without  (^Jus- 
titia  nostra  extra  nos,)  as  Him,  for  the  sake  of  whose  merits,  the  for- 
giveness of  sins  is  offered  to  us,  with  the  view  of  restoring  us  to  com- 
munion with  God.  But  when  we  have  once  clearly  apprehended  and 
recognized  this  righteousness,  which  is  without,  then  first  awakes  within 
us  the  feeling  kindred  to  divinity  ;  we  find  ourselves  to  be  beings  de- 
signed and  created  for  God  ;  we  feel  ourselves  attracted  towards  Him 
(this  is  the  first  germ  of  love ;)  we  find,  even  in  our  sins,  no  further  ob- 
stacle ;  we  pass  them  by,  and  move  consoled  onwards  toward  God  in 
Christ  (this  is  confidence  in  the  latter;)  and,  by  the  progressive  de- 
velopment of  such  feelings,  we  at  last  disengage  ourselves  from  the 
world,  and  live  entirely  in  God  {Justitia  intra  nos,  inhcerens,  infusa) 
Thus  the  recognition  of  the  truths  revealed  in  Christ,  and  especially  of  the 
forgiveness  of  sins  in  him,  (this  is  faith,  in  the  ordinary  Catholic  sense,) 


*  Cardinal  Sadolet  (ad  Principes  Germ,  oratio.  Opp  ed.  Ver.  mdccxxxviu.  torn, 
ii.  p.  359-60)  observes  with  great  truth :  "  Illud  praeterea  docto  homine  indignum, 
quod,  cum  istam  ipsam  fidem,  in  qua  una  haeretis,  a  SpiritCi  Sancto  nobis  conccditis 
dari,  non  videtis  eam  in  amore  et  charitate  esse  datam.  Quid  enim  aliud  Spiritus 
Sanctus  est,  quam  amor  ?  Quod  etiam  ut  praetcrcatur,  cum  fidrm  esse  fiduciam 
affirmatis,  qua  ccrto  confidimus  nostra  nobis  peccata  a  Deo  per  Christum  fuisse  ignota, 
spcm,  quamvis  imprudentes,  in  hac  fiduci^  inseritis  :  non  enim  sine  spe  potest  esse 
fiducia.  Quod  si  spem,  profecto  etiam  amorem ;  sic  enim  confidimus  nostra  peccata 
nobis  condonari,  ut  non  modo  id  speremus,  scd  etiam  amando  optandoque  expccte- 
mus,  ut  ita  sit :  quoniam  omnis  ratio  spei  et  fiduciae,  quacunque  vcrsetur  in  re,  amore 
rei  illius  innixa  est,  quam  nos  esse  adcptos  aut  adepturos  confidimus.  Ita  m  fide 
vera  spes  et  charitas  sic  imphcita  est,  ut  nullum  eorum  ab  ahis  possit  divelli."  S. 
Ambrose  admirably  observes  (Exposit.  Evang.  Luc.  viii.  :)  "  Ex  fide  charitas,  ex 
charitate  spes  et  rursus  in  se  sancto  quodam  circuitu  refunduntur."  Fiducia  is  the 
corroborata  spes,  as  defined  by  the  schoolmen.  Bellarmin.de  justif.  lib.  i.e.  13: 
"Quanta  dispositio  (ad  justificationcm)  dilectio  est.  Statim  enim  ac  incipit  aliquis 
spcrarc  ab  alio  beneficium,  incipit   etiam   eundem  diligere  ut  benefactorem,  atque 

auctorem  omnis  boni,  quod  sperat Porro  dilectionem  aliquam  priorem  esse  re. 

missione  peccatorum,  vel  tempore,  si  sit  dilectio  imperfecta,  vel  certe  natura,  si  sit 
perfecta  et  ex  toto  corde,  atque  ad  eam  disponere,"  etc. 


220  EXPOSITION  OF  DOCTRINAL  DIFFERENCES 

is,  undoubtedly,  the  primary  thing  preceding  all  others — the  ground- 
work and  the  root  of  justification  (radix  el  fundamentum  justificaiionis ;) 
so  that,  from  this  sort  of  faith,  love  emanates.  But,  if  faith  be  taken 
in  the  sense  o^  confidence  {fiducia,)  then  it  is  far  from  the  truth  to  assert, 
that  it  is  only  followed  by  love,  and,  still  more,  that,  separated  from 
love,  or  conceived  without  it,  it  is  capable  of  justifying.  This  confi- 
dence is  itself  only  one  phase  in  the  history  of  love.  Accordingly,  our 
sins  are  not,  in  the  first  place,  forgiven  us  ;  so  that,  in  consequence  of 
this  consciousness,  we  love,  but  because  we  confiiingly  love,  and  lov- 
ingly confide,  they  are  forgiven.  In  our  interior  life,  forgiveness  of 
sins  and  sanctification  are  simultaneous  ;  or,  as  St.  Thomas  Aquinas 
excellently  expresses  it,*  "  the  infusion  of  grace,  and  the  remission  of 
sin,  like  the  illumination  of  any  space,  and  the  dispersion  of  darkness, 
are  one  and  the  same  thing."  But,  according  to  the  Apology,  and  the 
Formulary  of  Concord,  it  is  Faith  exclusively  alone,  wherein  the  appro- 
priation of  the  merits  of  Christ  and  justification  consist ;  and,  conse- 
quently, neither  charity  nor  any  other  virtue,f  that  is  to  say,  no  holy 
feelings  on  the  part  of  men,  have  any  share  in  this  work.  Accordingly, 
faith  or  confidence  in  Christ,  in  so  far  as  it  justifies,  is  something  quite 
distinct  from  every  holy  sentiment,  especially  charity,  which  is  the  one 
expressly  named.  Whether  this  doctrine  can  be  in  any  way  justified 
— whether  it  offer  any  sense  whatever — the  discussion  in  which  we 
have  just  been  engaged  may  suffice  to  show. 

§  XVIII. — Appreciation  of  the  practical  grounds. 

Let  us  now  endeavour  to  comprehend  the  meaning  of  those  practical 
reasons,  which  the  Protestants  allege  in  their  cause.  These  reasons 
are  the  following  : — 

1.  The  first  is,  that  in  this  way  only  "troubled  consciences"  can 
receive  a  powerful  and  adequate  solace.  For,  so  say  the  Protestants,  if 
instrumental  faith,  which  clings  to  Christ  alone,  who  hath  offered  up 
satisfaction  for  us,  possess  the  power  of  justifying,  hearts,  sorely  grieved 
on  account  of  their  sins,  will  then  enjoy  a  steady  interior  peace.  But 
this  they  never  can  attain  to,  if  only  the  faith,  which  is  manifested  in 
love, — faith  evidenced  in  holiness  of  sentiment, — be  considered  as  the 


*  Prim.  sec.  9,  q.  cxiii.  art.  vi.  "  Idem  est  gratiae  infusio  et  culpae  remissio,  sicut 
idem  est  illuminatio  et  tenebrarum  expulsio." 

t  Solid-  Declar.  iii.  de  fide  justlf.  ^  23,  p.  659.  "  Neque  contritio,  neque  dilectio, 
neque  ulla  alia  virtus  est  illud  instrumentum,  quo  gratiam  Dei,  merituin  Christi,  et 
remissionem  peccatorum  apprehendere  et  accipere  possumus." 


BETWEEN  CATHOLICS  AND  PROTESTANTS.  221 

test  of  the  children  of  God  ;  for  who  is  conscious  of  possessing  the  true 
love  of  God,  and  holiness  of  feeling  ? 

3.  In  the  second  place,  the  Protestants  contend,  that,  if  the  instru- 
mental faith  be  regarded  as  the  one  conferring  justification,  everyihing  is 
then  referred  to  the  divine  mercy  in  Christ,  and  all  glory  rendered  to 
the  Redeemer.  But  so  soon  as  faith,  inasmuch  as  it  comprises  a  circle 
of  holy  feelings,  is  to  earn  for  us  the  approbation  of  heaven,  then  the 
glory,  due  to  the  Saviour  alone,  is  divided  between  him  and  us,  or  rather 
withdrawn  from  him.  In  a  word,  by  this  way  only  can  the  merits  of 
Christ,  in  their  entire  magnitude^  be  gratefully  acknowledged.* 

3.  The  reason,  first  assigned,  offers  us,  in  fact,  a  very  beautiful,  and 
very  pleasing  motive,  and  we  see  at  once  the  sentiment  which  it  is  in- 
tended to  cherish  in  the  breast  of  men.  This  sentiment  is  humility, 
which,  with  an  honest  self-denial,  refers  all  good  to  God,  as  its  primary 
source,  and  ascribes  nothing  good  to  man,  as  such  :  and  humility,  there- 
fore, must  be  regarded  in  fact  as  the  motive  of  the  third  ground  for 
this  distinction  between  the  two  kinds  of  faith.f 


*  Apology  iv.  de  dilect.  et  implet.  leg.  §  48,  p.  90.  "  De  magnd  re  disputamus, 
de  honore  Christi,  ct  unde  pctant  bonae  mcntee  certain  et  firmam  consolationem." 
Calvin  Instil-  lib.  iii.  c  1,  §  13,  p.  '2,12  :  "  Atque  omnino  quidem  duo  hie  spectanda 
iunt,  nempc  ut  Domino  illibata  constct  et  veluti  sarta  tecta  sua  gloria,  conscicntiis 
vero  nostris  cornm  ipsius  judicio  placida  quics  ac  serena  tranquillitas."  De  necessi- 
tate rcformandre  ccclcsifp  opusc.  p.  429  :  "  Ncque  inter  opera  et  Christum  dimidiat, 
sed  in  solidum  Christo  adscribit  (Paulas.)  quod  coram  Deo  justi  ccnsemur.  Duo  hie 
in  qua'stioncni  vcniunt :  utrum  inter  nos  et  Deumdividenda  sit  salutis  nostras  gloria," 
etc.     Compare  Chcmnit.  Exam.  Concil-  Trid.  part  i.  p. -96,  and  in  other  passages. 

t  Luther  adv.  Erasmum.  Roterod.  0pp.  torn.  iii.  p.  176,  b.  "  Duaeres  exigunt  talia 
prapdicari.  Prima  est  humiliatio  nostras  supcrbiae  et  cognitio  gratis  Dei,  altera  ipsa 
fides  Christiana.  Primum.  Deus  certo  promisit  humiliatis,  id  est  deploratis  et  despe- 
ratis,  gratiam  suam.  Humiliari  vero  penitus  non  potest  homo,  donee,  sciat,  prorsuB 
extra  suas  vires,  consilia,  studia,  voluntatcm,  opera,  omnino  ex  alterius  arbitrio,  con. 
silio,  voluntatc,  opere  suam  pendere  salutcm,  nempe  Dei  solius.  Siquidcm,  quamdiu 
persuasus  fuerit,  sese  vcl  tantuluni  posse,  pro  salute  su^,  manet  in  fiduei^  sui,  nee  de 
se  penitus  despcrat,  ideo  non  humiliatur  coram  Deo,  sed  locum,  tempus,  opus  aliquod 
sibiprae  sumit,  vel  sperat,  vel  optat  saltcm,  quo  tandem  perveniat  ad  salutem.  Qui 
vero  nihil  dubitat,  totum  in  voluntate  Dei  pendere,  is  prorsus  de  se  desperat,  nihil 
eligit,  sed  exspcctat  opcrantcm  Deuni  is  proximus  est  gratiaj,  ut  salvus  fiat.  Itaque 
propter  elcctos  ista  volgantur,  ut  isto  modo  humiliati  et  in  nihilum  redacti,  salvi  fiant ; 
cffteri  resistunt  humiliationi  huic,  imo  damnant  doceri  hanc  desperationem  sui ;  ali- 
quid  vel  modiculum  sibi  relinqui  volunt,  quod  possint :  hi  occulte  manent  superbi  et 
gratice  Dei  adversarii.  Hoec  est,  inquam,  una  ratio,  ut  pii  promissionem  gratiae  hu- 
militati  cognoscant,  invocent,  et  accipiant."  Calvin.  Instit.  lib.  iii.  c.  12,  §  6.  p.  272  : 
"  Hactenus  perniciosam  hypocrisin  docuerunt,  qui  hccc  duo  simul  junxcre,  humilitcr 
Bentiendum,  et  justitiam  nostram  aliquo  loco  habcndara." 


222  EXPOSITION  OF  DOCTRINAL  DIFFERENCES 

et  us  now  examine  the  intrinsic  worth  of  the  first  reason.  It  ig  c.er^ 
tainly  a  great  task  for  the  true  Church  to  administer  solid  consolation 
to  consciences  sorely  troubled  and  deeply  agitated  on  account  of  their 
sins.  But  the  solace  so  extended  should  be  no  false  one  ;  and  that  such 
an  epithet  must  attach  to  the  Protestant  consolation,  we  have  already, 
on  account  of  the  distinction  between  the  instrumental  and  the  efficacious 
faith,  full  and  just  cause  to  apprehend.  And  why  so?  Let  us  hear  the 
following  dialogue  betwixt  Luther  and  a  heart  seeking  consolation  : — • 
"  Thou  sayest,  I  have  done  no  good  work  ;  I  am  for  this  too  weak  and 
frail.  'Such  a  treasure  thou  wilt  not  acquire  by'thy  works;  but  thou 
shouldst  hear  the  joyous  message,  which  the  Holy  Ghost  proclaims  to 
thee,  through  the  mouth  of  the  prophet,  for  he  saith  to  thee, — Be 
joyous,  thou  barren,  that  barest  not ;  that  is  to  say,  that  art  not 
active  in  charity.  As  if  he  would  say,  why  art  thou  anxious  and 
art  so  troubled  ?  for  thou  hast  no  cause  to  be  anxious  and  to  be 
troubled. — But  I  am  barren,  and  lonely,  and  bear  no  children. —Although 
thou  buildest  not  on  the  righteousness  of  the  law,  nor  bearest  children, 
like  Hagar,  it  matters  not ;  thy  righteousness  is  far  higher  and  better, 
to  wit,  Christ,  who  is  able  to  defend  thee  against  the  terrors  and  the 
curses  of  the  law  ;  for  he  became  an  anathema  for  thee,  that  he  might 
redeem  thee  from  the  anathema  of  the  law."* 

What  an  utterly  false  and  dangerous  application  of  the  twenty- 
seventh  verse  of  Galatians,  chapter  iv.!  Is  not  this  replacing  one  part 
of  faith  by  the  other?  And  distinguishing  the  efficacious  fiHjm  the 
instrumental  faith,  in  order  that  not  merely  in  the  defective  condition, 
but  in  the  utter  absence,  of  the  former,  the  latter  might  be  made  to 
represent  it  ?  Here  we  find  no  solace,  but  the  encouragement  of  a  false 
security  ;  and  the  doctrine,  that  it  is  only  the  faith  working  by  charity 
which  justifies,  is  reproached  with  being  unable  to  rise  above  the  low 
level  of  a  mere  legal  justice  !  And  what  contradictions,  too,  we  find 
here  !  Above,  as  we  have  seen,  Luther  termed  faith  the  thoroughly 
good-will,  and  here  we  find  faith  destitute  of  all  will.  Above,  faith 
was  described  as  an  eternal,  active  principle,  and  here  it  appears  before 
us  as  indolence  itself !     Above,  it  was  a  fresh  living  power,  which  doth 

*  Luther's  Commentary  on  the  epistle  to  the  Galatians,  p.  258,  It  is  self-evident 
that  the  soul  in  question  is  not  one  which  is  in  a  state  of  anxiety,  because,  on  account 
of  the  relations  wherein  it  is  placed,  it  cannot  perform  the  works  it  would  desire,  nor 
confer  happiness  on  its  fellow-creatures.  In  this  case  the  solace  administered  would 
have  been  of  a  very  different  kind,  and  could  not  have  been  brought  in  connexion 
with  the  passage  relative  to  Hagar.  It  should  then  only  have  been  said,  the  cliarity, 
wherewith  this  soul  is  animated,  sufficcth  ;  for  love  is  the  fulfilment  of  the  law.  But 
this  it  was  precisely,  which  Luther  did  not  wish  to  assert. 


BETWEEN  CATHOLICS  AND  PROTESTANTS.  223 

Hot  first  ask,  whether  and  what  it  should  do  ;  but,  before  the  question 
is  put,  is  already  prepared  :  here  it  appears  a  thing  that  can  only  sigh 
and  lament,  and  can  never  make  progress,  and  which  still,  however, 
remains  the  true  faith  !  Should  the  dislinction  accordingly  between 
the  active  and  the  instrumental  faith  be  meant  undoubtedly  to  express 
the  idea,  that  faith  justifies,  yet  not  in  so  much  as  it  is  active,  still  it 
would  convey  the  sense,  that  it  justifies,  even  when  it  is  not  active  1 
Let  us  attentively  consider  once  more  some  passages  previously  cited 
from  Luther's  writings  (see  §  xvi.  ;)— passages,  which  only  now  perhaps 
will  be  completely  understood.  Let  us  especially  weigh  the  words  : 
"  But  if  a  man  heareth,  that  he  should  believe  in  Christ,  and  yet  that 
this  belief  availeth  him  nothing,  nor  is  of  use,  unless  love  he  added 
thereto,  which  imparts  vigour  to  faith,  and  renders  it  capable  of  justify- 
ing man  ;  then  without  doubt  he  will  fall  away  from  faith,  despair,  and 
think  that,  if  it  be  really  so,  ih&t  faith  without  love  doth  not  justify,  then 
is  it  undoubtedly  profitless  and  nothing  worth."  Luther's  already 
cited  description  of  the  riches,  which  flow  to  us  from  baptism,  is  well 
worthy  of  our  repeated  attention.  All  these  passages  furnish  so  many 
evidences  of  the  opinion  which  we  have  advanced,  respecting  the  real 
practical  importance  of  the  here  alleged  distinction  between  the  two 
forms  of  one  and  the  same  faith.  It  is  not  to  be  denied,  that,  according 
to  Luther,  the  form  of  faith  efficacious  to  holiness  cannot  appear,  with- 
out the  other,  which  consists  in  the  solacing  apprehension  of  Christ's 
merits.  But  the  latter  can  exist  without  the  former,  and  indeed,  in 
3uch  a  way,  that,  according  to  Luther's  opinion,  the  faith  in  the  for* 
giveness  of  sins  through  Christ  would  lose  all  value  and  all  importance, 
if  such  were  not  the  case. 

This  now  is  not  the  doctrine  of  St.  Paul,  who  consoles  us  in  a  very 
different  manner.  Compare  Romans  v.  1-6,  viii.  1-16;  Galatians  v. 
6-22.  In  the  Holy  Spirit  let  us  cry  out,  "Abba,  dear  Father!  But 
the  fruits  of  the  Spirit  are  charity,  joy,  peace,  patience,  benignity, 
goodness,  longanimity,  mildness,  faith,  modesty,  continencyj  chastity." 
Peace  and  joy  in  the  Holy  Spirit  are  accordingly  not  to  be  gained 
without  love  and  all  other  holy  sentiments.  And  this  the  soul,  whose 
scruples  are  silenced  by  Luther,  clearly  proves.  Because  it  possessed 
no  loving,  gentle,  and  meek  faith,  therefore  joy  and  peace  were  not  its 
portion,  and  never  would  it  obtain  these  alone,  unless  it  were  seduced 
into  a  culpable  levity,  or  sought  its  satisfaction  in  carnal  pleasures.  The 
nature  of  that  consolation,  which  the  Catholic  Church  administers,  we 
shall  later  have  occasion  more  accurately  to  define. 

2.  Let  us  now  proceed  to  the  appreciation  of  the  second  of  the  prac- 
tical grounds,  which,  in  the  opinion  of  the  Reformers,  so  strongly  enforce 


224  KXPOSITION  OF  DOCTRINAL  DIFFERENCES 

their  view  of  faith,  as  to  render  it  not  only  laudable,  but  even  com* 
manded  by  the  spirit  of  Christianity  to  such  an  extent,  that  they  char- 
acterize the  opposite  opinion  as  absolutely  wicked.  It  would  have  been, 
in  truth,  a  noble  struggle  between  the  different  confessions,  if  they  had 
striven  in  an  enlightened  manner  to  surpass  each  other  in  the  glorifica- 
tion of  Him,  whom  they  mutually  revere  as  the  source  of  all  salvation. 
But  the  sovereign  rule,  according  to  which  judgment  should  be  given  in 
this  strife,  is  this  :  when  we  praise  the  holiest,  let  there  be  nothing 
unholy  !  Let  us  first  endeavour  clearly  to  apprehend  the  meaning  of 
the  Reformers'  assertion  !  They  think  the  doctrine  of  Catholics,  that 
only  the  sanctified  is  the  justified  man,  only  the  lover  of  God  is  the 
beloved  of  God,  has  nothing  above  the  level  of  vulgar  and  every-day 
maxims ;  for  to  love  him,  who  loves  us,  is  not  rare  even  among  men. 
Thus  if  we  would  be  agreeable  to  God,  only  in  so  far  as  the  power  of 
Christ  really  transforms  us,  puts  aside  sin,  and  makes  us  in  fact  worthy 
of  becoming  children  of  God,  this  is  not  a  sufficient  honour  for  the  Re- 
deemer ;  the  conception  of  Christ  and  the  value  of  his  sufferings  before 
God  are  not  estimated  sufficiently  high.  But  if  the  merit  of  the  suffer- 
ings of  the  Son  of  God  be  so  exalted,  that  its  power  can  introduce  us 
into  heaven,  without  its  costing  him,  or  ourselves,  any  effort  for  our 
preparatory  purification,  then  what  he  hath  achieved  for  us,  and  what 
he  is  able  to  achieve  with  his  Father,  appears  in  all  its  lustre.*  The 
Reformers  conceived  that  the  case  was  nearly  the  same,  as  if  a  gentle- 
man were  to  testify  his  favour  to  a  friend,  by  letting  him  introduce 
guests  in  their  soiled  travelling  clothes,  without  giving  them  on  that 
account  a  less  gracious  welcome.  But  here  the  question  is  not  about 
forms  of  decorum  and  ceremonial  frivolity  ; — it  is  about  that  inward 
adornment,  that  nuptial  garment,  which,  under  pain  of  removal  from 
the  banquet,  according  to  the  sentence  of  the  Lord  of  grace,  who  is 
also  the  Holy  One,  ought  not  to  be  wanting.  Even  the  gentleman,  in 
the  case  referred  to,  would  suppose  that  the  guests  introduced  to  him  in 
the  manner  described,  would  entertain  the  same  kindly  feelings  towards 
himself,  as  the  friend  under  whose  auspices  they  were  admitted.  Hav- 
ing thus  formed  clear  notions  of  the  mode,  which  the  confessions  deem 
most  fitting  for  showing  forth  the  glory  of  the  Redeemer,  it  can  no 


*  Chemnit.  Exam.  Cone.  Trid.  part  i.  p.  265.  "  Videt  enim  plus  lector,  remis- 
sionem  peccatorum,  adoptionem,  ipsam  dcniqiie  salutem  et  vitam  aternam  adimi  et 
detrahi  satisfactioni  et  obedientife  Christi,  et  transferri  in  nostras  virtutes,  Christo  vero 
mediatori  hoc  tantum  relinquitur,  quod  propter  ipsius  meritum  accipiamus  charitatem 

Exinanita  est  fides,  et  abolita  promissio,  si  hffireditas  ex  lege,  cujussurama 

est  charitas." 


BETWEEN  CATlIOLtCS  AND  PROTESTANTS.  225 

longer  be  a  matter  of  doubt,  which  of  them  renders  the  tribute  mos^„ 
Worthy  of  that  Redeemer.  And  now  let  us  inquire  into  the  misunder- 
■standings,  that  have  led  to  a  condemnation  of  the  Catholic  doctrine. 

It  is  scarcely  possible,  perhaps,  to  conceive  any  objection  less  cogent 
against  the  peculiar  doctrines  of  the  Catholic  Church,  than  the  asser- 
tion that  it  considers  the  reconciliation  of  man  with  God,  partly  as  the 
work  of  Christ,  fartly  as  the  work  of  man,  or  what  is  the  same,  that  it 
divides  between  the  Saviour  and  tlie  believer  the  glory  of  bringing  the 
latter  back  to  God  ;  and  this  forsooth,  because  Catholics  represent  the 
faith  animated  by  love  as  agreeable  to  God  !  If  the  doctrine  of  Catho- 
iics  were  this,  (hat  the  holy  sentiments  required  of  the  Christian  were 
obtained  independently  of  Christ,  and,  in  this  independence,  were  ac- 
ceptable to  God  ;  or  even  that  Christ  supplied  only  those  virtues,  where- 
in we  were  deficient ;  then  the  above  objection  would  doubtless  be  well 
founded.  But  as  the  Church  expressly  teaches,  that  the  entire  spiritual 
life  of  the  faithful,  in  so  far  as  it  is  agreeable  to  God,  flows  absolutely 
from  the  source  which  is  called  Christ,  how  can  there  be  here  any  ques- 
tion of  a  division  of  glory,  or  a  thankless  conduct  towards  the  Redeem^ 
er,  and  of  a  want  of  pious  feeling  !  Undoubtedly,  the  Church  urgently' 
demands  of  every  one,  to  appropriate  in  a  complete  and  vivid  manner 
the  power  proffered  in  the  Redeemer ;  undoubtedly,  she  teaches,  that 
it  is  only  by  this  living  appropriation,  by  stamping  Christ  on  our  souls, 
we  can  "become  pleasing  unto  God  ;  namely,  when  all  our  feelings,  aH 
our  thoughts,  and  will,  are  filled  with  His  vital  breath.  But  to  call  this 
a  dividing  of  glory  with  Christ,  is  tantamount  to  asserting,  that  a  man, 
exposed  to  danger  of  death  from  hunger,  divides  the  honour  of  his  deliv- 
erance with  him,  who  benevolently  offers  him  food  and  drink  ;  because 
the  unhappy  man  makes  use  of  the  strengthening  nurture,  and  by  that 
participation  appropriates  it  to  his  own  substance,  and  does  not  merely 
content  himself  with  turning  up  a  look  of  hope  and  confidence  towards 
his  benefactor.  With  this  case,  in  fact,  may  be  aptly  compared  the 
'theory  of  Protestants  in  respect  to  the  relation  of  the  believer  to  Christ. 
But  whoever  is  entangled  in  this  error,  will  perish  in  his  sins,  like  (hs 
starving  man  whom  he  would  take  for  his  model,  while  he  fancies  he 
is  rendering  glory  to  the  Saviour  alone.  He  will  be  comprised  in  the 
number  of  those,  who  exclaim,  "  Lord,  Lord,"  (be  thou  alone  praised  !) 
^ut  who  "do  not  the  will  of  the  heavenly  Father." 

But  this  whole  error  is  here  based  on  a  confusion  of  the  objective 
consummation  of  the  atonement  with  its  subjective  appropriation  (see 
§  XI.  ;)*  and  the  love  which  must  first  germinate  from  faith  in  the 

«  The  Council  of  Trent  distinguishes  five-causes  of  justification,  the  sense  where. 


226  EXPOSITION  OF  DOCTRINAL  DIFFERENCES 

grace  and  the  love  of  God  in  Christ,  though  in  a  living  faith  it  has  already 
ripened  into  blossom  and  fruit,  is  so  understood,  as  fT  God  remitted  us 


of  Sarpi  should  have  fathomed  before  he  presamed  to  express  a  censure,  *'  Hujus 
justificationis  causae  sunt  Jinalis  quidcm  gloria  Dei  et  Christi,  ac  vita  fptema :  effi' 
ciens  vero  misericors  Dcus,  qui  gratuito  abluit :  meritoria  autem  dilectissimus  uni- 
genitus  suus,  Dominus  noster  Jesus  Christus,  qui,  cufli  esscmus  inimici,  propter 
nimiam  carltatem,  qua  dilexit  nos,  suS.  sanctissima,  passione  in  ligno  crucis  nobis  ju&- 
tificati'inem  meruit  et  pro  nobis  Deo  patri  satisfecit  :   instrumentalis  item,  sacramen- 

turn  baptismi ; demum  un'ica  formalis  causa  est  justitia  Dei ;  non  qua.  ipse  Justus 

est,  scd  qui  nos  justos  facit :  qua  videlicet  ab  eo  donati,  renovamnr  spiritu  mentis 
nostrte,  et  non  modo  reputamur,   sod   vere  jusli  nominamur  et  sumus,  justiliam  in 

nobis  recipieiites." Sess.  vi.  c.  viii.    It  is  the  justijicaiionis  causa  formalis,  which' 

gives  so  much  offence  to  the  Protestants.  The  causa  formalis  is,  in  the  technical 
language  of  the  mediceval  schools,  the  dans  esse  in  aliquo,  dans  actualitatem  ;  and 
accordingly,  here  it  is  that  whereby  the  righteousness,  which  God  desireth  of  us,  be- 
comes real  within  as,  forming  (forma)  the  vivifying  principle  within  us.  The  Coun- 
cil  says,  the  righteousness  becomes  living  and  is  formed  within  us,  through  the  im- 
pression of  God's  holy  will  (justitia  Dei)  upon  our  souls.  This  doctrine  the  Protes- 
tanlu  take  quite  abstractedly,  just  as  if  it  signified  :  ''  the  sanctified  will  is  what  is 
acceptable  to  God  in  us,"  without  attending  to  what  immediately  before  was  said 
re::-pccting  the  causa  ftnalis,  efficiens,  and  meritoria,  to  wit,  that  it  is  only  the 
mercy  of  God  a<,d  the  merits  of  Christ  which  are  the  source,  whence  flow  the  release 
of  the  human  will  from  sin  and  its  sanctification,and  on  this  account  it  is  said,  God 
stamps  his  will  upon  us,  nos  justos  facit  Deus.  Luther  says,  the  causa  formalis  jus- 
tificationis  is  the  instrumental  faith  (Commentary  on  the  epistle  to  the  Galatians,  loo. 
cit.  p.  70  ;)  and  in  his  sy.<tem  he  is  right,  for,  accordmg  to  it,  man  is  already  com- 
pletely righteous  and  regenerated  so  soon  as  he  possesses  that  faith — so  soon  as  he 
apprehends  Christ — the  extraneous  righteousness.  But  the  Catholic  denies  that  by 
this  theory  the  scriptural,  or  even  scientific,  notion  of  a  living  appropriation  is  real- 
ized  ;  and  be  is  equally  far  from  conceding,  that  by  upholding  this  notion  the  Catho. 
lie  Church  withholds  the  glory  due  to  Christ,  the  Lord,  or,  in  other  words,  fails  ta 
recognize  in  its  full  extent  the  power  of  the  atonement. 

Calvin  (in  Antidot.  in  Concil.  Trid.  opusc.  p.  704)  expresses  himself  with  great 
naivete:  "Porro  quam  frivola  sit  et  nugatoria  causarum  partitio  .. .  superscdeo 
dicerc."  He  is  also  perfectly  right  in  avoiding  all  clear  scientific  definitions  on  this 
matter :  for  the  very  existence  and  maintenance  of  the  whole  Protestant  system  of 
doctrine  is  connected  with  this  point. 

Chemnit.  Exam.  Concil.  part  i.  p.  2G6.  "  Sed  Andradiua  hanc  Chnsli  mediatoris 
justitiam  fide  nobis  imputatam  blasphcmat  esse  commentitiam,  adumbratam  vt  ficti- 
tiam.  Nullum  autem  habcnt  aliud  argumentum,  nisi  (!)  quod  opponunt  absurdita- 
tem  ex  physic^  et  ethicS, :  absurdum  scilicet  esse  (sicut  Osius  inquit)  dicere  alicujus 
re;  formain  esse,  quEe  i[  si  rei  non  inslt,  ut  si  dicam,  parietem  esse  album  albedine,  qusB 
vesti  meiE  inhaercat,  non  parieti :  vel  Ciceronem  esse  fort*  m  fortitudine,  qus  non  ipsi, 
Bed  Achillis  animo  inhaereat.  Quid  vero  haec  argumenta  aliud  ostenduut  quani  Pon- 
lificios  in  doctrina  justificationis,  rclicta  evangelii  luce,  qutercre  scntentiam,  quas 
conformis  et  consentanea  sit  philosophicis  opinionibus,  aut  certe  Icgalibus  sententiiff 
de  justitia.  ?  Evangelium  vero  pronuntiat  esse  sapientiam  in  mysterio  absconditani, 
quam  nemo  principum  hujus  sseculi  cognovit.  Ideo  cum  habeamus  sententiae  nostra; 


BETWEEN  CATHOLICS  AND  PROTESTANTS.  227 

our  sins  on  account  of  our  love,  whfireas  it  is  His  voluntary  gift.     A 
misunderstanding  of  Scripture  has  had  great  share  in  producing  this 


in  scriptura  certa  et  firma  fundamenta  (?),  non  est  curandum,  etiamsi  incurrat  in  ah' 
turditatem  philosophicam." 

Here  it  is  openly  avowed,  that  the  Protestant  theory  of  appropriation  of  the  merita 
of  Christ,  cannot  stand  the  test  of  scientific  investigation.  And  such  is  the  fact;  for, 
as  was  said  above,  we  are  to  appropriate  to  ourselves  the  obedience  of  Christ  without 
his  becoming  our  own  true  and  inmost  property  ;  He  is  to  become  subjective,  with- 
out becoming  so  ;  and  this  is,  in  truth,  a  philosophic  absurdity.  In  the  same  way, 
no  philosophic  notion  of  Protestant  faith  can  be  formed,  because  it  is  to  be  an  organ 
of  appropriation  without  appropriating  !  To  the  same  confusion  of  ideas  we  may 
ascribe  charges  like  the  following:  "  Sed  hoc  dicunt  esse  totum  meritum  Christi 
quod  propter  illud  misericordia  Dei  infundat  nobis  novam  qualitatem  justitite  inhs. 
rentis,  quse  est  caritas,  ut  ilia  justificemur  :  hoc  est,  ut  non  propter  Christi  obedien- 
tiam,  sed  propter  nostram  charitatem,  absalvamur  coram  judicio  Dei,  adoptemur  in 
filios,"...Chemnit.  lib.  i  p  263.  Here  again  we  find  the  divine  and  the  human,  the 
objective  atonement  and  the  subjective  appropriation  confounded  with  each  other. 
When  Chemnitius,  in  a  tone  of  lament,  proceeds  to  observe,  "  Ut  ita  misericordia 
Dei  tantuni  sit  causa  efficiens,  ct  obedientia  Christi  tantum  sit  meritoria  causa,"  we 
can  only  express  our  astonishment;  for  what  more  can  they  be  in  themselves? 
Chemnitius  desires  the  obedience  of  Christ  should  be  also  the  causa  for malis,  that  is 
to  say,  should  become  our  ovv-n,  without  ourselves  being  obliged  to  be  obedient :  it  is 
to  become  subjective  without  becoming  subjective  !  !  In  a  word,  the  theory  of  Chem- 
nitius  is  what  we  have  already  commented  on  in  the  text ;  to  wit  that  the  merits  of 
Christ  stand  forth  in  a  far  more  glorious  light,  when  we  not  merely  believe  they  work 
out  our  forgiveness,  in  so  far  as  they  work  out  at  the  same  time  our  improvement, 
but  when  we  also  assume,  that  for  the  sake  of  these  merits  sin  is  forgiven  us,  even 
when  wc  reform  not  our  conduct,  but  merely  believe.  Chemnitius  (p.  2()3-4)  cen- 
Bures  Catholics  for  denying  forgiveness  of  sins  on  account  of  Christ's  satisfaction,  be- 
cause they  make  the  same  tantamount  to  a  real  extirpation  of  sin,  and  the  implant- 
ing of  charity  in  the  room  of  the  old  debt  of  sin.  But  Catholics  teach  that  through 
faith  in  the  divine  mercy  in  Jesus  Christ,  and  all  connected  therewith,  love  for  God  is 
awakened  in  our  souls,  and  thereby  the  affection  for  sin  effaced.  But  is  this  to  deny 
the  objective  forgiveness  of  sins,  or  is  it  not  rather  to  appropriate  the  same  to  our- 
selves  ?  Is  it  not  to  protest  against  a  notion  of  appropriation,  which  is  none  at  all  ? 
Calvin,  especially,  entertained  the  singular  opinion,  that  Catholics  believed  justifica- 
tion to  consist,  partly  in  the  forgiveness  of  sins,  partly  in  the  spiritual  regeneration. 
Antidot.  in  Cone.    Trid.  opusc.  p.  704 :  "  Sed  quid  facis  istis  bestiis  (the  Catholics^ 

Nam  justitiai  partem  operibus  hinc  constare  colligunt,  quod  nemo  absque  spiritu 

regenerationis  per  Christum  Deo  concilietur,"  and  so  on  :  "  Ac  si  partim  remissione, 
partim  spiritual!  rcgcneralionc  justi  cssemus."  Calvin  having  already  taught,  that 
by  instrumental  faith,  and  apart  from  all  newness  of  life,  man  becomes  righteous, 
must  needs  further  teach,  that  by  forgiveness  of  sins  alone  is  man  justified.  But  al- 
though  under  righteousness  Catholics  include  newness  of  life,  it  by  no  means  fellows 
that  they  hold  justification  to  consist,  partly  m  this  newness  of  life,  and  partly  in  the 
forgiveness  of  sins  ;  for  out  of  faith  is  unfolded  the  entire  new  life,  and  the  latter  is 
ever  determined  by  the  former.  Thus,  in  the  righteous  man,  faith  and  the  irmer  new- 
bora  life  form  an  inseparable  unity  {Jides  formata,)  as  in  God  do  forgiveness  of  sins 
and  sanctification. 


S28  EXPOSITION  OF  DOCTRINAL  DIFFERENCES 

error.  In  the  Biblo,  God  is  represented  as  loving  men  before  they  love 
Him  (see  1  John  iv.  10;)  that  is  to  say,  as  loving  them  vnthout  their 
love ;  whereas  the  Catholic  Church  teaches  that  he  only,  who  loves 
God,  is  beloved  of  God.  Hereby  the  free,  unmerited,  grace  of  God  in 
Christ  scorns  totally  rejected,  as  if  only  through  our  love,  the  love  of 
God  deserved  to  be  acquired.  What  is  to  be  said  in  reply  to  this  ?  In 
answering  this  question,  we  connect  with  the  first  epistle  of  John  iv.  10s 
numerous  other  passages  which  appear  to  contradict  it ; — passages 
wherein  it  is  expressly  said,  that  God  loves  only  those  who  love  Him. 
In  the  verse  referred  to,  the  love  of  God  embracing  the  human  race 
(tov  Kotruov)  in  the  Redeemer,  is  announced,  and  at  the  same  time  the 
eternal  mystery  is  unveiled,  that  God,  through  his  Son,  proffers  for* 
giveness  to  all.  But  this  universal,  eternal  love  of  God  is  realized  in 
»the  individual,  on]y  at  the  moment  wherein  he  co-operates  with  the  love 
of  God  revealed  in  the  Redeemer,  and,  full  of  faith,  stamps  it  on  his 
heart  and  his  will ;  so  that,  as  this  specific  individual,  he  is,  in  efTect, 
beloved  of  God  at  the  moment  only  when  the  love  hath  become  mu- 
tual. (John  xiv.  21-"23.)  Hence  both  forms  of  speech  in  Holy  Writ 
are  equally  true  ;  hence  the  truth  of  the  Catholic  doctrine,  which,  in 
the  article  of  justification,  u-Jierein  this  personal  appropriation  of  God's 
unmerited  grace  is  the  question  at  issue,  necessarily  adheres  to  the  words 
of  the  Scriptural  text  last  referred  to. 

3.  Let  us  now  turn  to  the  relation  which  the  distinction  in  question 
■bears  to  humility.  The  principal  virtue  of  the  Pauline  faith  is,  doubt- 
less, humility — the  unconditional  resignation  to  God  in  Christ,  self-re- 
nunciation on  the  part  of  man,  and  his  deep  conviction  of  possessing  no 
sentiment  agreeable  to  God,  without  Christ ;  and  it  is  not  to  be  denied, 
that  a  perception  of  this  truth  mainly  influenced  the  Reformers  in  their 
definition  of  faith.  But  as  they  asserted  that  it  was  not  the  intrinsic 
worth  of  faith — that  is  to  say,  it  was  not  a  circle  of  closely  connected 
"virtues  involved  in  faith,  such  as  humility,  love,  self-denial,  and  the 
rest,  which  stamped  on  it  the  character  of  justification,  a  method  was 
found  of  dispensing  with  humility  even  in  humility  itself,  and,  in  order 
to  evince  a  true  humility,  it  was  taught,  that  it  was  not  humility  iu 
faith  which  rendered  us  acceptable  to  God !  It  is  indeed  a  sign  of  true 
humility,  to  be  ignorant  of  itself,  and  to  conceal  itself  from  its  own 
view  ;  but  never  hath  a  truly  humble  man  taught,  that  humility  doth 
not  render  us  agreeable  to  the  Deity.  Were  there  any  other  means 
of  awakening  in  our  souls  a  heart-felt,  vivid,  persevering  sense  of  the 
virtue  of  humility,  than  faith  in  the  merits  of  the  Redeemer,  by  the 
acknowledgment  of  which  alone  man  is  compelled  to  go  out  of  him- 
self, to  renounce,  without  reserve,  his  own  self-produced  virtue,  in  order 


BETWEEN   CATHOLICS  AND  PROTESTANTS.  229 

to  live  entirely  iu  and  by  God  ;  we  should  not  then  even  stand  in  need 
of  the  merits  of  the  Redeemer.  So  much  is  humility  the  cardinal 
point,  on  which  everything  hinges,  which  must  be  called  forth  before 
everything  else,  because  in  this  negative,  all  positive  is  comprised. 
And  this  is  not  to  make  us  acceptable  to  God,  because,  forsooth,  no 
virtue  can  make  us  so !  And  it  is  precisely  in  the  avowal,  that  it  is 
not  humility,  but  faith  only  which  possesses  this  property,  that  true 
humility  is  to  consist !  Here  the  Reformers  were  evidently  misled  by 
the  most  vague,  the  most  confused,  yet  withal  honourable,  feelings.  Of 
the  truly  positive  principle  in  the  negative  character  of  humility,  they 
had  no  clear  conception.  Still  less  did  they  pause  to  reflect,  that  it  is 
one  thing  to  lay  down  the  doctrine,  that  a  man  can  be  thoroughly 
good,  and  another  to  hold  oneself  as  personally  good.  The  latter  would 
be  the  destruction  of  all  religious  life,  while  the  former  is  its  essential 
condition. 

The  inextricable  contradiction,  in  which  this  doctrina  involved  the 
Protestants,  is  well  worthy  of  notice.  According  to  their  teaching, 
humility,  like  every  other  virtue,  can  be  rightly  found,  only  where  it  is 
most  urgently  inculcated,  that  the  believer  needs  it  not  to  render  him- 
self acceptable  to  God.  And  yet  it  is  taught  at  the  same  time,  that 
on  that  account  the  Christian  needs  it  not,  as  a  holy  sentiment,  to  obtain 
the  favour  of  the  Deity,  because,  like  every  other  virtue,  it  appears  al' 
ways  impure  in  man,  that  is  to  say,  always  marred  by  self-complacency  and 
arrogance.  Hence,  if  it  were  exacted  as  necessary  to  juslitication,  man 
would  never  become  just  jn  the  eyes  of  God.  Thus,  forsooth,  true  humil- 
ity is  to  be  engendered  by  a  system  of  faith  which  establishes,  that  there 
is  no  true  humility  even  in  the  new-born ;  and  true  humility  can  acquire 
a  solid  foundation  only  by  the  doctrine  of  its  impossibility,  or  at  least 
its  non-existence  in  this  system.  Either  the  doctrine,  that  there  is  no 
true  humility,  is  right, — and  then  such  a  doctrine  can  never  produce 
true  humility,  because  otherwise  the  doctrine  itself  would  be  false  ; — 
or,  there  is  such  a  thing  as  true  humility,  and  then  the  doctrine  is 
false. 

Akin  to  this  contradiction,  or,  rather,  identical  with  it,  though  only  in 
another  form,  is  the  following.  In  studying  the  writings  of  the  Re- 
formers, the  thought  has  often  involuntarily  occurred  to  us,  that  they 
entertained  the  opinion  that  it  was  something  extremely  dangerous  to 
be  really  good  ;  nay,  that  the  principle  of  sanctity,  so  soon  as  it  was  on 
the  point  of  acquiring  complete  dominion  over  a  man,  contained  the 
germ  of  its  own  destruction,  as  such  a  man  must  needs  become  arro- 
gant, fall  into  vain-glory,  liken  himself  to  the  Eternal,  and  contend 
with    him   for  divine  sovereignty.     Hence    the  security   of  believers 


230  EXPOSITION   OF  DOCTRINAL  DIFFERENCES 

seemed  to  require,  that  they  should  ever  keep  within  themselves  a  good 
germ  of  evil,  because  in  this  state  we  are  better  off !  Accordingly  the 
matter  was  so  handled,  as  if  real  goodness  were  incompatible  with  hu- 
mility, and  as  it' it  were  in  evil  only,  that  this  virtue  flourished  ;  where- 
as it  was  not  considered,  that  wickedness  was  in  itself  the  contrary  of 
true  liumility,  and  utterly  excluded  it.  In  the  following  passage,  re- 
plete with  wonderful  naivete,  the  impression  which,  as  we  just  said,  the 
reading  of  the  Reformers'  writings  has  produced  on  our  mind,  has  been 
recorded  in  felicitous  language  by  Luther  himself.  "  Doctor  Jonas 
said  to  Dr.  Martin  Luther  at  supper-time  :  he  had  that  day  in  his  lec- 
ture been  commenting  on  that  sentence  of  Paul  in  2  Timothy  iv. 
'  Reposita  est  mihi  corona  justitia3  ;'  '  there  is  laid  up  for  me  a  crown 
of  justice  ;'  '  Oh  !  how  gloriously  doth  St.  Paul  speak  of  his  death  !  I 
cannot  believe  it !'  Whereupon  Dr.  Martin  replied,  '  I  do  not  believe 
St.  Paul  was  able  to  have  so  strong  a  faith  on  this  matter  as  he  asserts. 
In  truth,  I  cannot,  alas!  believe  so  firmly  as  I  preach,  talk,  and  write, 
and  as  other  people  think  I  believe.     And  it  would  not  be  quite 

GOOD  FOR  us  to  DO  ALL  THAT  GoD  COMMANDS,  FOR  Hb  WOULD 
THEREBY   BE     DEPRIVED     OF     HiS     DIVINITY,    AND     WOULD     BECOME    A 

LIAR,  AND  COULD  NOT  REMAIN  TRUE.  The  authority  of  St.  Paul, 
too,  would  be  overturned,  for  he  says  in  Romans  :  '  God  hath  con- 
cluded all  things  under  sin,  in  order  that  He  might  have  mercy  on  all 
men.'  "* 

§  XIX. — Survey  of  the  differences  in  the  doctrine  of  faith. 

We  will  now  endeavour,  briefly,  to  state  the  points  of  agreement  and 
of  divergence  in  the  article  of  faith.     They  are  as  follows  : — 

1.  If  "Faith"  be  taken  in  an  objective  sense,  that  is  to  say,  as  an  estab- 
lishment instituted  by  God,  in  Jesus  Christ,  in  opposition  to  Mosaism,  or 
any  human  and  arbitrary  system  of  religion,  and  the  modes  of  thinking, 
feeling,  and  acting,  which  such  prescribe,  then  the  Catholic  can  with- 
out restriction  assert  :  it  is  by  faith  alone,  man  is  able  to  acquire  God's 
favour :  there  is  no  other  name  given  to  men  whereby  they  may  be 
saved,  save  Christ  Jesus  alone.  And  it  is  only  through  the  mercy  of 
God,  we  say  this  name  is  given  ;  consequently  without  any  merit  on 
the  part  of  mankind  in  general,  or  of  individual  man  in  particular. 

2.  The  divergence  commences  only  when  the  objective  must  be- 
come subjective, — when  the  question  regards  the  conditions  under 
which  that  institution  of  salvation  is  to  conduce  towards  our  personal 


*  See  Luther's  Table-talk,  p.  166,  (in  German  :)  Jena,  1603, 


BETWEEN  CATHOLICS   AND  PROTESTANTS.  231 

salvation.  But  here,  also,  each  confession  teaches,  that  man  should 
adhere  to  Christ,  and  enter  into  a  spiritual  connexion  with  him,  in 
order  to  partake  of  the  blessings  proffered  through  and  in  him.  But 
the  Cathohc  says,  if  this  adherence  be  a  more  coimexion  of  ideas — an 
empty  union  of  feeling  or  phantasy  with  Christ — a  mere  theoretic  faith 
in  him — a  mere  recognition  of  Christian  truths,  in  opposition  to  works 
wrought  in  the  vital  communion  of  the  itill  with  Christ,  as  well  as  to  the 
love  engendered  by  faith,  and  to  all  other  virtues  ;  then  this  faith  is  in 
itself  by  no  means  sufficient  to  render  mon  acceptable  to  God,  or  to 
justify.  But  if  faith,  on  the  other  hand,  be  understood  as  a  new  divine 
sentiment,  regulating  the  whole  man — as  the  new  living  spirit  {fides 
formata ;)  then  to  this  alone,  even  according  to  the  Catholic  system,  is 
the  power  given  to  make  us  the  children  of  God,  and  heirs  of  eternal 
happiness  ;  for,  in  this  sense,  faith  alone  embraces  every  thing.*  But 
let  it  be  observed,  that,  by  the  Catholic  Church,  sacred  charity  is  re- 
garded as  the  substantial  form  of  faith,  which  alone  justifies,  not  as  a 
consequence,  as  a  fruit  in  expectancy,  but  which,  perhaps,  may  never 
come  forth.  Love  must  already  vivify  faith,  before  the  Catholic 
Church  will  say,  that  through  it  man  is  really  pleasing  unto  God. 
Faith  in  love,  and  love  in  faith,  justify  ;  they  form  here  an  inseparable 
unity. I     This  justifying   faith  is   not    merely  negative,  but  positive, 

•  We  Bhould  here  observe,  that,  at  the  commencement  of  the  Reformation,  the 
proposition,  "that  faith  alone  justifies,"  often  bore  the  sense,  "that  even  the  sacra- 
ments are  unnecessary  "  On  which  account,  at  several  religious  conferences,  the  Ca- 
tholics, under  the  article  of  faith,  insisted  on  the  necessity  of  the  sacraments  as  means 
of  justification.  Of  these  external  means  of  grace  we  are  not  here  speaking,  where 
we  have  to  treat  merely  of  the  internal  acts  agreeable  to  «God,  the  spiritual  state  of  the 
soul,  and  its  outward  manifestations  in  moral  conduct. 

t  A  very  comprehensive  view  of  thissubject  has  been  taken  by  Cardinal  Sadoletus, 
bishop  of  Carpentras,  in  his  letter  to  the  Genevans.  (Epp  c  xvii.  n.  25,  Opp.  cd. 
Veron.  1738,  tom.  ii.  p.  176.)  "  Assequimur  bonum  hoc  nostroe  perpctuae  universfe- 
que  salutis,  fide  in  Deum  sola  et  in  Jesum  Christum.  Cum  dico  fide  sola,  non  ita 
intelligo,  queraadmodum  isti  novarum  rerum  rcpertores  intelligunt,  ut  seclusd  chari- 
tate  et  cateris  Christiana  mentis  officiis,  solam  in  Deum  credulitatem  et  fiduciam 
illam,  qua  persuasus  sum  in  Christi  cruce  et  sanguine  mea  mihi  delicta  omnia  esse 
ignota  :  est  hoe  quidera  etiam  nobis  necessarium,  primus  hie  nobis  putct  ad  Deum 
introitus:  sed  is  tamen  non  est  satis  Mentem  esim  praeterea  aflferamus  oportet  pie- 
talis  plenam  erga  summum  Deum,  cupidamque  efficiendi  quascunque  illi  grata  sint : 
in  quo  prsecipue  virtus  Spiritils  Sancti  inest.  Quae  mens  etiamsi  interdum  ad  exte- 
riora  opera  non  progreditur,  ipsa  tamen  ex  sesead  bene  operandum  jam  intus  parata 
«st,  promtumque  gcrit  studium,  ut  Deo  in  cunctis  rebus  obsequatur  :  qui  vcrus  divmae 
justitae  in  nobis  est  habitus."  After  citing  several  scriptural  texts,  Sadoletus 
continues  :  "  Certe  fides,  quae  in  Deum  nostra  per  Jesum  Christum  est,  non  so- 
lum ut  confidamus  in  Christo,  sed  bene  in  illo  operantes,  operarive  instituentes,  ut 
eonfidamus,  imperat  nobis  ac  praeseribit.     Est  enim  amplum  ac  plenum  vocabulum 


2^2.  EXPOSITION  OF  DOCTRINAL   DrFFERENCES 

withal ;  not  merely  a  confi  Jcnce,  tlmt,  for  Christ's  sake,  the  forgive* 
iiess  of  sins  will  be  obtained,  but  a  sanctified  feeling,  in  itself  agreeable 
to  God.  Charity  is,  undoubtedly,  according  to  Catholic  doctrine,  a 
fruit  of  faith.  But  faith  justifies,  only  when  it  has  already  brought  forth 
this  fruit.  Faith  is  also,  in  our  view,  a  vivifying  principle  ;  but  it  ob- 
tains for  us  the  favour  of  God,  only  when  it  Jmis  already  unfolded  its 
vivifying  power* 

3^  The  justifying  subjective  faith,  in  the  Protestant  sense,  is  de- 
scribed, not  merely  as  a  recognition  of  the  New  Testament  Revela- 
tion, f  but  as  an  assurance  of  the  Divine  Grace  in  Christ  Jesus,  as  con- 
fidence in  the  merits  of  tlic  Redeemer,  by  the  power  whereof  sins  are 
forgiven.  And  this  confidence  is  held  up  as  being  able,  abstractedly 
and  entirely  of  itself,  to  win  for  its  possessor  the  favour  and  friendship 
of  the  Almighty.  This  consciousness  of  the  Divine  favour  must  see 
charity  and  good  works  in  its  train  ;  but  as  by  their  presence  the  latter 
contribute  nought  towards  justification,  so  by  their  absence  they  take 
nothing  from  the  state  of  the  justified.  Here,  accordingly,  charity  is 
not  regarded  as  the  substantial  form  of  the  alone-justifying  faith  :  man 
is  already  justified,  so  soon  as  he  confides   in  Christ  ;   the  seed  is  sown 


ildes,  nee  solum  in  se  credulitatem  et  fiduciam  continet :  scd  spera  etiam  et  studium 
obcdiendi  Deo,  et  illam,  quae  in  Christo  maxime  perspicua  nobis  facta  est,  princlpem 
et  dominam  Christianarum  omnfum  virtutiim,  eharitatcm." 

*  Sadoleti  Epp.  lib.  xiii.  n.  2;  Gaspari  Contareno  Card.  opp.  ed.  Veron.  torn.  ii. 
p.  45.  "  De  justificatione  et  justitia,  placet  mihi  vchementer  tuarum  rationum  con. 
textus  et  distinctio  ex  Aristotele  sumpta.  Sequiturenim  certe  charitas  cursum  ilium 
antecedcntem,  quo  ad  justitiam  pcrvenitur  :  non  tamen  sequitur  cadem  charitas  (meo- 
quideni  animo  opinionequc)  justitiam,  sed  earn  ipsa  constituit :  vel  potius  charitas  ipsa 
est  justitia.  Habet  enim  formae  vim  charitas  :  forma  autem  est  id,  quod  ipsa  res. 
Cum  ergo  acccditur.  pra;untc  ilia  prreparatione  ad  justitiam,  acceditur  una  et  ad 
charitateni  :  ad  quam  cum  est  pcrvcntum,  turn  justitia  per  ipsam  eharitatcm  consti- 
tuitur.  Justitiam  voco,  non  vulgari,  nequc  Aristotelico  nomine,  sed  Christiano  more 
ac  modo,  cam  quae  omnes  virfutes  complexa  continet  :  nequc  id  humanis  viribus,  scd 
instinctd  inffuxuque  divino,"  etc. 

]  On  this  matter,  as  m  other  articles,  we  find  in  Luther  little  permanent  unifor- 
mity ;  and  this  may  be  accounted  for  by  the  obscurity  and  confusion  in  the  notion 
which  he  commonly  attached  to  justifying  faith.  Very  often  with  him,  "  faith  "  is 
belief  in  the  truth  of  anything.  Thus,  in  his  commentary  on  the  epistle  to  the  Gala, 
tians  Cloc.  cit.  p.  70,)  he  calls  faith  "  a  hidden,  lofty,  secret,  incomprehensible  know, 
ledge;"'  but  immediately  thereupon,  "  a  true  confidence  and  assurance  of  the  heart."" 
Elsewhere,  in  the  same  work,  ho  compares  faith  to  dialectics,  and  hope  to  rhetoric  r 
that  is  to  say,  faith  floated  before  his  mind  as  something  theoretical,  and  not  as  any 
thing  practical.  In  his  work,  De  servo  arbitrio  (lib  i.  p  177,  b.,)  faith  is  again  de- 
scribed,  in  a  long  passage,  as  a  firm  persuasion  ;  and  so  also  in  the  numerous  passa. 
ges  where  he  opposes  it  to  the  future  intuition .     In  his  book,  De  captivitate  Raby- 


BETWEEN  CATHOLICS  AND  PROTESTANTS.  23» 

for  heaven,  and  brings  us  thither,  even  when  under  unfavourable  cir- 
cumstances, as,  for  instance,  the  sluggishness  of  the  will,  and  the  like, 
it  bears  absolutely  no  fruit.  Thus  the  Protestant  doctrine  excludes 
works  wrought  before,  as  well  as  after,  conversion  to  Christ,  and,  more- 
over, all  holy  sentiments,  when  it  attributes  to  faith  alone  the  power  of 
saving. — a  doctrine  which  we  may  say,  in  passing,  has  not  even  the 
very  slightest  foundation  in  Scripture.  O?  such  an  opposition  between 
faith,  charity,  and  works,  Paul  did  not  even  once  think,  and  James  is 
absolutely  opposed  to  it.     (See  section  xxii.)* 

§  XX  — On  the  assurance  of  justification  and  eternal  felicity. 

The  opinion,  that  the  believer  must  be  perfectly  convinced  of  his  jus- 
tification before  God,  and  of  his  future  felicit}',  is  so  closely  connected 
with  the  doctrine  of  faith,  in  the  Protestant  system, f  that  Melancthon 
says  of  the  schoolmen,  who  deny  it,  "  We  see  clearly,  from  this  alone, 


lonicd  (Opp.  torn,  ii  p.  279,  b.,)  he  says  :  •'  Verbum  Dei  omniam  primum  est  quod  se- 
quitnr  fides,  fidcm  charitas,  charitas  dcinde  facit  omne  bonum  opus"  Here  one  act 
on  tiie  part  of  men  is  overlooked  :  the  preaching  of  the  truth  is  followed,  first,  by 
knowledge  and  recognition  of  the  truth,  next,  by  confidence,  and  so  on  ;  but  which  of 
these  acts  is  here  denoted  by  fides  ?  Probably  it  includes  at  once  knowledge  and 
confidence.  Such  indefinitcncss  in  language  is  attended  with  very  pernicious  conse- 
quences, and,  in  later  times,  was  productive  of  an  utter  indifference  to  the  truth,  just 
as  if  the  having  confidence  were  alone  sufficient,  or  as  if  "  confidence"  were  intelli- 
gible without  the  firm  conviction  of  the  truth. 

*  After  this  investigation  we  shall  be  enabled  to  appreciate  Gerhard's  Loci  Theolo. 
gici  Ctom.  vii  p.  206,  loc.  xvii.  c.  iii.scct.  v.)  where  he  endeavours  to  base  on  tradi- 
tion the  Protestant  doctrine  of  faith.  It  is  a  compilation  totally  unworthy  of  a  man 
like  Gerhard.  Every  passage  wherein  any  doctor  of  the  Church  asserts  that  faith  in 
Christ  alone  conducts  to  salvation,  he  alleges  in  favour  of  the  Protestant  theory, 
without  at  all  inquiring  what  sense  the  author  attached  to  these  words.  He  was 
even  so  foolish  as  to  make  use  of  those  passages  wherein  fathers  of  the  Church  (for 
example,  St.  Irenaeus,)  assert  of  the  Catiiolic  faith,  in  opposition  to  heretical  systems 
of  doctrine,  that  it  can  alone  insure  salvation  ! !  The  perception  that  a  father  of  the 
Church,  like  Chrysostom,  who  held  anything  but  the  Protestant  doctrine  respecting 
original  sin,  free-will,  and  its  relation  to  grace,  could  not  possibly  have  entertained 
the  Lutheran  view  of  faith,  it  would  be  perhaps  too  much  to  expect  from  Gerhard  ; 
for  any  desire  to  investigate  the  internal  connexion  between  difiercnt  doctrines  he  did 
not  even  feel. 

t  Apolog.  iv.  §  40,  p.  83  "  Non  diligimus,  nisi  certo  statuant  corda,  quad  donata 
sit  nobis  remissio  peccatorum."  xii.  De  pcenitcnt.  §  20,  p.  157:  "  Hanc  ccrtitudi- 
ncm  fidei  nos  doccmus  rcquiri  in  evangelio."  Calvin.  Instit.  lib.  iii.  c.  2,  §16,  fol. 
197  :  "  In  summa,  vere  fidelis  non  est,  nisi  qui  solids,  persuasione  Deura  sibi  propiti- 
um  benevolumque  patrem  esse  persuasus,  deque  ejus  benignitatc omnia  sibi  pollicetur: 
nisi  qui  divinae  erga  se  benevolentiae  promissionibus  fretus,  indubitatara  salutis  expec. 
tationtra  praesumit." 


234  EXPOSITION   OF  DOCTRINAL  DIFFERENCES 

how  utterly  devoid  of  intellect  this  species  of  men  are."*  The  close 
connexion  of  this  position  with  the  whole  Protestant  system  is  undenia- 
bly clear.  We  have  before  observed,  that,  from  the  doctrine  of  the  total 
extirpation  of  all  seeds  of  good  out  of  the  human  breast,  one  advantage 
in  regard  to  Christian  life  might  be  gained, — that  man,  so  soon  as  he 
perceived  any  little  sparks  of  a  higher  life  within  him,  might  be  well 
assured  that  God  had  begun  His  work  of  redemption,  which  would  be 
as  certainly  consummated.  (Chap.  xi.  §  vi.)  Secondly,  that  theory  of 
faith,  according  to  which  men  are  to  direct  their  view  towards  God's 
mercy,  and  to  turn  it  away  from  their  own  moral  state,f  necessarily 
involves  the  opinion  we  have  advanced.  Moreover,  this  assurance  of 
salvation  presupposes  absolute  predestination,  and  the  doctrine,  that 
God's  grace  works  only  in  the  elect ;  for  if  a  man  can  at  any  time  repel 
the  grace  once  felt,  then,  by  the  very  idea  of  this  possibility,  the  sense 
of  certitude  is  at  once  shaken.  Hence,  it  is  only  by  the  Calvinists  that 
this  doctrine  hath  been  carried  out  to  its  full  extent ;  while  on  the  part 
of  the  Lutherans,  it  betrays  that  original  adherence  to  the  principles  of 
predestination,  which  in  other  matters  also  have  left  traces  of  their  influ- 
ence, and  the  later  rejection  whereof,  has  so  materially  impaired  the 
internal  harmony  of  their  system. 

Catholics,  from  opposite  reasons,  believe  not  that  a  quite  unerring 
certitude  of  salvation  can  be  acquired/f     As  they  consider  not  fallen 


*  Melancth.  loc.  theolog.  p.  1 16.  "  Ut  vel.  hoc  solo  loco  satis  appareat,  nihil 
fuisse  spiritiie  in  toto  genere." 

t  Melancth.  loc.  theolog.  p.  92,  says,  in  this  respect :  "  Debebant  enim  non  opera 
sua,  sed  promissionem  misericordiae  Dei  contemplari  Quid  est  enim  iniquius,  quam 
tBstimare  voluntatem  Dei  ex  operibus  nostris,  quam  ille  sua  verba  nobis  declaravit  ?" 
True,  if  man  hath  no  freedom  ;  and  hence  it  is  by  no  means  surprising,  that  Me- 
lancthon  requires  us  to  be  certam  of  our  salvation  (for  the  certitude  of  the  forgiveness 
of  sins  is,  with  the  Reformers,  tantamount  to  the  certitude  of  salvation,)  although  the 
believer  be  not  assured  of  his  perseverance  in  good.  "  Certissima  sentcntia  est,  opor- 
tere  nos  certissimos  semper  esse  de  remissione  peccati,  de  benevolentia  Dei  erga  nos, 
qui  justificati  sumus.  Et  norunt  quidem  fide  sancti,  certissime  se  esse  in  gratia,  sibi 
condonata  esse  peccata.  Non  enim  fallit  Deus,  qui  poUicitus  est,  se  condonaturura 
peccata  credentibus,  tametsi  inserti  sint,  an  perseveraturi  smi." 

t  Concil.  Trident.  Sess.  vi.  cap.  ix.  "  Sicut  nemo  pius  de  Dei  raisericordia,  de 
Christi  merito,  de  sacramentorum  virtute  et  efRcaciS,  dubitare  debet,  sic  qullibet,  dum 
se  ipsum  suamque  propriam  infirmitatem  et  indispositioncm  respicit,  de  sua  gratis 
formidare  et  timcre  potest,  cwn  nullus  scire  valeat  certitudine  fidei,  cui  non  potest 
subesse  falsum,  se  gratiam  Dei  esse  consecutum."  Cap.  xii.  *'  Nemo  quoque, 
quamdiu  in  hac  mortalitate  vivitur,  de  arcano  divinae  pr^destinationis  mysterio  usque 
adeo  praesumere  debet,  ut  certo  statuat  se  omnino  esse  in  numcro  praedestinatorum  : 
quasi  verum  esset,  quod  justificatus  amplius  peccare  non  possit,  aut,  si  peccaverit, 
certam  sibi  resipiscentiam  promittere  debeat.    Nam,  nisi  ex  speciali  revelatione,  sciri 


BETWEEN  CATHOLICS  AND   PROTESTANTS.  235 

man  to  be  devoid  of  all  moral  and  religious  qualities  and  signs  of  life, 
they  are  unable  to  discover  a  criterion,  absolutely  beyond  the  reach  of 
illusion,  whereby  they  can  distinguish  between  the  operations  of  grace, 
and  the  effects  of  those  feelings  in  man  akin  to  the  Deity,  and  uiieradi- 
cated  by  his  fall.*  But  even  if  they  were  fortunate  enough  to  possess 
such  a  criterion,  the  confidence  built  thereon  would  be  again  damped, 
by  the  remembrance  of  the  doctrine  of  human  and  divine  co-operation 
in  the  second  birth  and  its  consummation,  and  be  reduced  to  a  more 
modest  tone.  For,  together  with  the  deepest  confidence  in  God's 
mercy,  Catholics  are  taught,  by  reason  of  those  humiliating  experi- 
ences, which  we  all  make  in  the  course  of  our  lives,  to  entertain  a 
great  distrust  of  human  fidelity  ;  and  an  absolute  predestination,  that 
would  bid  them  overlook  such  scruples,  is  rejected  by  their  Church. — 


non  potest,  quos  Deus  sibi  demerit."  C  xiii.  "  Similiter  de  perseverantiae  munere, 
de  quo  scriptum  est, — Qui  perseveravit  usque  in  finem,  hie  salvus  ent :  quod  qui- 
dem  aliunde  haberi  non  potest,  nisi  ab  eo,  qui  potens  est  eum,  qui  stat,  statuere,  ut 
perseveranter  stet,  et  eum,  qui  cadit,  restituere.  Nemo  sibi  certi  aliquid  absoluta 
certitudine  polliceatur :  tametsi  in  Dei  auxilio  firmissimam  spem  collocare,  et  repo- 
nere  omnes  debent.  Deus  enim,  nisi  ipsi  iliius  gratiffi  defuerint,  sicut  ccepit  opus 
bonum,  ita  perficiet,  operans  velle  et  perficere.  Verumtamen  qui  se  existimant  stare, 
videant,  ne  cadant,  et  cum  timore  ac  tremore  salutem  suam  operentur.   (Phil.  ii.  12.) 

Formidare  enim  debent,  scientes  quod  in  spem  gloriae,  et  nondum  in  gloriam 

renati  sunt,  de  pugna  quse  supcrest  cum  came,  cum  mundo,  cum  diabolo  :  in  qua, 
victores  esse  non  possunt,  nisi  cum  Dei  gratia  apostolo  obtemperent,  dicenti :  Debi. 
tores  suraus,  non  carpi,  ut  secundum  camem  vivamus  ;  si  enim  secundum  camem 
vixeritis,  moriemini :  si  autem  spiritu  facta  camis  mortificaveritis,  vivetis." 

*  Melancthon  (loc.  theol.  p.  121)  says,  "  The  fruits  of  the  Holy  Spirit  testify  that 
he  worketh  in  our  breasts  {quod  inpectore  nostra  versetur ;)  every  one,  to  wit,  know- 
eth  from  his  own  experience  whether  he  hateth  sin  from  the  bottom  of  his  heart." 
This  criterion  sounds  the  more  strange  from  the  lips  of  Melancthon,  because  he  at 
the  same  time  teaches,  that  even  in  the  will  of  the  regenerated,  sin  remains; 
that  is  to  say,  it  is  not  detested  from  the  heart.  Hereby,  accordingly,  confidence 
would  be  placed  in  our  own  worthiness,  whereas  the  Protestant  doctrine  of  the  solace 
of  faith  is  to  be  zealously  upheld  precisely  because,  if  man  look  to  himself,  despair 
must  take  possession  of  his  soul.  The  principles,  which  Melancthon  here  lays  down 
for  discerning  the  state  of  grace,  are  those  of  the  Catholic  theologians  of  the  Middle 
Age,  and  suit  only  the  Catholic  point  of  view. 

So  speaks  St.  Thomas  Aquinas,  loc.  cit.  quaest.  cxii.  art.  v.  "  Hoc  raodo  aliquia 
cognoscere  potest,  se  habere  gratiam,  in  quantum  scilicet  percipit  se  delectari  in  Deo, 
et  contemnere  res  mundanas,  et  in  quantum  homo  non  est  conscius  peccati  martalis. 
Secundum  quem  modum  potest  intelligi,  quod  habctur  Apoc.  1 :  '  Vincenti  dabo 
manna  absconditum,  quod  nemo  novit,  nisi  qui  accipit,'  quia  sc.  ille,  qui  accipit,  per 
quandam  expericntiam  dulcedinis  novit,  quam  non  experitur  ille  qui  non  accipit. 
Ista  tamen  cognitio  imperfecta  est.  Unde  apostolus  dicit.  i.  ad  Cor.  iv. :  '  Nihil 
mihi  conscius  sum,  sed  non  in  hoc  justificatus  sum,'  "  etc. 


236  EXPOSITION  OF  DOCTRINAL  DIFFERENCES 

Thus  the  Catholic  Christian,  without  a  false  security,  yet  full  of  conso- 
lation, c.ihn,  and  entirely  resigned  to  the  divine  mercy,  awaits  the  day 
on  which  God  shall  pronounce  his  final  award. 

The  avowals  of  Calvin  in  this  matter  are  very  remarkable,  as  well  as 
the  strenuous  exertions  he  must  have  recourse  to,  in  order  to  awaken  in 
the  souls  of  his  disciples  the  desired  assurance.  He  observes,  that  no 
temptation  of  Satan  is  more  dangerous,  than  when  he  seduces  believers 
to  doubt  of  the  certainty  of  their  salvation,  and  temps  them  to  seek  the 
same  in  evil  ways.  To  this  he  subjoins  the  remark,  that  such  tempta- 
tions are  the  more  dangerous,  because  to  none  are  the  generality  of  men 
more  inclined  than  to  these.  Rarely  do  we  find  a  man,  whose  soul  is  not 
at  times  disturbed  by  the  thought, — "  Nowhere  is  the  source  of  thy  sal- 
vation to  be  found,  but  in  the  Divine  election;  but  in  what  manner  hath 
this  election  been  revealed  to  thee  ?"  This  train  of  thought  Calvin 
concludes  with  a  proposition  drawn  from  his  own  experience :  "  When 
once  such  doubts  have  become  habitual  in  any  one,  then  the  unhappy 
man  is  either  constantly  tortured  with  dreadful  anxiety,  or  entirely  de- 
prived of  all  consciousness."* 

By  this  rash  endeavour  to  obtain  the  assurance  of  our  future  salva- 
tion, various  kinds  of  superstition,  as  well  as  a  distracting  uncertainty, 
were  occasioned  :  so  that  the  very  contrary  to  Calvin's  wishes  occurred ; 
and  it  soon  became  manifest,  that  the  effects  of  an  unnatural  desire 
were  ever  pernicious.  With  sin,  and  the  combat  against  sin,  came  the 
restlessness  of  the  spirit ;  the  latter  never  capable  of  being  stilled,  till 
the  former  had  ceased  to  exist.f  Undoubtedly,  according  to  the  sen- 
tence of  the  apostle,  the  spirit  testifies  to  the  spirit,  that  we  are  the  chil- 
dren of  God  \X  but  this  testimony  is  of  so  delicate  a  nature,  and  must 

•  Lib.  iil.  C.24,  §3,  fol.  353 "  Eoque  exitialior  est  htec  tentatio,  quod  ad  nullam 

aliam  propensiores  simus  fere  omnes Qux   si  apud  quempiam  semel  invaluit,  aut 

diris  tormcntis  miserum  perpetuo  excruciat,  aut  reddit  peniius  attonitum." 

t  Calvin,  loc.  cit.  c.  2,  §  17,  fol.  198.  "  Nos  carte  dum  fidem  docemus  esse  cer- 
tam  ac  sccuram,  non  certitudinem  aliquam  imaginamur,  qu'c  nulla,  tangatur  dubita- 
tione,  nee  securitatera,  quje  nulla  solliciludine  impetatur  ;  quin  potius  dicimus,  perpe- 
tuum  esse  fidelibus  certaraen  cum  sua  ipsorum  ditEdentia."  But  by  this  sentence  the 
whole  doctrine  of  assurance  is  given  up.  These  striking  contradictions  are  inherent 
in  the  very  effort  to  force  artificially  on  the  human  consciousness  something  in  con. 
tradiction  to  that  consciousness  itself. 

X  Sarpi  histolre  du  concile  de  Trente,  traduite  par  Amelot  de  la  Houssaie,  Amst. 
1699,  p.  193.  "  Au  commencement  du  ix.  chapitre,  ou  Ton  disait,  que  les  peches  ne 
sont  pas  re.mis  par  la  certitude  qu'on  a  de  la  remission,  le  legat  changea  le  mot  de 
certitude  en  ceux  de  jactance  etde  confiancepr^somptueuseen  vertudecette  certitude 
de  la  gr&ce.  Et  &  la  fin  du  meme  chapitre,  au  lieu  de  dire,  parceque  personne  ne  petit 
aavoir  certainement,  quHl  ait  re^u  la  grace  de  Dieu,  le  mot  certainement  fut  chang^ 
en  ceux-ci,  de  certitude  de  foi,"     This  is  further  below  explained,  that  faith  is  eter- 


BETWEEN  CATHOLICS  AND  PROTESTANTS.  237 

be  handled  with  such  tender  care,  that  the  Christian,  in  the  feeling  of 
his  unworthiness  and  frailty,  approaches  the  subject  only  with  timidity, 
and  scarcely  ventures  to  take  cognizance  of  it.  It  is  a  holy  joy,  which 
would  fain  conceal  itself  from  its  own  view,  and  remain  a  mystery  to 
itself ;  and  the  more  exalted  the  Christian  stands,  the  more  humble  is 
he,  and  the  less  is  he  disposed,  without  an  extraordinary  revelation,  to 
vaunt  of  a  certainly,  which  so  little  accords  with  the  uncertainty  and 
mutability  of  all  earthly  things.  The  higher  the  duties  which  the  Catho- 
lic Church  imposes  on  man,  the  more  obvious  the  reason  wherefore  she 
will  acknowledge  no  absolute  certainty  of  salvation.  And  herein  pre- 
cisely we  must  look  for  the  motive  of  her  teaching,  that  the  believer  can 
and  must  become  worthy  of  salvation,  while  yet  she  denies  the  certainty 
thereof;  whereas  the  Protestants,  who  assert  that  man  can  in  no  wise 
become  worthy  of  heaven,  exert  their  utmost  endeavours  to  call  forth 
such  a  sense  of  security. 

Moreover,  in  many  other  cases  of  spiritual  life,  it  is  the  same  as  with 
the  point  in  question.  The  innocence  that  would  become  conscious  of 
itself,  is  usually  lost  by  that  very  act ;  and  the  reflection,  whether  the 
act  we  are  about  to  perform  be  really  pure,  makes  it  not  unfrequently 
impure.  Hence  the  Saviour  saith,  "let  not  thy  right  hand  know  what 
thj  left  doeth."  Joyful,  yet  full  of  sorrow,  calm,  and  without  precipi- 
tancy, the  true  saints  pursue  their  way — they  boast  not  on  that  account 
of  being  in  the  number  of  the  elect,  but  resign  their  fate  to  God.  Ac- 
cording to  the  Protestant  theory,  every  one  should  be  asked  what  he 
thought  of  himself,  and  he  must  in  his  own  life  be  regarded  as  a  saint6 
The  doubt  of  others  as  to  the  truth  of  his  own  declaration  would  invali" 
date  the  doctrine  of  the  symbolical  books.  As  if  in  irony  of  their  own 
doctrine,  the  Protestants  would  recognize  no  saints  !  I  think,  that,  in 
the  neighbourhood  of  any  man,  who  would  declare  himself  under  all  cir- 
cumstances assured  of  his  salvation,  I  should  feel  very  uncomfortable^ 
and  should  probably  have  some  difficulty  to  put  away  the  thought,  that 
something  like  diabolical  influence  was  here  at  play. 

But  the  truth,  which  even  this  Protestant  doctrine  darkly  divined} 
must  not  be  overlooked.  It  consists  in  the  individualizing  of  evangeli- 
cal truths — in  pointing  to  the  necessity  of  the  personal  application  of 
them,  and  of  the  relation  of  the  Divine  promises  to  ourselves,  so  that 


nally  true  and  unchangeable  itself,  however  believing  man  may  change;  whereas,  he 
who  by  an  inward  feeling  is  convinced  of  his  state  of  grace,  cannot  yet  be  sure  wheth- 
er through  sin  he  may  not  tall  from  that  state  :  and  therefore  man  in  general  cannot 
be  assured  of  his  salvation,  cum  certitudine  fidei,  although  he  may  with  confiding 
hope  look  forward  to  it. 


238  EXPOSITION  OF  DOCTRINAL  DIFFERENCES 

We  should  not  regard  them  as  undefined,   and  as  merely  relative  to 
others. 


OF  GOOD  WORKS, 

f)  XXl. — Doctrine  of  Catholics  respecting  good  works. 

By  good  works  the  Catholic  Church  understands  the  whole  moral 
actions  and  sufferings  of  the  man  justified  in  Christ,  or  the  fruits  of 
holy  feeling  and  believing  love.  Of  the  observance  of  certain  ecclesi- 
astical ceremonies,  external  rites,  and  the  like,  we  have  not  here  occa" 
sion  to  speak,  as  the  following  exposition  will  clearly  show.  As  in  the 
man  truly  born  again  from  the  Spirit,  the  Catholic  Church  recognizes 
a  real  liberation  from  sin,  a  direction  of  the  spirit  and  the  will  truly 
sanctified  and  acceptable  to  God,  it  necessarily  follows  that  she  asserts 
the  possibility  and  reality  of  truly  good  works,  and  their  consequent 
meritoriousness.  It  is  evident,  too,  that,  in  consequence  of  this  doc- 
trine, she  can  and  must  exact  the  fulfilment  of  the  moral  law,  as  laid 
down  by  the  Apostle  Paul,  in  Rom.  viii.  3,  4. 

Thus,  we  must  especially  observe,  that  it  is  only  on  works  consum' 
mated  in  a  real  vital  communion  with  Christ,  the  Church  bestows  the 
predicate  "  good ;"  and,  of  a  fulfilment  of  the  law,  she  speaks  only  in 
so  far  as  the  power  to  this  effect  hath  been  given  in  fellowship  with 
Christ.  The  Fathers  of  Trent  express  themselves  in  the  following 
manner  :- — "  As  a  constant  power  flows  from  Christ,  the  Head,  on  the 
justified,  who  are  his  members,  as  from  the  vine  to  its  branches,  a 
power,  which  precedes  their  good  works,  accomp3,nies  the  same,  and 
follows  them,— a  power,  without  which,  they  can  be  in  nowise  agreea* 
ble  to  God,  and  meritorious  j  so  we  are  bound  to  believe,  that  the  justi- 
fied are  enabled,  through  works  performed  in  God,  to  satisfy  the  divine 
law,  according  to  the  condition  of  this  present  life,  and  to  merit  eter" 
nal  life,  when  they  depart  in  a  state  of  grace."* 

From  this  time  we  may,  at  the  same  time,  clearly  see,  how  far  works  are 
called  meritorious.  When  we  presuppose,  v/hat  must  be  here  of  course 
taken  for  granted,  the  fundamental  doctrine  of  all  true  religion,  to  wit, 
that  it  was  out  oi' pure  love  itself  thnt  God  conferred  on  us  life,  all  our 
faculties,  and  the  destination  for  eternal  happiness ;  and  that  the  agent 
expressly  acknowledges  these  truths ;    then  we  may  briefly  describe 

»  Concil.  Trident.  Sess.  vi.  c.  16. 


SET  WEEN  CATHOLICS  AND  PROTESTANTS.  '239 

those  works  as  meritorious,  which  our  freedom  (and  without  freedonfi 
it  were  idle  to  talk  of  man's  moral  relations)  hath  wrought  in  the  power 
of  Christ.  Hence  the  holy  fathers  of  Trent  observe  at  the  same  time  i 
"  So  great  is  the  goodness  of  the  Lord  towards  all  men,  that  He  con- 
siders his  own  gifts  as  their  merits/**  This  is  the  idea  which  the 
ancient  Church  attached  to  merit,  and  which  is  founded  on  Holy  Writ. 
Can  heaven  then  be  merited  by  believers  ?  Undoubtedly  ;  they  must 
merit  it,  that  is  to  say,  become  worthy  of  it,  through  Christ.  Between 
them  and  heaven  there  must  be  a  homogeneity— nn  internal  relation ; 
that  relation,  which,  by  God's  eternal  ordinance  and  His  express  pro- 
mises, exists  between  sanctity  and  beatitude  5  terms  which  are  not 
only  inseparable,  but  which  stand  also  in  the  same  relation  to  one  an- 
other, as  cause  and  effect.!  The  Catholic  Church,  as  she  maintains 
that  the  genuine  Christian  possesses  in  Christ  an  inward  righteousness 

*  Even  Calvin  allows  this  to  be  the  doctrine  of  Catholics.  He  says  as  follows 
(tnstit.  lib  iii.  c.  11,  §  I'J,  p-  266  :)  "  Subtile  cfFugium  se  habere  putant  sophistse,  qui 
sibi  exscripturEB  dcpravatione  et  inanibus  cavillis  ludos  et  delicias  faciunt  :  nam  ope- 
ra (of  these  St.  Paul  saith  that  they  do  not  justify)  exponunt,  quae  literalrter  tantum  et 
liberi  arbitrii  conatd  extra  Christi  gratiam  faciunt  homines  necdum  regeniti,  id  vcro 
ad  opera  spiritualia  spectare  negant.  (This  is  right.)  Ita  secundum  eos,  tam  fide, 
quam  operibus  justificatur  homo,  modo  ne  sint  propria  ipsius  opera,  sed  dona  Christi 
et  regenerationis  fructus  "  However,  the  Catholic  doth  not  say,  man  is  justified  lam 
fide,  quam  operihis,  as  if  both  existed  independently  of  each  other. 

t  St.  Thomas  Aquinas  has  expressed  himself  admirably  on  this  matter.  He  saya 
(loo.  cit.  quBBst.  cxiv.  art.  1)  that  the  notion  of  merit  is  founded  on  the  notion  of 
justice,  in  the  Hellenic  and  Roman  sense  of  the  word.  But  absolute  justice,  strictly 
speaking,  exists  only  between  absolute  equals.  To  give  back  of  our  own  as  much 
as  we  have  received,  or  will  receive,  is  to  give  according  to  merit,  and  to  act  justly, 
which  absolutely  presupposes  the  equality  of  both  parties.  In  this  sense  there  can  be 
no  question  of  merit  before  God ;  for  we  should  be  obliged  to  offer  to  God  what 
is  our  own,  not  what  we  have  received  from  him,  whereupon  he  would  repay  us  with 
as  much  of  his  own.  Hence,  when  in  Holy  Writ  so  much  is  said  of  a  reward,  which 
the  good  receive  in  the  next  life ;  or  when  it  is  said  there  will  be  a  remmieration, 
according  to  works,  it  is  only  a  conditional  merit  and  a  conditional  justice  which  ia 
meant.  He  says  :  "  Manifestum  est  auletn,  quod  inter  Deura  et  hominem  est  maxi- 
ma inaequalitas,  in  infinitum  enim  distant ;  totum,  quod  est  hominis  bonum,  est  a 
Deo,  unde  non  potest  hominis  a  Deo  esse  justitia  secundum  absolutam  foquulitatem, 
sed  secundum  proportionem  quandam,  in  quantum  scilicet  uturque  operatur  se- 
cundum modum  suum.  Modus  autem  et  mensura  humanse  virtutis  homini  est 
a  Deo,  etideo  rneritum  hominis  apud  Deum  esse  non  potest,  nisi  secundum  prcesup- 
positionem  divinse  ordinationis  :  ita  scilicet  ut  id  homo  consequatur  a  Deo,  per  suam 
operationem,  quasi  mercedem,  ad  quod  Deus  ei  virtutem  operandi  deputavit.  Sicut 
ctiam  rest  natuTdles  hoc  consequuntur  per  proprios  motus  et  operationes,  ad  quod  a 
Deo  sunt  ordinatte,  differenter  tamcn,  quia  creatura  rationahs  sc  ipsam  movat  ad 
agendum  per  liberum  arbitrium.  Unde  sua  actio  habet  rationem  meriti ;  quod  non 
est  in  aliis  creatttris." 


84D  EXPOSITION  OF  DOCTRINAL  DIFFERENCES 

proper  to  himself,  and  deeply  rooted  in  his  being,  cannot  do  other  than 
teach  that  salvation  is  to  be  derived  from  this  source.  A  heavenly 
seed  having  been  sown  in  the  soul  of  the  just,  it  must  bear  its  fruits  for 
heaven.* 

If  Catholics  teach,  that  the  divine  grace  which  precedes  the  first 
beginnings  of  regeneration,  cannot  be  merited,  this  is  a  far  difTerent 
«ase  ;  and  this  remark  should  serve  to  place  in  the  strongest  light 
our  doctrine  respecting  good  works.  In  the  former  instance,  nature, 
yea,  fallen  nature  and  grace  stand  opposed  to  one  another  ; — humanity, 
thoroughly  polluted  with  sin  on  one  side,  and  the  Deity  on  the  other  ; 
but  in  the  latter  instance,  this  is  by  no  means  the  case.  Although  the 
greatest  effort  of  nature  cannot  draw  down  to  itself  the  supernatural 
power  (for  this  must  condescend.)  in  the  regenerated,  however,  exist 
qualities  truly  divine  and  supernatural,— ^a  holy  energy,  which  stamps 
its  impress  on  the  whole  inward  life  of  the  believer,  and  contains,  as  in 
a  g3rm,  the  beatitude  which  stillj  however,  retains  a  supernatural  and 
divine  character.  Thereby,  however,  the  grace  of  beatitude  doth  not 
cease  to  be  a  grace  ;  but  it  is  already  comprised  in  the  grace  of  sane* 
tification.  If  God  gave  the  latter,  then  was  the  former,  too,  commu^ 
nicated.  Hence  also,  the  Council  observes,  this  doctrine  can  give  no 
occasion  to  self-confidence  or  to  self-glory  ;  but  "  he  who  glorieth,  must 
glory  only  in  the  Lord." 

It  is,  morcovei',  scarcely  necessary  to  observe,  that  it  is  not  to  works 
considered  abstractedly,  but  to  works  in  connexion  with  the  feelings  in 


*  St-  Thomas,  in  answer  to  the  questions,  whether  eternal  life  can  be  obtained 
■Without  grace ?  and  whether  with  grace  we  become  wor/^y  of  the  same?  says  as  fol- 
lows :  (Q.  cxiv.  art.  u.j  "  Non  potest  homo  mcreri  absque  gratia  vitam  JBtemam  per 
pura  naturalia,  quia  scilicet  mcritum  hominis  dependet  ex  praeordinatione  divin&. 
Actus  autem  cujuscunque  rei  non  ordmatur  divinitus  ad  aliquid  cxccdens  propor- 
tioncm  virtutis,  qu;B  est  principium  actus  :  hoc  cnim  est  ex  institutione  divin.Tprovi- 
dentia;,  ut  nihil  agat  ultra  suam  virtutem.  Vita  autcm  ff:tcrna  est  quoddain  bonurn 
excedcns  proportinnem  naturre  creatse  :  quia  etiam  cxcedit  cognitioncm  ct  dcsiderium 
ejus,  secundum  illud  i  ad  Cor.  2  :  nee  oculus  vidit,  etc.  Et  inde  est,  quod  nulla  na- 
tura  areata  est  sufficiens  principium  acttis  meritorii  vitte  aeternse,  nisi  superaddatur 
aliquid  supernaturale  donum,  quod  gratia  dicitur.  Si  vero  loquamur  de  homine  sub 
peccato  existentc,  additur  cum  hoc  sccunda  ratio  propter  iuipediiucntum  pcccatl," 
etc.  Art  III.  :  •'  Si  loquamur  de  opere  raeritorio,  secundum  quod  procedit  ex  gratis 
Spiritus  Sancti,  sic  est  meritorium  vitae  asterna!  ex  condigno.  Sic  enim  valor  meriti 
attenditur  secundum  virtutem  Spiritus  Sancti,   movcntis  nos  in  vitam  ffitemam,  sc. 

cundum  illud  Joann.  iv.,   fiet  in  eo  fons  aquae  salientis  in  vitam  ?pternam,  etc 

Gratia  Spiritus  Sancti,  quam  in  prsesenti  habcmus,  etsi  non  sit  a:qualis  glorise  in  actii, 
est  t;  men  aequalis  in  virtute  :  sicut  ct  semen  arbori,  in  quo  est  virtus  ad  totam  arbo- 
rem." 


BETWEEN   CATHOLICS  AND  PROTESTANTS.  241 

which  thsy  have  tlieir  source,  that  salvation  is  awarded  ;  it  is  promised 
to  works  only  in  so  far  as  they  are  the  expression  and  the  blossom,  the 
consummation  and  the  proof,  of  feeling,  or  love  in  its  outward  and 
active  manifestation.  By  a  metonymy,  the  outward  is  put  for  the 
inward  thing,  which  constitutes  with  the  former  an  indivisible  whole — 
a  one  act,  and  this,  too,  in  consequence  of  a  biblical  usage  of  speech. 
It  is,  also,  self-evident,  that  sanctified  feelings,  which  remain  unmani- 
fested  in  deeds,  because  they  fail  of  an  outward  occasion,  or  even  of 
the  physical  means,  possess  as  much  worth,  as  if  they  had  been  reveal- 
ed in  works.*  Lastly,  it  is  taught,  that  the  performance  of  good  works 
augments  grace.  Exercise  in  good,  the  faithful  co-operation  with  grace, 
renders  the  soul  ever  more  susceptible  to  its  influence.  The  general 
maxim,  that  the  exercise  of  any  faculty  serves  to  strengthen  it,  holds 
good  in  this  case  also  ;  and  that  he  who  doth  not  bury  the  talent  he 
hath  received,  but  puts  it  out  to  interest,  will  receive  still  more,  is  the 
promise  of  our  Lord. 

But  doth  not  this  doctrine  promote  mere  outward  holiness  ?  Its  ob- 
ject is  precisely  to  encourage  holiness  in  deeds.  Doth  it  not  produce 
self-righteousness  1  Tliis  should  it  do — namely,  cause  that  we  ourselves 
becoms  righteous.  Ye?,  indeed,  the  Church  requires  works  emanating 
from  the  sanctified  soul,  and  knows  well  hr)W  to  appreciate  the  mere 
exterior  works.     Nay,  she  urges  us  to  become  righteous  in  our  own  pcr- 


t  Jacob  Sadolet.  card,  ad  princip.  Germanise  oratio,  loc.  cit.  p.  360.  "  Quomodo 
igitur  opera  cum  fide  simul  justificant,  cum  scepe  absque  operibus  facial  sola  fides 
justiiiam,  uti  in  latrone  fecit,  ut  inaJiis  mullis,  quos  ex  historiis  ecclesiasticis  possumus 
colligere  ?  Nenipc,  quia  habitus  justitioB,  quo  ad  bene  operanduni  propensi  cfEciniur, 
fidei  ipsi  ab  initio  statim  propter  amorcm  et  charitatem  est  annexus ;  ubi  cnim  amor 
Dei  inest,  qui  In  vera  ilia  fide  protinus  elucct,  simul  ilia  subito  adest  propcnsio  animi 
et  cogitatio,  esse  in  actionibus  rectis  amori  nostro  in  Deum,  et  Deo  ipsi  satisfacien- 
dum, admonenti  nos  illi  et  docenti,  si  diligamus  cum,  et  niandata  ejus  servemus. 
Hinc  intestinus  justiiiae  habitus,  non  contlatus  ex  actionibus  et  operibus  nostris,  sed 
cum  ipsa  fide  charitatcque  conjunctira  divinitus  nobis  impressus,  is  illc  ipse  est,  qui 
justos  nos  faclt.  Et  sane  convcnientius  est,  ut  a  justitia  justi,  quam  a  fide  nomine- 
mur.  Tametsi  (ut  dixi)  omnia  h'cc  in  unum  connexa  sunt  et  cohferent.  Hunc  habi- 
tum  prsBclare  exprimit  Paulus  divinis  illis  verbis,  quibus  ad  Ephesios  utitur,  sic  scri- 
bens  :  gratia  servati  estis  per  fidem,  idque  non  ex  vobis,  Dei  donum  est ;  non  ex  ope- 
ribus, ne  quis  glorictur,  Dei  enina  ipsius  sunius  effectio,  aBdificati  in  Christo  Jesu  ad 
opera  bona,  quibus  praeparavit  Deus  in  illius  ut  ambularemus.  Ad  Deum  itaque  per 
Christum  acceiienti,  statim  ad  rccte  faciendum  prompta  facilitas  qucedam  et  voluntas 
bona  agnoscitur.  Porro  iste  ipse  habitus  justitiae  tunc  absolute  in  nobis  pcrfectus  est, 
cum  exphcat  sese,  et  exerit  in  sanctas  actiones:  exercitationemque  continet  justiti» 
cum  ipsa  exercendi  voluntate  conjunctam.  Ipso  autem  fidei  initio,  aut  si  spatium 
non  est  recti  faciendi,  licet  totam  perfcctionem  justitiae  non  ttneat,  idem  tameu  nobis 
potest  ad  salutem,  quod  absoluta  plcnaque  justitia." 

16 


242  EXPOSITION  OF  DOCTRINAL  DIFFERENCES 

sons,  distinguishing  this  very  accurately  from  the  conceit  that  we  can 
bacome  righteous  through  ourselves ;  but  she  calls  on  the  Protestants  to 
learn  this  distinction,  not  to  hold  the  one  as  synonymous  with  the  other, 
and,  in  consequence,  to  reject  both  alike. 

$  XXII. — Doctrine  of  the  Protestants  respecting  good  works. 

Let  us  now  turn  to  the  exposition  of  the  Protestant  doctrine  on  good 
works.  Above  all,  we  must  describe  what  they  are  in  themselves, 
according  to  the  Lutheran  and  Calvinistic  writings;  next,  what  is  their 
merit,  and  whether  and  how  far  they  be  deemed  necessary.  That 
this  whole  article  of  doctrine  must,  in  every  respect,  be  only  a  further 
development  of  the  Protestant  principles  on  justification  and  justifying 
faith,  is  evident  of  itself ;  for  the  view  which  the  Protestants  have  form- 
ed of  the  latter,  that  it  possesses  no  power  of  moral  renovation,  no 
power  for  the  expiation  of  sin,  pervades  their  whole  conception  of  Chris- 
tian works.  In  a  word,  the  same  relation  which  they,  as  we  have  be- 
fore shown,  establish  betwixt  justifying  faith  and  charity,  recurs  here, 
applied  to  good  works. 

Luther,  asserting  the  continuance  and  operation  of  original  sin,  even 
in  the  will  of  tlie  justified,  maintained,  immediately  after  the  commence- 
ment of  his  Reforming  career,  that  no  works  could  possibly  be  pure 
and  acceptable  to  the  Deity ;  and  used  the  expression,  that  even  the  best 
work  is  a  venial  sin.  This  proposition  was,  as  may  be  supposed,  con- 
demned in  the  papal  censure  of  his  opinions.  But  the  Reformer  \vent 
a  step  further,  and  laid  down  the  doctrine,  that  every  so-called  good 
work, — that  is  to  say,  every  act  of  a  believer, — is,  when  considered  in 
itself,  a  mortal  sin,  though,  by  reason  of  faith,  it  is  remitted  to  him.* 
Melancthon  not  only  expressed  full  concurrence  in  the  doctrine  of  his 
master,  but  carried  it  out  to  an  extreme,  by  asserting,  that  all  our  works, 
all  our  endeavours,  are  nothing  hut  sin  \'\  and  Calvin,  though  in  more 
measured  language,  corroborated  the  assertions  of  both.J 


*  Luther,  assert,  omn.  art.  op.  torn,  ii  fol.  325,  b.  "  Opus  bonum  optime  factum 
est  venialc  peccatum.  Hie  farticulus)  manifesto  scquitur  ex  priori,  nisi  quod  ad- 
dendum sit,  quod  alibi  copiosius  dixi, — hoc  veniale  peccatum  non  natura  sua,  sed 

misericordia  Dei,  tale  esse Omne  opus  justi  damnabile  est  et  peccatum  mortale, 

si  judicio  Dei  judicctur."  Cfr.  Antilutom.  (cunful.  Luth.  rat.  latom.)  I.  c.  fol.  406,  b, 
407,  seq. 

tMclancth.  loc.  theolog.  p.  108.  "  Qua?  vero  opera justificationein  consequuntur,  ea, 
tametsi  a  spiritti  Dei,  qui  occupavit  corda  justificatorum,  proficiscuntur,  tamen  quia 
fiunt  in  came  adhuc  impura,  sunt  et  ipsa  innnunda."  P.  158  :  "Nos  docuimus,  jus- 
tificari  sola  fide, opera  nostra,  conatus  nostros  nihil  nisi  peccatum  esse." 

%  Calvin.  Instit.  lib.  ii.  c.  8,  (j  59,  lib.  iii.  c.  4,  (j  28.     He  says  the  same  also  in  his 


BETWEEN  CATHOLICS  AND  PROTESTANTS.  243 

It  may  uot  be  unworthy  of  our  attention,  and  at  any  rate  it  will  con- 
duce to  the  elucidation  of  the  subject  before  us,  to  examine,  in  a  few 
words,  the  course  of  argument  pursued  by  Luther.  He  says  :  in  the 
saint  two  men  are  to  be  distinguished,-— a  slave  of  sin,  and  a  servant  of 
God;  the  former  is  holy  according  to  the  flesh,  the  latter  according  to 
the  spirit.  Accordingly,  the  person  of  the  just  man  is  in  part  holy,  in 
part  sinful  ;  and  the  entire  personality  being  thus  divided  between  sin 
and  holiness,  every  good  work  partakes  of  the  character  of  both, — for 
a  holy  and  an  unholy  sentiment  co-exist  in  the  breast  of  the  believer.* 
Even  Melancthon  expressly  affirms,  that  the  believer,  in  despite  of  the 
spirit  of  Christ  working  within  him,  is  unable  to  exalt  himself  above  this 
dualism  ;  that  tico  natures  ever  survive  in  him,  the  spirit  and  the  flesh. "j* 
If  w,i  only  recollect  that  by  the  word  "flesh"  is  understood,  not  the 
body  merely,  but  the  entire  man,  independent  of  the  new  powers  im- 
parted to  him  through  the  Holy  Ghost,  there  can  no  longer  remain,  it 
appears  to  us,  any  obscurity  in  this  article.^ 

The  spirit  of  Christ  is  too  powerless  to  be  able,  like  a  purifj^ing  fire, 
totally  to  cleanse  the  nature  of  man,  and  to  produce  in  him  pure  charity 
and  pure  works.  Hence  the  assertion  so  often  and  so  energetically 
repeated  by  the  leaders  of  the  Reformation,  at  the  outset  of  their  career, 
that  even  the  regenerated  cannot  fulfil  the  law.§  On  this  subject  Lu- 
ther expresses  himself  with  great  naivete.  In  reply  to  the  observation 
of  the  Catholics, — -that  God  commands  not  impossibilities,  and  that,  if 
we  have  only  the  will,  we  have  the  power  of  loving  Him  with  our 
whole  hearts,  and  thereby  of  fulfilling  the  law,  he  observes  :  *'  Cora- 


work,  De  ncccssit.  Reformandtz  eccl.  opuscvl.  p.  430 ;  yet  his  expressions  are  much 
milder  than  Luther's.  He  says  here  :  "Nos  ergo  sic  docemus  ;  semper  deesse  bonis 
fideUum  operibus  summam  puritatem,  quae  conspectum  Dei  ferre  possit,  imo  etiam 
quodammodo  iniquinata  esse,''  etc.  Quite  falsely  doth  Zwingle  state  the  Protestant 
■doctrine.  He  says  (in  fidei  Christianas  esposit.  ad  regem  christianiss.  Gall.  opp.  torn, 
ii.  p.  558  :)  "  Fidem  oportet  esse  fonteni  operis.  Si  fides  adsit,  jam  opus  gratum  est 
Deo  :  si  desit,  perfidiosum  est,  quicquid  fit,  et  subinde  non  tantum   ingratum,  sed  et 

abominabile  Deo Et  ex  nostn's  quidem  <T</!s/;^a)f  adseruerunt,  ( 1  )  omnfe  opus 

nostrum  esse  abominationem.  Qua  sententia  nihil  aliud  voluerunt,  quam  qnod  jam 
diximusl"  This  Luther  did  not  mean  to  say,  for  otherwise  there  would  be  no  differ- 
tence. 

*  Luther.  Assert,  omn.  art.  n.  31,  opp.  torn.  ii.  fol.  319. 

t  Melancth.  loc.  theolog.     "  Ita  fit,  ut  duplex  sit  sanctorum  natura  spiritus  el  caro." 

X  Loc.cit.  p.  138. 

^  Melancth.  loc.  theolog.  p.  127.  "Maledixit  lex  eos,  qui  non  universam  legem 
semel  absolverint.  At  universa  lex  nonne  summum  amorem  crga  Deum,  vehemen- 
tissimum  metum  Dei  exigit !  a  quibus  cum  tota  natura  sit  alienissima,  utut  maxime 
jjulcherrimum  pharisaeismum  praestes,  maledictionis  tamen  rei  sumus." 


244  EXPOSITION  OF  DOCTRINAL  DIFFERENCES 

manding  and  doing  are  two  things.  Commandment  is  soon  given,  hitt 
it  is  not  so  easily  executed.  It  is,  therefore,  a  wrong  conclusion  to  say, 
God  has  commanded  me  to  love  him ;  therefore  I  can  do  so."* 

The  intrinsic  inanity  of  this  doctrine,  its  evident  repugnance  to  Scrip- 
tm-e^ — ^which  only  the  most  forced  interpretation  could  conceal, — and 
the  very  pernicious  influence  which  it  too  evidently  exercised  over  the 
morals  of  those  professing  it,  as  well  as  the  cogent  objections  of  Catho- 
lics, gradually  brought  about  some  ameliorations,  which  passed  into  the 
later  writings  of  Melancthon,  and  even  into  the  public  formularies,  but 
still  fell  very  far  short  of  that  standard,  which  the  Catholic  Church 
deems  herself  authorized,  both  by  the  spirit  and  the  letter  of  the  Gos- 
pel, to  propose  to  her  children. f 

If,  now,  the  question  be  asked,  what  do  good  works,  or  rather  the 
sentiments  pervading  them, — the  inward  kernel  of  the  regenerated, — 
the  fulfilment  of  the  law  through  charity, — 'what  do  good  works  merit  ? 
it  is  clear,  that  this  question  must  b^  answered  in  a  sense  very  different 
from  that  of  Catholics.  Aheady  the  rejection  of  the  co-operation  of 
free-will  necessarily  involved  the  denial  of  every  species  of  merit,  and 
rendered  the  very  notion  of  such  a  thing,  utterly  unintelligible.  As, 
moreover,  no  true  sanctity  was  believed  to  exist  in  the  justified,  so  no 
felicity  could  be  derived  from  it.  Accordingly,  it  was  most  zealously 
contended,  that,  when  the  question  was  about  good  works,  and  the  ob- 
servance of  the  moral  precepts,  the  former  should  not  be  represented 
as  having  reference  to  the  acquisition  of  eternal  happiness,  nor  the 
latter  as  having  any  internal  connexion  with  works  and  the  fulfilment 
of  the  law  ;  and  both  should  be  stated  as  utterly  independent  one  of  the 
other,  in  the  same  way  as  justification  is  something  very  different  fronr 
sanctification.^  To  estimate  the  whole  extent  of  that  separation,  which 
in  this  article  of  doctrine  divides  the  Christian  Confessions,  v/e  need 
only  be  reminded  of  George  Major,  a  very  esteemed  Protestant,  who 
ventured  to  teach,  that  good  works  are  necessary  to  salvation.     His 


*  Luther,  Commentary  on  Epislle  to  Galatians,  loc.  sic.  p.  233. 

t  Apolog.  iv.  de  dilect.  et  impht.  legis,  ^  50,  p.  91.  "  Hsec  ipsa  legis  impletio^ 
quae  sequiturrenovationem,  est  exigua  elimjnunda"  ^  46.  p.  88  :  "  In  hac  vita  non 
possumus  legi  satisfacere." 

%  Solid.  Dcclar.  iv.  ^  1.5,  p.  672.  "  Interim  tamen  diligenter  in  hoc  negctio  caven- 
dum  est,  nc  bona  opera  articulo  justificationis  et  salutis  nostras  immisceantur.  Propte- 
reahse  propositiones  rejiciuntur  :  'Bona  opera  piorum  necessaria  esse  ad  salutem,' " 
etc.  III.  De  fidei  justitia.  ^  20,  p.  6.58  :  "  Similiter  et  renovatio  seu  sanclificatio, 
quamvis  et  ipsa  sit  beneficium  mediatoris  Christi  et  opus  Spiritus  Sancti,  non  tamen  ea 
ad  articulum  aut  negotium  justificationis  coram  Deo  pertinet :  sed  earn  sequitur." 


BETWEEN  CATHOLICS  AND  PROTESTANTS.  245 

Tnotive  in  the  introduction  of  this  innovation  was  very  laudable.  He 
believed  that  a  true  Christian  bearing  and  deportment  was  most  pain- 
fully neglected  among  the  members  of  his  Church,  and  that  the  preach- 
ing of  what  was  then  called  "  the  new  obedience,"  was  not  adequately 
discharged ;  and,  under  this  impression,  he  conceived,  that,  if  the  ne- 
cessity of  good  works  for  ensuring  salvation  was  generally  recognized, 
a  salutary  change  in  this  respect  would  take  place.  By  this  step  he 
advanced  scarcely  a  whit  nearer  to  the  Catholic  doctrine  than  the  other 
Lutherans ;  for,  like  them,  he  did  not  uphold  an  internal  connexion 
between  holiness  and  salvation.  He  only  conceived  that  good  works 
must  be  there  (outwardly  present,)  if  eternal  happiness  was  to  be  the 
reward  of  faith.*  Nevertheless,  his  doctrine  excited  general  opposi- 
tion ;  and  Von  Amsdorf,  the  old  friend  of  Luther,  composed,  under 
these  circumstances,  a  work,  wherein  he  professed  to  show  that  good 
works  were  even  hurtful  to  salvation. f     The  Formulary  of  Concord, 


*  Marheineke  thinks,  the  distinction  between  the  Catholic  and  the  Protestant  doc- 
trine, respecting  works,  consists  herein  :  that  these  are  considered  by  Catholics  as  a 
conditio  sine  qua  non  to  salvation,  but  not  so  by  Protestants.  This  is  by  no  means 
the  case.  Such,  indeed,  was  the  opinion  of  Major  ;  but  it  is  not  the  Catholic  doctrine. 
Melancthon  in  his  Erotemat  Dialectices,  (p.  276,  ed.  Wittenberg,  1550,)  defines  the 
notion  of  the  conditio  sine  qua  non,  to  be,  not  the  internal  condition  to,  or  primary 
■cause  of,  an  effect,  but  something  by  the  absence  whereof  the  effect  doth  not  take 
place  :  as,  for  instance,  if  a  king  should  offer  his  daughter  in  marriage  to  any  one,  who 
should  with  great  elegance  ride  up  and  down  a  public  place,  the  conditio  sine  qua  non 
would  have  no  manner  of  internal  relation  to  the  effect,  which  is  to  follow.  On  the 
other  hand,  the  doctrine  of  the  Catholic  Church  may  be  represented  under  the  image 
of  a  father  promising  the  liand  of  his  daughter  to  a  youth  who  sincerely  loved  her, 
and  was  favoured  with  her  affection.  This  mutual  inclination  of  hearts  is  an  internal 
condition  to  the  solemnization  of  marriage — something  required  by  the  essence  of  the 
latter. 

t  Jhe  work  is  entitled,  "  The  Proposition  of  Nicholas  von  Amsdorf,  that  good 
works  are  hurtful  to  salvation,  shown  to  be  a  right,  true,  Christian  proposition,  preach- 
ed by  St.  Paul  and  St.  Luther."  1559.  He  defended  the  proposition  in  the  same 
sense,  as  Luther  might  have  defended  the  thesis  of  a  disputation  :  "  fides  nisi  sit  sine 
ullis,  etiam  minimis  operibus,  non  justificat,  imo  non  est  fides."  Op.  torn.  i.  p.  523. 
The  sense  of  this  thesis  must  be  clear  from  the  preceding  statements  in  the  text. 
Doubtless  it  was  immediately  followed  by  the  other  thesis,  "  impossihile  esse,  fulem 
esse  sine  assiduis,  multis  et  magnis  operibus.  Both  these  comprise  exaggerated 
opinions,  whose  limitation  must  be  drawn  from  the  whole  argument  in  our  text.  The 
editor  of  Luther's  works,  in  the  introduction  prefixed  to  the  general  collection  of  that 
Reformer's  public  Disputations,  which  are  found  in  great  numbers  at  the  end  of  the 
first  volume,  observes,  that  from  these  disputations  we  may  learn,  in  the  sur-estas  well 
as  the  shortest  way,  Luther's  true  doctrine  ;  and  this  observation  we  have  found  very 
trufi. 


246  EXPOSITION  OF  DOCTRINAL  DIFFERENCES 

Avhich  among  other  things  undertook  to  adjust  the  controversies  pend- 
ing on  this  subject,  disapproves,  indeed,  of  Amsdorf's  doctrine,  yet  ex- 
presses that  disapprobation  in  very  mild  terms  ;  while  it  rejects  Major's 
view  as  incompiitible  with  the  exclusive  particles, — "  Faith  alone  saves, 
by  faith  alone  we  are  justified  wilhoiit  works."* 

If  good  works,  according  to  the  doctrine  of  the  Lutherans,  be  not 
necessary  to  salvation,  are  they  in  any  respect  necessary?  This  ques- 
tion was  agitated  among  the  Lutherans,  and  resolved  in  various  senses. 
But  the  very  possibility  of  such  a  question,  in  a  doctrinal  system,  pre- 
supposes a  strange  obliquity  of  all  ideas.  The  Augsburg  Confession 
and  the  Apology  frequently  employed  the  expression,  "  they  are  neces- 
sary ;"  and  the  Formulary  of  Concord  appeals  to  their  authority.^  But 
what  notion,  after  all  we  have  set  forth,  is  to  be  connected  with  the 
word  "necessary,"  it  were  no  easy  matter  to  discover.  Perhaps  it 
was  meant  to  be  said  :  "We  may  take  it  as  certain,  that  faith  will  ever 
achieve  something.'*  Moreover,  works  go  not  entirely  unrewarded. 
The  Formulary  of  Concord  assures  to  them  temporal  advantages,  and, 
to  those  who  perform  the  most,  a  greater  recompense  in  heaven.:}: 
Accordingly,  faith  without  works  would  absolutely  merit  heaven  ;  but 
works  would  only  contribute  something  thereto! 

In  how  much  more  enlightened  a  way  have  the  schoolmen  explained 
the  relation  of  faith  to  works,  as  conducive  to  Divine  favour  and  eternal 
^happiness  !§  What  is  the  (living)  faith,  other  than  the  good  work, 
still  silently  shut  up  in  the  soul;  and  what  is  the  good  Christian  work, 
other  than  faith  brought  to  light  ?  They  are  one  and  the  same,  only 
in  a  different  form ;  and  hence,  Catholic  theologians  explain  the  fact, 
why  in  Scripture  salvation  is  promised  sometimes  to  works,  sometimes 
to  faith.  From  this  conception  of  the  relation  between  faith  and  good 
works,  Luther  in  one  place  attempted  to  meet  the  objection  against  his 
doctrine,  founded  on  the  very  numerous  passages  in  Holy  Writ,  that 
promise  to  a  virtuous  conduct  eternal  felicity.  He  replies,  namely, 
that  faith  and  works  are  "  one  cake,"  and  therefore,  on  account  of  their 
inseparable  unity,  exchange    their  predicates ;    so  that   to  works    is 

*  Solid.  Dcclar.  iv.  <J  15,  p.  672.  "  Sirnpliciter  pugnant  cum  particulLs  exclusivis  in 
articulo,  justificationis  et  salvationis."  <J  25,  p.  676  :  "  Interim  haudijuaquarn  conse- 
quitur,  quod  sirnpliciter  et  nude  asserere  liceat,  opera  bona  credciitibus  ad  salutem 
esse  perniciosa." 

t  Solid.  Dcclar.  iv.  §  10,  p.  G70  :  "  Nogari  non  potest,  quod  in  Augustanil  Confes- 
sione  ejusdcmque  Apologia,  hffic  verba  sa;pe  usurpcntur  atquc  ropctantur:  'bona  ope- 
ra issc  neccssana,'  "  etc. 

I  L.  c  iv.  ^25,  p.  676. 

§  See,  for  instance,  H.  Sinid's  Mysticism  of  the  Middle  Age,  p.  215.  Jena,  1824, 
(In  German ) 


BETWEEN  CATHOLICS  AND  PROTESTANTS.  247 

ascribed  what  really  belongs  to  faith,  in  the  same  way  as  the  Scripture 
refers  to  the  Divine  nature  in  Christ  the  attributes  of  his  humanity,  and 
vice  ixrsd.*  But  Luther  did  not  perceive,  that  by  such  a  mode  of 
explanation  he  placed  himself  on  Catholic  ground,  and  utterly  annihil- 
ated his  doctrine,  that  faith  without  works  could  justify.  For  if  works 
together  with  faith  constitute  an  unity, — that  is  to  say,  if  works  be 
absolutely  implied  by  faith,  in  the  same  way  as,  when  no  outward, 
accidental  hindrance  occurs,  the  inference  is  implied  in  the  reason,  the 
effect  in  the  cause,  how  can  it  be  asserted,  that  faith  without  works 
justifies  1  Does  it  not,  then,  follow,  that  faith  is  of  value,  only  in  so 
far  "  as  it  worketh  by  charity  ?"  and  thereby  alone,  would  not  the 
whole  Lutheran  theory  of  justification  be  given  up?  Luther  became 
entangled  in  his  own  distinctions,  for  he  here  ascribes  to  faith,  as  iJie 
moral  vivifying  sentiment,  the  power  of  justification  ;  whereas,  according 
to  the  whole  tenor  of  his  system,  it  is  to  faith  as  the  organ  which  clings 
to  the  merits  of  Christ,  that  he  must  impute  this  power.f  It  was  pre- 
cisely from  this  point  of  view,  that  Luther  might  have  discovered  how 
utterly  erroneous  was  his  whole  system ;  for  never  certainly  would  the 
Scripture  have  promised  eternal  life  to  works,  nor  that  communicalio 
idiomatum  have  been  possible,  if  faith  could  justify,  merely  as  the  instru- 
ment so  often  boasted  of,  and  not  as  involving  an  abundance  of  moial 
and  religious  virtues.  Thus,  that  in  Holy  Writ  eternal  felicity  should 
be  promised  to  works,  in  so  far  as  they  emanate  from  faith,  unquestion- 
ably supposes  that  this  faith  is,  absolutel}^  and  without  restriction,  the 
one  which  Catholic  theologians  are  wont  to  designate  as  the  fides  for- 
viata.  Honce,  Luther  elsewhere  abandons  this  mode  of  enfeeblincr  the 
objection  adverted  to  ;  and,  in  all  the  plenitude  of  his  power,  he  com- 


*  Luther,  Comment,  on  Ep.  toGalat.  Joe.  cit.  p.  145. 

t  It  was  a  very  favourite  saying  of  Luther's,  that,  as  good  works  arc  tlie  fruits  of 
the  spiritual  birth  and  the  now  inward  life,  we  cannot  be  justified  through  the  same: 
on  the  contrary,  works  are  then  only  good,  when  man  is  already  righteous.  "  That 
good  works,"  says  he,  "merit  not  grace,  life,  and  salvation,  is  evident  from  the  fact, 
that  good  works  are  not  the  spiritual  birth,  but  only  fruits  of  it :  by  works  we  become 
not  Christians,  righteous,  holy,  children  and  heirs  of  God  ;  but  when  we  have  be- 
come righteous  through  faith,  from  God's  pure  mercy,  for  Christ's  sake,  and  when 
we  have  been  created  anew  and  bom  again,  then  only  we  perform  good  works.  If 
we  only  insist  upon  regeneration  and  suhslauiialia,  on  the  essence  of  a  Christian, 
we  have  at  once  overturned  the  merit  of  good  works  towards  salvation,  and  reduced 
them  to  nothing."  (Luther's  Table-talk,  p.  171  :  Jena,  160.3.)  This  view  of  works 
affects  not  the  Catholic  doctrine,  for  this  likewise  teaches,  that  it  is  not  by  works 
that  grace  and  regeneration  are  merited,  but  that  works  are  the  fruits  of  the  new 
spirit.  But  since  Catholics  represent  the  fruits  as  forming  one  with  the  tree,  they 
cannot  say  that  the  new  spirit  without  its  fruits  insures  salvation. 


248  EXPOSITION  OF  DOCTRINAL  DIFFERENCES 

mands  his  followers,  not  once,  but  a  thousand  times,  to  observe  silence 
on  the  subject  of  works,  when  justifying  faith  was  spoken  of,  and  con- 
sequently, to  consider  both,  not  as  one,  but  as  two  cakes  of  very 
ditTcrent  substances.*  Hence,  in  defining  the  relation  of  faith  to 
works  as  conducive  to  salvation,  the  Fornnulary  of  Concord  very  wisely 
shuns  the  allusion  to  a  one  cake,  but  proposes  to  works,  temporal 
rewards  and  a  sort  of  decoration  in  heaven.  We  cannot,  however, 
refrain  from  expressing  our  astonishment,  that  men,  like  Reinhardt  and 
Knapp,  as  we  see  from  their  Manuals  of  Dogmatic  Theology,  could 
behevc  that  by  such  definitions  as  those  respecting  the  recompenses  in 
question,  a  faith  active  in  good  works  could  be  promoted  :  and  still 
more,  that,  in  their  capacity  of  exegetists,  they  could  find  such  a  doc- 
trine reconcileable  with  Scripture,  which,  in  the  most  unqualified 
manner,  promises  salvation  to  good  works :  see,  for  example,  Matthew 
V.  1 ;  XXV.  31  ;  Romans  viii.  17. f 

*  Comment,  on  Ep.  to  Galat.  p.  74.  Solid.  Dcclar.  iii  de  fide  justif.  $  26,  p.  6fi0  : 
"  Etsi  conversi  et  in  Christum  credentoshabent  inchoatam  in  se  renovationcm,  t-anc- 
tificationem,  dilcctioncin,  virtutes  et  bone  opera  :  tamenhaecomna  nequaquain  immis- 
cenda  sunt  articulo  justificationis  coram  Deo  :  ut  Redcmptori  Christo  honor  illibatus 
maneat.  et  ciim  nostra  nova  obcdicntia  imperfecta  et  impura  sit,  pcrturbatse  conscien. 
tisB  cert&.  et  firma  consolatione  scso  sustentare  valeant. 

t  A  most  superficial  view  of  the  relation  between  good  works  and  eternal  felicity, 
as  stated  in  Holy  Writ,  as  well  as  a  remarkable  specimen  of  fanciful  and  shallow  in- 
terpretation of  Scripture,  we  find  in  Luther's  Table-talk  (p.  176,  Jena,  1603,}  where 
the  recompenses  promised  to  holiness  of  conduct  are  represented  only  as  a  tutorial 
stimulus,  without  any  reference  to  the  inward  life  of  the  soul.     It  is  as  follows : 

"  In  the  year  1542  (accordingly  in  his  ripest  years,  shortly  before  his  death,)  Dr. 
Martin  Luther  said,  touching  the  article  of  our  justification  before  God,  that  it  was  in 
this  case  precisely  the  same  as  with  a  son,  who  is  born,  and  not  made  by  his  own 
merit,  heir  to  all  the  paternal  estates;  he  succeeds,  without  any  act  or  merit  of  his 
own,  to  all  his  father's  properties.  But  nevertheless  the  father  exhorts  him  to  do  this 
or  that  diligently ;  promises  him  a  present,  to  engage  him  to  perform  his  task  with 
greater  readiness,  love  and  pleasure.  As  if  he  should  say  to  the  son  :  If  thou  be  pi. 
ous,  obedient  to  my  commands,  and  diligent  in  thy  studies,  I  will  buy  for  thee  a  fine 
coat.  So  also  :  come  to  me  and  I  will  give  thee  a  pretty  apple.  Thus  he  teaches 
his  son  to  obey  him,  and  although  the  inheritance  will  naturally  fall  to  the  son,  yet 
by  such  promises  the  father  will  engage  his  son  to  do  with  cheerfulness  what  he  bids 
him  ;  and  thus  he  trains  up  his  son  in  wholesome  discipline.  Therefore  we  must 
consider  all  such  promises  and  recompenses,  as  only  a  pedagogical  discipline,  where, 
with  God  incites  and  stimulates  us,  and  like  a  kind,  pious  father,  makes  us  willing 
and  joyous  to  do  good,  and  to  serve  our  neighbour,  and  not  thereby  to  gain  eternal 
life,  for  this  he  bestows  on  us  entirely  from  his  pure  grace."  From  these  so  very  dif- 
ferent and  opposite  views  of  the  same  subject,  it  is  again  evident,  that  upon  this  im- 
portant article  of  belief  Luther  had  never  formed  clear  and  settled  notions,  and  that 
this  inward  unsteadiness  and  obscurity  made  him  ever  vacillate  from  one  extreme  to 
another. 


BETWEEN  CATHOLICS  AND  PROTESTANTS.  249 

What  especially  confirmed  the  Reformers  in  their  errors,  was  the 
explanation  (derived,  indeed,  from  their  own  system)  of  several  passages 
of  St.  Paul, — for  instance,  of  Romans  iii.  28, — where  it  is  said,  that  it 
is  not  through  the  works  of  the  law,  but  through  faith,  that  man  is 
justified  :  a  passage,  in  writing  which  the  apostle  did  not  dream  of  the 
opposition  existing  between  Catholics  and  Protestants.  St.  Paul  here 
contends  against  the  Jews  of  his  own  time,  who  obstinately  defended 
the  eternal  duration  of  the  Mosaic  law,  and  asserted,  that,  not  needing 
a  Redeemer  from  sin,  they  became  righteous  and  acceptable  before  God 
by  that  law  alone.  In  opposition  to  this  opinion,  St.  Paul  lays  down 
the  maxim,  that  it  is  not  by  the  works  of  the  law,  that  is  to  say,  not  by 
a  life  regulated  merely  by  the  Mosaic  precepts,  man  is  enabled  to 
obtain  the  favour  of  Heaven,  but  only  through  faith  in  Christ,  which 
has  been  imparted  to  us  by  God  for  wisdom,  for  sanclification,  for 
righteousness,  and  for  redemption.  Unbelief  in  the  Redeemer,  and 
confidence  in  the  fulfilment  of  the  law  performed  through  natural  power 
alone,  on  one  hand,  and  faith  in  the  Redeemer  and  the  justice  to  be 
conferred  by  God,  on  the  other  (Romans  i.  17,  x.  z  ;  Philippians  iii.  9,) 
— these,  and  not  faith  in  the  Redeemer  and  the  good  works  emanating 
from  its  power,  constitute  the  two  points  of  opposition,  here  contem- 
plated by  the  apostle.  The  works  of  the  law,  I'pyix,  toZ  vi/^ov,  St.  Paul 
accurately  distinguishes  everywhere  h'om good  wo>-ks,  epyx  uyccS-u,  y.xXu; 
as  indeed  in  their  inmost  essence  they  are  to  be  distinguished  from  one 
another :  for  the  former  are  wrought  without  faith  in  Christ,  and  with- 
out his  grace  ;  the  latter  with  the  grace  and  in  the  spirit  of  Christ. 
Hence  St.  Paul  never  says,  that  man  is  saved  not  through  good 
works,  but  through  faith  in  Christ !  This  marvellous  opposition  is  a 
pure  invention  of  the  sixteenth  century.  Nay,  the  doctrine,  that  to 
good  works  eternal  felicity  will  be  allotted,  has  been  positively  an- 
nounced by  this  apostle,  Romans  ii.  7-10. 

xxui. — The  doctrine    of  Purgatory  in  its  connexion  with  the   Catliolic  doctrine  of 

Justification. 

The  doctrine  of  the  possibility  of  the  fulfilment  of  the  law,  touched 
on  in  the  last  Section,  must  now  be  treated  more  fully  and  minutely. 
The  conflicting  doctrines  are  of  such  importance,  as  to  deserve  a  more 
precise  statement  of  the  arguments  on  either  side.  Calvin  says  : 
"  Never  hath  a  man,  not  even  one  regenerated  in  the  faith  in  Christ, 
wrought  a  morally  good  work, — a  work  which,  if  it  were  strictly  judged, 
would  not  be  damnable."  Admitting  even  thi^  impossibility  to  be  pos- 
sible, yet  the  author  of  such  an  action  would  still  appear  impure  and 
polluted,  by  reason  of  his  other  sins.     It  is  not  the  outward  show  of 


250  EXPOSITION  OF  DOCTRINAL  DIFFERENCES 

works,  which  perhaps  in  their  external  character  may  satisfy  the  moral 
law,  hut  it  is  the  purity  of  the  will,  which  is  regarded  by  God.  Now, 
if  we  but  raise  our  eyes  to  the  judgment-scat  of  the  Almighty,  who  will 
venture  to  stand  before  it  1  It  is,  therefore,  evident,  that  the  doctrine 
of  an  internal  justification,  involving  the  necessity  of  the  fulfilment  of 
the  law,  is  reprehensible,  because  it  must  precipitate  troubled  con- 
sciences into  despair.* 

In  reply  to  this,  the  Catholic  observes  :  Either  it  is  possible  for  man, 
strengthened  and  exalted  by  the  Divine  aid,  to  observe  the  moral  law, 
in  its  spirit,  its  true  inward  essence,  or  it  is  impossible  to  do  so.  If  the 
former  be  the  case,  then,  undoubtedly,  such  observance  cannot  be  too 
strongly  urged  ;  and  every  one  may  find  a  proof  for  its  possibility  in 
the  fact,  that,  on  every  transgression  of  the  law,  he  accuses  himself  as 
a  sinner :  for  every  accusation  of  such  a  kind  involves  the  supposition 
that  its  fulfilment  is  possible,  and  even,  with  assistance  from  above, 
not  difficult.  But  if  the  latter  be  the  case,  then  the  cause  must  be 
sought  for  only  in  God,  and  in  such  a  way,  that  either  the  Almighty 
hath  not  framed  human  nature  for  the  attainment  of  that  moral  stand- 
ard which  He  proposes  to  it,  or  He  doth  not  impart  those  higher  powers, 
which  are  necessary  to  the  pure  and  not  merely  outward,  but  internal, 
compliance  with  His  laws.  In  both  cases,  the  cause  of  the  non-fulfil- 
ment lies  in  the  Divine  will  ;  that  is  to  say,  God  is  represented  as  not 
willing  that  His  will  should  be  complied  with,  which  is  self-contradic- 
tory. But  in  any  case,  there  could  be  no  conceivable  guilt  in  respect 
to  this  non-obedience  to  the  law,  and,  accordingly,  there  could  be,  not- 
withstanding tlie  non-observance  of  the  Divine  precepts,  no  obstacle 
to  the  attainment  of  eternal  felicity.f 

If  it  be  urged,  that  reference  is  had  exclusively  to  man's  fallen 
nature,  which  is  in  a  state  of  incapacity  for  the  fulfilment  of  the  law, 


*  Calvin  Instit.  lib.  iii.  c.  14,  §  11,  fol.  279.  "  Duobus  his  fortitur  insistendum, 
nullum  unquam  extitisse  pii  hominis  opus,  quod  si  severo  Dei  judicio  examinarctur, 
non  cssct  damnabile.  Ad  hasc,  si  tale  aliquod  dctur,  quod  homini  possibilo  non  est, 
peccatis  tamcn,  quibus  laborare  autorem  ipsum  ecrtum  est,  vitiatum  ac  inquinatum, 
gratiam  perderc  ;  atque  hie  est  praecipuus  disputationis  cardo."  C  14,  ^  1,  fol.  270  : 
Hue,  hue  referenda  mens  est,  si  voluinus  de  vera  justiti&,  inquirere  :  quomodo  cce- 
lesti  judici  respondeamus,  cum  nos  ad  rationem  vocaverit."     §4:  "Illic  nihil  pro- 

derunt  cxtcrnse  bonorum  operum  pompae Sola  postulabitur  voluntatis  sinccri- 

tas."     Cf.  Chemn.  Exam.  Cone.  Trid.  part  i.  p.  294. 

t  It  many  times  really  occurred  to  Luther,  as  if  his  doctrine  led  to  the  conclusion, 
that  the  eternal  order  of  things  prevented  our  observance  of  the  law.  So  he  says 
{Table.tiilk,  p.  1(52,  b.  Jena,  1603,)  "  God  hath  indeed  known  that  we  would  not, 
and  could  not,  do  every  thing  ;  therefore  hath  he  granted  to  us  remissionem  peccato- 
rum:'    Indeed  ! .' 


BETWEEN  CATHOLICS  AND  PROTESTANTS.  251 

we  may  reply,  that  God  in  Christ  Jesus  hath  raised  us  from  this  fall  ; 
and  it  was  justly  observed  by  the  Council  of  Trent,  that,  in  virtue  of 
the  power  of  Christ's  Spirit,  no  preC(-pt  was  impracticable  to  man.  For 
to  the  heritage  of  corruption,  a  heritage  of  spiritual  power  in  Christ 
hath  been  opposed,  and  the  latter  can  in  every  way  be  victorious  over 
the  former.  Or  do  we  believe  the  moral  law  to  have  been  framed 
merely  for  the  nature  of  Adam,  for  his  brief  abode  in  Paradise,  and  not 
for  the  thousands  of  years  that  humanity  was  to  endure?* 

In  modern  times,  some  men  have  endeavoured  to  come  to  the  aid  of 
the  old  orthodox  Lutheran  doctrine,  by  assuring  us  that  the  moral  law 
proposes  to  men  an  ideal  standard,  which,  like  everything  ideal,  neces- 
sarily remains  unattained.  If  such  really  be  the  case  with  the  moral 
law,  then  he  who  comes  not  up  to  it,  can  as  little  incur  responsibility,  as 
an  epic  poet  for  not  equalling  Homer's  Iliad.  More  intellectual,  at 
least,  is  the  theory,  that  the  higher  a  man  stands  on  the  scale  of  mo- 
rality, the  more  exalted  are  the  claims  which  the  moral  law  exacts  of 
him  ;  so  that  they  increase,  as  it  were,  to  infinity  with  the  internal 
growth  of  man,  and  leave  him  ever  behind  them.  When  we  contem- 
plate the  lives  of  the  saints,  the  contrary  phenomenon  will  arise  to 
view.  The  consciousness  of  being  in  the  possession  of  an  all-sufficing, 
infinite  power,  ever  discloses  the  tenderer  and  nobler  relations  of  man 
to  God  and  to  his  fellow-creatures  ;  so  that  the  man  sanctified  in 
Christ,  and  filled  with  his  Spirit,  ever  feels  himself  superior  to  the  law. 
It  is  the  nature  of  heaven-born  love, — which  stands  so  far,  so  infinitely 
far,  above  the  claims  of  the  mere  law,  never  to  be  content  with  its  own 
doings,  and  ever  to  be  more  ingenious  in  its  devices  ;  so  that  Christians 
of  this  stamp  not  unfrequently  appear  to  men  of  a  lower  grade  of  per- 
fection, as  enthusiasts,  men  of  heated  fancy  and  distempered  mind.  It 
is  only  in  this  way  that  remarkable  doctrine  can  be  satisfactorily  explain- 
ed, which  certainly,  like  every  other  that  hath  for  centuries  existed  in 

*  Concil.  Trid.  Sess.  vi.  c.  xi.  "  De  ohservatione  mandatorum,  deque  illius  neces. 
sitate  et  possibilitate.  Nemo  autem,  quantum  vis  justificatus,  liberum  se  esse  ab 
ohservatione  mandatorum  putare  debet :  nemo  temerari^  ilia  et  a  patribus  sub  ana 
themate  prohibita  voce  uti,  Dei  prsecepta  humini  justificato  ad  observandum  esse  im- 
possibilia.  Nam  Dcus  impossibilia  non  jubet,  sed  jubendo  7nonet  et  facere  quod  pos. 
sis,  et  petere  quod  non  possis,  et  adjuvat,  ut  possis.  Cujus  mandata  gravia  non 
sunt,  cujus  jugum  suave  est  etonusleve.  Qui  enim  suntfilii  Dei,  Christum  diligunt; 
qui  autem  diligunt  eum,  ut  ipsemet  testatur,  servant  sermones  ejus.  Quod  utique 
cum  divino  auxilio  praestare  possunt,"  etc.  Hence  Innocent  X,  in  his  constitution 
against  the  five  propositions  of  Jansenius,  has  rightly  condemned  the  following  pro- 
position (Hard.  Concil.  torn.  xi.  p.  143,  n  1  :)  "  Aliqua  Dei  prsecepta  justis  volcntibus 
et  conantibus,  secundum  praisentes  quas  habent  vires,  sunt  impossibilia  :  deest  quoque 
illis  gratia,  quS,  possibilia  fiant." 


252  EXPOSITION  OF  DOCTRINAL  DIFFERENCES 

the  world,  and  seriously  engaged  the  human  mind,  is  sure  to  rest  on 
some  deep  foundation, —  the  doctrine,  namely,  that  there  can  be  works 
which  are  more  than  sufficient  (opera  supererogniion'is, — a  doctrine, 
the  tenderness  and  delicacy  whereof  eluded,  indeed,  the  perception  of 
the  Reformers ;  for  they  could  not  even  once  rise  above  the  idea,  that 
man  could  ever  become  free  from  immodesty,  unjust  wrath,  avarice, 
&c.  The  doctrine  in  question,  indeed,  on  which  the  Council  of  Trent 
does  not  enter  into  detail,  in  proportion  as  the  principle,  whereon  it  is 
based,  is  more  exalted,  is  on  that  account  the  more  open  to  gross  misre- 
presentation ;  especially  if,  as  the  Reformers  were  imprudent  enough 
to  do,  we  look  to  mere  outward,  arbitrary  actions.  Quite  untenable  is 
the  appeal  to  experience,  that  no  one  can  boast  of  having  himself  ful- 
filled the  law ;  or  the  assertion,  that  the  question  is  not  as  to  the  possi- 
bility, but  the  reality,  of  such  a  fulfilment.  In  the  first  place,  no 
argument  can  be  deduced  from  reality,  because  we  are  not  even 
capable  of  looking  into  it ;  and  we  must  not  and  cannot  judge  the 
hearts  of  men.  We  are  not  even  capable  of  judging  ourselves  ;  and 
therefore  St.  Paul  saith,  "  he  is  conscious  to  himself  of  nothing,  but 
he  leaveth  judgment  to  the  Lord."*  Accordingly,  the  desire  to  deter- 
mine the  limits  of  our  power  in  Christ  by  the  reality  of  every-day 
life,  would  lead  to  the  worst  conceivable  system  of  ethics.  Once 
regulate  the  practicable  by  the  measure  of  ordinary  experience,  and 
you  will  at  once  see  the  low  reality  sink  down  to  a  grade  still 
lower.  Lastly,  this  view  alleges  no  deeper  reason  for  what  it  calls 
reality,  and  we  learn  not  why  this  hath  been  so,  and  not  otherwise  ; 
so  that  we  must  either  recur  to  the  first  or  the  second  mode  of  defend- 
ing the  orthodox  Protestant  view,  or  seek  out  a  new  one. 

Calvin  commands  us  to  raise  our  eyes  to  the  judgment-seat  of  God. 
In  truth,  nothing  is  more  fit  to  avert  the  sinner  from  himself,  and  to 
turn  him  to  Christ,  than  calling  to  mind  the  general  judgment, — not 
merely  that  which  the  history  of  the  world  pronounces,  but  that  which 
the  all-wise,  holy,  and  righteous  God  doth  hold.f  Wo  to  him  who 
hath  not  turned  to  Christ ;  but  wo  likewise  to  him  whom  the  blood  of 
Christ  hath  not  really  cleansed,  whom  the  living  communion  with  the 


*  Concil.  Trident.  Scss.  vi.  "  Quia  in  multis  offendimus  omnes,  unusquisque  sicut 
misericordiam  et  bonitatem,  ita  et  severitatem  et  judicium  ante  oculos  habere  debet, 
neque  se  ipsum  aliquis,  etiamsi  nihil  sibi  conscius  fuerit,  judicare  :  quoniam  omnis 
hominum  vita  non  humano  judicio  examinanda  et  judicanda  est,  scd  Dei :  qui  iliumi- 
aabit  abscondita  tenebrarum,  et  manifestabit  consilia  cordiura:  et  tunc  laus  erit 
unicuiquo  a  Deo,  qui,  ut  scriptum  est,  reddet  unieuique  secundum  opera." 

t  Dr.  Moehler  here  alludes  to  a  celebrated  saying  of  the  German  poet,  "  that  the 
history  of  the  world  is  the  judgment  of  the  world." — Trans. 


BETWEEN  CATHOLICS  AN£)  FROTESTANTS.  2BB 

God-man  Himself  hath  not  rendered  godly.  Can  our  adversaries  even 
imagine,  that  the  elect  are  still  stained  with  sin  before  the  judgment-' 
seat  of  God,  and  that  Christ  covers  them  over,  and  under  this  covering 
conducts  them  into  heaven  ?  It  is  the  most  consummate  contradiction 
to  talk  of  entering  into  heaven,  while  stained  with  sin,  be  it  covered  or 
Uncovered*  Hence  the  question  recurs  ;  how  shall  man  be  finally  de- 
livered from  sin,  and  how  shall  holiness  in  him  be  restored  to  thorough 
life  ?  Or,  in  case  we  leave  this  earthly  world,  still  bearing  about  us 
some  stains  of  sin,  how  shall  we  be  purified  from  them  ?  Shall  it  be  by 
the  mechanical  deliverance  from  the  body,  whereof  the  Protestant  For- 
mularies speak  so  much  1  But  it  is  not  easy  to  discover  how,  when 
the  body  is  laid  aside,  sin  is  therefore  purged  out  from  the  sinful  spirits 
It  is  only  one  who  rejects  the  principle  of  moral  freedom  in  sin,  or  who 
hath  been  led  astray  by  Gnostic  or  Manichean  errors,  that  could  look 
with  favour  upon  a  doctrine  of  this  kind.  Or  are  we  to  imagine  it  to 
be  some  potent  word  of  the  Divinity,  or  some  violent  mechanical  pro- 
cess, whereby  purification  ensues  ?  Some  sudden,  magical  change  the 
Protestant  doctrine  unconsciously  presupposes  5  and  this  phenomenon 
is  not  astonishing,  since  it  teaches,  that  by  original  sin  the  mind  had 
been  deprived  of  a  certain  portion,  and  that  in  regeneration  man  is 
completely  passive.  But  the  Catholic,  who  cannot  regard  man  other 
than  as  a  free,  independent  agent,  must  also  recognize  this  free  agency 
in  his  final  purification,  and  repudiate  such  a  sort  of  mechanical  pro- 
cess, as  incompatible  with  the  whole  moral  government  of  the  world. 
If  God  were  to  employ  an  economy  of  this  nature,  then  Christ  came  in 
vain.  Therefore  is  our  Church  forced  to  maintain  such  a  doctrine  of 
justification  in  Christ,  and  of  a  moral  conduct  in  this  life  regulated  by 
it,  that  Christ  will,  at  the  day  of  judgment,  have  fulfilled  the  claims  of 
the  law  outwardly  for  us,  but  on  that  account  inwardly  in  us.  The 
solace,  accordingly,  is  to  be  found  in  the  power  of  Christ,  which  effaces 
as  well  as  forgives  sin, — yet  in  a  two-fold  way.  Among  some,  it  con- 
summates purification  in  this  life  :  among  others,  it  perfects  it  only  in 
the  life  to  come.  The  latter  are  they,  who  by  faith,  love,  and  a  sin- 
cere penitential  feeling,  have  knit  the  bond  of  communion  with  Christ, 
but  only  in  a  partial  degree,  and  at  the  moment  they  quitted  the  re- 
gions of  the  living,  were  not  entirely  pervaded  by  His  spirit :  to  them 
will  be  communicated  this  saving  power,  that  at  the  day  of  judgment 
they  also  may  be  found  pure  in  Christ.  Thus  the  doctrine  of  a  place 
of  purification  is  closely  connected  with  the  Cathohc  theory  of  justifi- 
cation, which,  without  the  former,  would  doubtless  be,  to  many,  a  dis- 
consolate tenet.  But  this  inward  justification  none  can  be  dispensed 
from  ;  the  fulfilment  of  the  law,  painful  as  it  undoubtedly  is,  can  be 


264  KXPOSITION  OF  DOCTRINAL  DIFFERENCES 

remitted  to  none.  On  each  one  must  that  holy  law  be  inwardly  and 
outwardly  stamped.  The  Protestants,  on  the  other  hand,  who,  with 
their  wonted  arrogance,  have  rejected  the  dogma  of  purgatory,  so  well 
founded  as  it  is  in  tradition,  saw  themselves  thereby  compelled,  in 
order  to  afford  solace  to  man,  to  speak  of  an  impossibility  of  fulfilling 
the  law^a  thought  which  is  confuted  in  every  page  of  Scripture,  and 
involves  the  Almighty  in  contradiction  with  Himself.  They  saw  them* 
selves  compelled  to  put  forth  a  theory  of  justifying  faith,  which  cannot 
even  be  clearly  perceived.  Lastly,  they  saw  themselves  compelled  to 
adopt,  tacitly  at  least,  the  idea  of  a  mechanical  course  of  operations 
practised  on  man  after  death— new  authoritative  decrees  of  the  Deity  ; 
and  left  unexplained  how  a  deep-rooted  sinfulness,  even  when  forgiven, 
could  be  at  last  totally  eradicated  from  the  spirit.  Thus  do  both  com- 
munions offer  a  solace  to  man,  but  in  ways  totally  opposite  ;  the  one 
in  harmony  with  Holy  Writ,  which  everywhere  presupposes  the  possi- 
bility of  the  observance  of  the  law  ;  the  other  in  most  striking  contra- 
diction to  it  :  one  in  maintaining  the  whole  rigour  of  the  ethical  code  ; 
the  other  by  a  grievous  violation  of  it :  one  in  accordance  with  the  free 
and  gradual  development  of  the  human  mind,  which  only  with  a  holy 
earnestness,  and  by  great  exertions,  can  bring  forth  and  cultivate  to 
maturity  the  divine  seed  once  received ;  the  other  without  regard  to 
the  eternal  laws  of  the  human  spirit,  and  by  a  very  guilty  encourage- 
ment to  moral  levity. 

§  XXIV. — Opposition  between  the  communions  in  their  general  conception  of 
Christianity. 

In  many  an  attentive  reader  the  statements  we  have  made  may  have 
already  awakened  the  thought,  that  the  Catholic  Church  views  the 
whole  system  of  Christianity,  and  the  immediate  objects  of  the  Saviour's 
advent,  in  a  manner  essentially  different  from  the  Protestant  commu« 
nities.  That  such  a  thought  is  not  entirely  unfounded,  the  following 
investigations  will  show,  in  proportion  as  they  will  at  the  same  time 
shed  the  clearest  light  on  all  that  has  been  hitherto  advanced,  dissipate 
many  doubts,  and  confirm,  with  more  accuracy  and  vividness,  the 
views  we  have  put  forth  as  to  the  nature  of  the  Protestant  doctrines. 

According  to  the  old  Christian  view,  the  Gospel  is  to  be  regarded 
as  an  institution  of  an  all-merciful  God,  whereby  through  His  Son  He 
raises  fallen  man  to  the  highest  degree  of  religious  and  moral  knowledge 
which  he  is  capable  of  attaining  in  this  life,  proffers  to  each  one  forgiveness 
of  sins,  and  withal  an  internal  sanatory  and  sanctifying  power.  But, 
how  now  does  Luther  look  upon  the  Gospel  ? 

1.  He  asserts,  that  Christ  hath  only  in  an  accidental  way  discharged 


BETWEEN  CATHOLICS  AND  PROTESTANTS.  255 

the  office  of  Teacher ;  and  that  his  real  and  sole  ohject  was,  to  fulfil 
the  law  in  our  stead,  to  satisfy  its  demands,  and  to  die  for  us.  Hence 
he  reproaches  the  Papists  with  teaching,  that  the  Gospel  is  a  law  of 
love,  and  comprises  a  less  easy,  that  is  to  say,  a  purer  and  more  exalted 
morality  than  the  Mosaic  dispensation.  In  his  Commentary  on  the 
Epistle  to  the  Galatians,  he  says,  "On  this  account  principally  hath 
Christ  come  upon  the  earth,  not  to  teach  the  law,  but  only  to  fulfil  it. 
That  he  occasionally  teaches,  is  merely  accidental,  and  foreign  to  his 
office  ;  in  the  same  way,  as,  beside  his  real  and  proper  duty,  which 
was  to  save  sinners,  he  accidentally  restored  the  sick  to  health."*  In 
another  place  he  makes  a  similar  remark  :  "  Although  this  is  as  clear 
as  the  dear  sun  at  noon-day,  yet  the  Papists  are  so  senseless  and  blind, 
that  out  of  the  Gospel  they  have  fashioned  a  law  of  love,  and  out  of 
Christ  a  law-giver,  who  hath  imposed  far  more  burthensome  laws  than 
Moses  himself.  But  let  the  fools  go  on  in  their  blindness,  and  learn  ye 
from  St.  Paul,  that  the  Gospel  teacheth,  Christ  hath  come  not  to  give 
a  new  law,  whereby  we  should  walk,  but  to  offer  himself  up  as  a  victim 
for  the  sins  of  the  whole  world." 

What  a  one-sided  view  did  Luther  here  take  of  the  mission  of  Christ ! 
His  teaching  office  he  calls  something  accidental,  and  entirely  forgets, 
that,  in  formal  opposition  to  the  Mosaic  dispensation,  Christ  proclaimed 
a  new,  purer,  more  exalted,  and  therefore  severer,  law  of  morality 
(Matthew  v.  31-48,)  and  uttered  himself  those  words  :  "A  new  com- 
mandment I  give  ye,  that  ye  love  one  another."  (John  xiii.  34.)  The 
misconception,  moreover,  whereon  Luther's  complaint  is  founded,  that 
the  Papists  degrade  Christ  into  a  mere  law-giver  and  ethical  teacher, 
will  shortly  be  more  closely  examined. 

2.  Yet  Luther  not  only  taught,  that  Christ  had  not  come  to  impart 
to  men  a  purer  ethical  code,  but  even  maintained,  that  he  had  come  to 
abolish  the  moral  law,  to  liberate  true  believers  from  its  curse,  both  for 
the  past  and  for  the  future,  and  in  this  way  to  make  them  free.  The 
theory  of  evangelical  liberty,  which  Luther  propounded,  announces, 
that  even  the  decalogue  shall  not  be  brought  into  account  against  the 
believer,  nor  its  violation  be  allowed  to  disturb  the  conscience  of  the 
Christian  ;  for  he  is  exalted  above  it  and  its  contents.  Luther  called 
attention  to  a  two-fold  use  of  the  moral  law,  the  Mosaic  as  well  as  the 
Evangelical,  to  w'hich  somewhat  later  a  third  was  added.  The  first 
consists  herein,  that  it  convinces  the  unconverted  of  their  sinfulness, 
and,  by  menacing  its  transgressors  with  the  divine  judgments,  throws 


*  Comment,  on  Ep.  to  Galat.  loc.  cit.  p.  219. 


256  EXPOSITION  OF  DOCTRINAL  DIFFERENCES 

them  into  a  state  of  terror  :  the  second,  that  it  conducts  those,  sufft* 
ciently  shaken  and  intimidated,  unto  Christ,  in  order  to  obtain  through 
him  forgiveness  of  sins.  Moreover,  the  Saxon  Reformer  maintained, 
that  the  believer,  as  such,  was  to  make  no  use  of  the  moral  lau'.* 
'V\''hen  the  sinner  hath  come  unto  Christ,  the  law  ceases  for  him,  and 
the  Gospel  begins  ;  he  is  free  from  the  terrors  which  the  continued 
transgressions  of  the  former  produce,  and  Christ  unconditionally  makea 
good  all  deficiencies.  Hence,  Luther  so  often  insists  on  the  necessity  of 
separating  most  pointedly  the  law  and  the  Gospel,  of  no  longer  molesting 
and  tormenting  the  faithful  with  the  former,  but  only  of  cheering  and 
solacing  them  with  the  latter.  He  says,  "It  is  of  very  great  importance, 
that  we  should  rightly  know  and  understand,  how  the  law  hath  been 
abolished.  For  such  a  knowledge,  that  the  law  is  abolished,  and  its 
office  totally  set  aside,  that  it  can  no  longer  be  a  ground  of  accusation 
and  condemnation  against  the  believers  in  Christ,  confirms  our  doctrine 
on  faith.  From  this  our  consciences  may  derive  solace,  especially  in 
their  moments  of  great  fearful  struggle  and  mental  anguish.  I  have 
before  earnestly  and  frequently  said,  and  repeat  it  now  again  (for  this 
is  a  matter  which  can  never  be  too  often  and  too  strongly  urged,)  that 
a  Christian,  who  grasps  and  lays  hold  on  Christ,  is  subject  to  no  man- 
ner of  law,  but  is  free  from  the  law,  so  that  it  can  neither  terrify  nor 
condemn  him.  This  Isaiah  teacheth  in  the  text  cited  by  St.  Paul  : 
*  Give  glory,  thou  barren  one,  that  barest  not.' 

"  When  Thomas  of  Aquino,  and  other  schoolmen  assert,  that  the  law 
hath  been  abolished,  they  pretend  that  the  Mosaic  ordinances  respect- 
ing judicial  affairs  and  other  secular  matters  (which  they  caW  judlcialia,) 
and  in  like  manner  the  laws  respecting  ceremonies  and  the  services  of 
the  Temple  (kirchwerken,)  were  after  the  death  of  Christ  pernicious, 
and  on  that  account  were  set  aside  and  abolished.  But  when  they  say 
the  Ten  Commandments  (which  they  call  moralia)  are  not  to  be 
abrogated,  they  themselves  understand  not  what  they  assert  and  lay 
down. 

"  But  thou,  when  thou  speakest  of  the  abolition  of  the  law,  be  mind- 
ful that  thou  speakest  of  the  law  as  it  really  is,  and  is  rightly  called, 
to  wit,  the  spiritual  law,  and  understand  thereby  the  whole  law,  making 
no  distinction  between  civil  laws,  ceremonies,  and  ten  commandments. 
For  when  St.  Paul  saith,  that  through  Christ  we  are  redeemed  from  the 
anathema  of  the  law,  he  speaketh  certainly  and  properly  of  the  whole 


*  The  Formulary  of  Concord  hath  also  a  special  article  upon  a  third  use  of  the 
law  {tertiususus  legis;)  its  use,  namely,  a  standard  of  Christian  life. 


BETWEEN  CATHOLICS  AND  PROTESTANTS.  257 

law,  and  especially  of  the  Ten  Commandments  ;  since  these  alone  ac- 
cuse the  conscience  before  God  and  terrify  it ;  whereas  the  other  two 
species  of  law,  that  treat,  so  to  speak,  of  civil  affairs  and  ceremonies, 
do  not  so.  Therefore,  we  say,  that  even  the  ten  commandments  have 
no  right  to  accuse,  nor  to  alarm  the  conscience,  wherein  Christ  reigns 
by  his  grace  ;  since  Christ  hath  abolished  this  right  of  the  law,  when  he 
became  an  anathema  for  us."* 

In  the  writings  of  Melancthon  reigns,  in  a  no  less  striking  degree, 
the  same  one-sided  view,  which  can  neither  satisfy  human  reason, — - 
desirous  in  everything  of  unity  of  principle,— nor  meet  in  all  respects 
the  practical  wants  of  man.  Melancthon,  at  times,  defines  very  well 
the  true  notions  of  Christian  freedom.  For  instance,  when  he  says 
(what  undoubtedly  is  acknowledged  on  all  sides,)  that  we  are  released 
from  the  obligation  of  observing  the  ritual  law  of  Moses,  and  when  he 
adds,  that  the  believer,  being  inwardly  and  freely  moved  by  the  Divine 
Spirit,  practises  the  moral  law,  and  would  fulfil  it,  when  even  it  did  not 
make  any  outward  claims,  the  Reformer  here  excellently  describes 
Christian  freedom  as  a  voluntary  obedience  to  God,  and  consequently 
as  a  release  from  the  fetters,  wherein  evil  held  men  enchained.  But 
immediately,  again,  he  falls  back  into  pure  Lutheran  definitions,  by 
distinguishing,  in  the  Christian  liberty  just  described,  tv/o  things.  The 
first  is,  that,  by  reason  of  this  freedom,  the  Decalogue  condemns  not 
believers,  even  though  they  be  sinners;  the  second  is,  that  they  fulfil 
the  moral  law  of  themselves.  Lastly,  he  expresses  himself  briefly  and 
clearly  to  this  effect — "  The  law  is  abrogated,  not  that  it  should  not  be 
fulfilled,  but  that  it  may  be  fulfilled,  and  may  not  condemn,  even  when 
it  is  not  fulfilled. "f     Here  a  multitude  of  questions  press  themselves 


*  Luther,  Comment,  on  Ep.  to  Galat.  loc.  cit.  p.  257,  b  ;  258,  b.  Compare  his 
instruction  how  the  books  of  Moses  are  to  be  read.  Part.  v.  ed.  Wittenberg,  p.  1,  b. 
"  The  law  signifies  and  demands  of  us,  what  we  are  to  do,  and  what  we  are  not  to  do, 
and  how  we  are  to  be  in  respect  to  God ;  it  is  exclusively  directed  to  our  conduct 
and  consists  in  demands  ;  for  God  speaks  through  the  law, — do  this,  do  not  this,  this 
I  will  require  of  thee.  But  the  gospel  preacheth  not  what  we  are  to  do,  and  not  do  • 
requires  nothing  of  us,  but  turns  round,  doth  the  reverse,  and  saith  not,  do  this  do 
that,  but  bids  us  only  hold  out  our  laps,  and  saith,  dear  man,  this  hath  God  done 
for  thee, — He  hath  sent  his  Son  into  the  flesh  for  thee,  He  hath  let  him  be  slain  for 
thy  sake,  and  hath  redeemed  thee  from  sin,  death,  the  devil,  and  hell :  tliis  believe 
and  hold,  and  then  thou  art  saved." 

t  Melancthon  (in  his  Loci  Theolog.  p.  127)  says  very  well  of  Christian  freedom: 
*'  Postremo  libertas  est  Christianismus,  quia  qui  spiritum  Dei  non  habcnt,  legem  fa- 
cere  neutiquam  possunt,  untque  maledictionum  Ipgis  rei.  Qui  Spiritu  Christi  reno. 
vati  sunt,  ii  jam  sua  sponte,  etiam  non  praeeunte  lege,  feruntur  ad  ca,  quae  lex  jube. 
bat.  Voluntas  Dei  lex  est  Nee  aliud  Spiritus  Sanctus  est,  nisi  veri  Dei  voluntas 
17 


25S  EXPOSITION  OF  DOCTRINAL  DIFFERENCES 

on  our  consideration.  For  instance,  if  the  essence  of  freedom  consisfc? 
in  the  fact,  that  it  can  fulfil,  and  really  doth  fulfil,  the  law,  how  can 
those,  who  fulfil  it  not,  be  numbered  among  the  free  ?  How  can  one 
and  the  same  freedom  love  inconstancy  to  such  a  degree,  that  here  it 
proves  itself  obedient,  there  disobedient,  and  is  only  uniform  in  one 
thing,  that  in  either  case  it  doth  not  condemn.  We  may  ask  further, 
whether  the  strange  freedom  of  those,  who  are  free  with  respect  to  con- 
demnation, but  are  not  free  from  evil  and  disobedience,  extends  to  every 
point  of  the  Decalogue  ?  Whether,  in  general,  a  limit  can  be  tracedy 
down  to  which  freedom  from  condemnation  can  render  innoxious  the 
servitude  to  evil  co-existing  with  it  ?  We  content  ourselves  with  pro-^ 
posing  these  questions,  and  shall  now  proceed  in  our  inquiry. 

Strobel  announced  to  the  learned  world,  as  a  great  novelty,  that 
already,  in  the  year  1524  (thus  seven  years  after  the  commencement 
of  the  great  revolution  in  the  Church,)  Melancthon  called  the  Gospel 
a  preaching  of  penance  :*  for,  before  that  literary  discovery,  it  was 
believed,  that  he  had  only  much  later  risen  to  this  idea !  What  astonish-' 
ment  do  we  feel,  when  we  reflect  on  the  notion  which  he  attaches  to  the 
new  vivijication  of  the  Christian  by  the  gospel  I  He  constantly  takes 
vivi/icaiio  as  the  opposite  to  inoriijicatio  ;  and  as  by  the  latter  he  under- 
stands only  the  mortal  terrors,  at  the  vengeance  which  the  law  an- 
nounces to  all  its  transgressors  ;  so  to  his  mind  the  former  signifies 
merely  the  resuscitation,  the  recover)'  from  these  terrors,  brought  sbout 
by  the  tidings,  that  in  Christ  sins  are  remitted. f     The  inward  resusci- 

et  agitatio.  Qaare  ubi  Spiritu  Dei,  qui  viva  voluntps  Dei  est,  regenerati  sumus,  jam 
id  ipsum  volumus  spoiite,  quod  exigebat  lex."  P.  130,  we  read  as  follows  ;  "  Habes 
quatenus  a  Decalogo  liberi  suikus,  piimum,  quod  tametsi  peccatores,  damiiare  non 
possit  COS,  qui  in  Christo  sunt.  Deinde,  quod,  qui  sunt  in  Christo,  spiritu  Ifahuntur 
ad  legem  faciendam,  et  spiritu  faciunt,  anjant,  tinr>ent  Deum,"  etc.  P.  131.  "  Er. 
go  abrogata  lex  est,  non  ut  nefiat,  sed  ut,  et  non  facta,  non  damnet  et  fieri  possit." 
Here  one  assertion  evidently  destroys  the  other.  Hence,  as  stated  above  in  the  text, 
it  is  taught  by  Melancthon  in  his  Apology,  that  we  cannot  fulfil  the  law. 

*  Strobel,  Literary  History  of  Melancthon,  loc.  theol.  p.  240. 

t  Luther  also,  De  Captiv.  Babyl.  eccles.  0pp.  torn.  ii.  fol.287,  and  in  several  other 
places,  attaches  the  same  idea  to  novitas  vita.  But  Melancthon  is  clearer,  in  loo. 
theol.  p.  147.  "Qui  rectissimi  senserunt,  ita  judicarunt :  Joannis  Baptismum  esse 
vivificationis,  quod  eiaddita  sitgratix  prornissio  seu  condonatiopeccatorum."  Whert 
Melancthon  attempts  to-  give  any  definition  of  the  Gospel,  he  is  usually  as  one-sided 
as  Luther.  "  Novum  Tcstamentum  non  iliud  est,  nisi  bonorum  omnium  prornissio- 
citra  legem,  nullo  justitiarum  nostrarura  rcspectu.  Vetere  Testamento  promitteban-  ' 
tur  bona,  sed  simul  exigebatur  a  populo  legis  impletio  :  novo  promittuntur  bona  citra 
legis  conditionem,  cum  nihil  a  nobis" yieissim  exigatur.  Atque  hie  vides,  quse  sit  am- 
plitude gratise,  quas  sit  misericordias  divins  prodigalitas."  Loo.  theolog.  p.  126. 
Passages,  such  as  at  page  140,  are  true   rarities,  and  do  not  agree  with    th«  rest. 


BETWEEN  CATHOLICS  AND  PROTESTANTS.  259 

tation  from  the  death  of  sin,  the  immediate  communication  of  a  new, 
higher,  vital  energy,  which  annihilates  the  earlier  weakness,  trans- 
forming it  into  a  victorious,  all-conquering  power  over  flesh,  Melanc- 
thon  was  unable  to  understand  (as  the  Church  had  always  done)  by  the 
Word  vivijicafio.  Even  Calvin  took  scandal  at  this  opinion  of  Melanc- 
thon's  ;  at  least,  I  am  at  a  loss  to  know  to  whom  his  counter  statements 
can  be  applicable,  except  to  his  Wittenberg  friend.*  Even  in  the 
Apology  composed  by  Melancthon  for  the  Confession  of  Augsburg,  the 
new  resuscitation,  nay,  even  the  expression,  "  regeneration,"  are  re- 
ferred to  this  solace  alone,f  as  is  remarked  by  the  Formulary  of 
Concord.:}: 

No  one  can  call  to  mind,  that,  in  the  symbolical  books  of  the  Luther- 
ans, the  believing  sinner,  when  disquieted  on  account  of  his  moral 
conduct,  is  ever  consoled  by  the  encouraging  words  :  "  thou  canst  do 
all  in  Him,  who  strengtheneth  thee  :  not  thou,  but  Christ  with  thee." 
Not  to  Christ,  the  strengthener  and  the  sanctifier,  do  they  refer  him, 
but  exclusively  to  Christ,  the  forgiver  of  sins.  This  solace  they  really 
impart  in  almost  countless  passages— on  this  they  constantly  insist.  To 
make  moral  indolence  attentive  to  itself,  would  have  appeared  to  them 
a  reprehensible  transmutation  of  the  gospel  into  the  law.§  It  must  be 
obvious  to  every  man,  that  they  could  not  urge  to  moral  exertion,  be- 
cause such  an  act  would  have  overthrown  their  leading  doctrine,  that, 
in  the  production  of  all  good,  man  is  utterly  passive.  JVIost  striking  ia 
this  respect  is  the  decision,  which  the  Formulary  of  Concord  pronounced 
in  the  Antinomian  controversies,  which  in  themselves  presuppose  a 
most  strange  aberration  of  the  human  mind.     It  is  there  especially  en- 


*  Calvin,  Instit.  1.  iii.  c,  3,  §  4,  fol.  210.  "  Vivificationem  interpretantur  consola- 
tionem,  quje  ex  fide  nascitur :  ubi  scilicet  homo,  peccati  conscientia  prostratus,  ac 
Dei  timore  pulsus,  postea  in  Dei  bonitatem,  in  misericordiara,  gratiam,  salutein,  quae 
est  per  Christum,  respiciens,  sese  erigit,  respirat,  animum  colligit,  et  velut  e  morte  in 

vitam  redit non  assentior,  quum  potius  sancte  pieque  vivendi  studium  signijicet, 

quod  oritur  ex  renascentid :  quasi  diceretur  hominem  sibi  mori.  ut  Deo  viere  incipiat." 

t  Apolog.  iv.  §  21,  p.  73.  "Coda  rursus  debent  concipere  consolationem.  Id  fit, 
si  credent  promissioni  Cluristi,  quod  propter  eum  habeamus  remissionem  peccatorum. 
Heec  fides,  in  illis  pavoribus  erigens  et  consolans,  accipit  remissionem  peccatorum, 
justificat  et  vivificat.  Nam  ilia  consolatio  est  nova  et  spiritualis."  On  regeneration, 
Bee  §  2G,  p.  76. 

X  Solid.  Declar.  iii.  de  fidei  justif.  §  13,  p.  656. 

§  On  this  ever-recurring  consolation,  see  Apology  iv.  §  II,  p.  68 ;  §  13,  p.  69  ; 
§  14.  p.  70  ;  §  19,  p.  72  and  73 ;  §  20,  p.  73 ;  §  21,  p.  73  ;  §  26,  p.  76  ;  §  27,  p.  77  ; 
\  30,  p.  78  ;  §  38,  p.  81  ;  §  40,  p.  83  ;  §  45,  p.  87  ;  §  48,  p.  90,  and  so  on.  In  the 
Formulary  of  Concord  there  occurs  as  repeated  mention  of  this  solace,  as  in  the 
Apology. 


260  EXPOSITION  OF  DOCTRINAL  DI*'Fi:RENCES 

joined,  that,  the  gospel  should  not  he  mixed  up  with  the  law ;  for  ofherwisc' 
the  merits  of  Christ  would  be  abridged,  and  troubled  consciences  be 
robbed  of  their  sweetest  solace.*  Accordingly,  it  is  there  said,  that  in 
a  wider  sense,  undoubtedly,  the  gospel  is  the  preaching  of  penance,  as 
well  as  of  the  forgiveness  of  sins  ;  but  in  its  most  proper  sense  it  is  only 
the  latter— onZy  the  announcement  of  the  pardoning  mercy  of  God.f 
If  to  one,  v/ho  recalls  to  mind  the  epistle  to  the  Romans,  i.  15-18,  this 
opposition  must  appear  singular  enough,  so  the  fact  is  still  more  remark-' 
able,  that,  under  the  grace  to  be  announced,  absolution  from  sin  is 
alone  understood  ;  and  the  truly  sanctifying  grace  is  passed  over  in 
utter  silence.  In  one  passage,  indeed,  the  communication  of  the  Holy 
Spirit  is  vaguely  mentioned  ;:{:  but  should  any  one  wish  to  refer  this  to 
the  truly  purifying,  and  elfectually  sanctifying  Spirit,  he  would  most 
certainly  err  ;  for  the  activity  of  the  Spirit  is,  in  this  formulary,  ex- 
pressly confined  to  consolation ;  on  which  account,  He  is  termed  the 
Paraclete  ;  and  his  office  to  convince  the  world  of  sin  [argiiere  de  pec- 
cato)  is  represented  as  one,  not  peculiar,  but  foreign  to  Him,  under  the 
new  covenant.  §  If  it  be  said,  however,  by  way  of  excuse,  that  in 
other  parts  the  sanctifying  spirit  of  Christ  is  spoken  of,  let  no  one  rest 
satisfied  therewith :  for  the  article,  which    undertakes  to  treat  of  the 


*  Solid.  Declar.  v.  de  lege  ct  Evang.  §  1,  p.  676.  "Cavendum  est  ne  hsec  duo 
•  doctrinarum  genera  inter  se  commisceantur,  aut  Evangelion  in  legem  transformetur. 
Ea  quippe  ratione  meritum  Christi  obsctirarctur,  et  conscientiis  perturbatis  diilcissi- 
ma  consolatio  (quam  in  Evangelio  Christi,  sincere  prsedicato,  habent,  quft,  etiara  se- 
se  in  graviseimis  tentationibus  adversus  legis  terrores  sustentant)  prorsus  eriperetur." 

t  L.  c.  §  4,  p.  678.  It  is  said  of  the  Gospel  in  a  wider  sense ;  "  Est  concio  de 
poenitentia  et  remissione  peccatorum."  ()  5,  p.  678.  "  Deinde  vocabulem  Evangelii 
in  alia,  et  quidem  propriissim&,  su&,  significatione  usurpatur  :  et  turn  non  concionem  de 
poenitentia,  sed  tantiun  praedicationem  de  dementia  Dei  complectitur."  Compare 
§  15,  p.  681  and  682:  §  16,  p.  682.  "  Quidquid  enim  pavidas  mentes  consolatur, 
quidquid  favorera  et  gratiam  Dei  transgressoribus  legis  ofFert,  hoc  proprie  est,  ct  recte 
dicitur  Evangelion,  hoc  est  Icetissimum  nuntium.  Gratia  (is  only)  remissio  peccato- 
rum." Apolog.  iv.  §  13,  p.  69.  "Evangelium,  quod  est  proprife  promissio  remis- 
sionis  peccatorum." 

X  Sohd.  Declar.  v.  de  lege  et  Evang.  §  17,  p.  682.  "Lex  ministerium  est,  quod 
per  literam  oecidit  et  damnationem  denuntiat :  Evangelium  autem  est  potentia  Dei 
ad  salutem  omni  credenti,  et  hoc  ministerium  justitiam  nobis  offert  et  Spiritum  Sanc- 
tum donat." 

§  L.  c.  <^  8,  p.  679.  "  Manifestum  est,  Spiritus  Sancti  officium  esse,  non  tantum 
consolari,  verum  etiam  (ministerio  legis)  arguere  mundum  de  peccato  (Joh.  xvi.  8  :) 
et  ita  etiam  in  Novo  Testamento  facere  opus  alienum,  quod  est  arguere  :  ut  postea 
faciat  opus  proprium,  quod  est  consolari  et  gratiam  Dei  praidicare.  Hanc  enim  ob 
causam  nobis  Christus  precibus  suis  ct  sanctissimo  mcrito  eundcmnobisa  Patre  im- 
petravit  ct  misit ;  unde  et  Paracletus  seu  consolator  dicitur."  ^ 


BETWEEN  CATHOLICS  AND  PROTESTANTS.  261 

^gnification  of  the  gospel,  is  certainly  the  place  where  such  a  subject 
must  be  handled  in  all  its  bearings. 

What  gross  misconceptions,  what  profound  errors,  do  we  encountet 
here !  A  feeling  of  infinite  pain  seizes  on  the  Christian  observer,  at 
witnessing  such  doctrines — at  witnessing  such  fierce  divisions  in  one 
and  the  same  revelation!  And  most  painl'ul  is  the  experience  he 
makes,  that  not  even  one  man  felt  the  necessity  of  seeing  those  di- 
visions composed !  The  controversies,  indeed,  which,  upon  this  mat- 
ter, were  carried  on  in  the  Lutheran  Church,  indicate  a  sense  of  un- 
easinesss,  prevailing  among  many  of  its  members — an  obscure  per- 
ception, that  some  prodigious  mistakes  had  been  committed  ;  but  to 
reconcile  effectually  those  feuds,  was  a  thing  which  occurred  to  no  man. 
This  inward  disquiet  it  was  which  drove  Agricola  of  Eisleben  into 
thorough  Antinomianism  :  a  hidden  impulse,  unknown  to  himself, 
urged  him  to  escape  from  this  turmoil  of  contradictions,  to  pour  out 
his  insane  blasphemies  against  Moses,  to  demand  that  no  further  use 
should  be  made  of  the  law,  to  require  that,  for  the  future,  grace  only 
should  be  preached  up  in  the  Christian  churches,  and  in  this  way  to  cut 
the  Gordian  knot,  and  to  rush  into  the  wildest  extremes.  In  this,  as  in 
other  matters,  the  Formulary  of  Concord  has  restored  no  inward  and 
essential  harmony  ;  and  without  entirely  giving  up  the  Lutheran  point 
of  view,  it  was  out  of  its  power  so  to  do. 

/'  The  life  of  the  Saviour  constitutes,  in  every  relation,  an  organic 
unity ;  and  everything  in  him,  his  sufferings,  and  his  works,  his  doc- 
trines, his  conduct,  his  death  on  the  cross,  were  in  a  like  degree  cal- 
culated for  our  redemption.  It  is  the  merits  of  the  entire,  undivided 
God-man,  the  Son  of  God,  whereby  we  are  won  again  to  God.  His 
three  offices,  the  prophetic,  the  high-priestly,  the  royal,  are  alike  ne- 
cessary ;  take  one  away,  and  the  remaining  immediately  appear  as  un- 
intelligible, as  devoid  of  consistency.  Thus,  by  the  advent  of  the  Son 
of  God  into  the  world,  there  were  proffered  to  men,  not  by  accident,  but 
by  necessity,  at  once,  the  highest  degree  of  religious  and  ethical  know- 
ledge ;  the  ideal  of  a  life  agreeable  to  God  ;  forgiveness  of  sins,  and  a 
sanctifying  power  :  and,  as  in  the  one  life  of  the  Saviour  we  find  all 
these  united,  so  they  must,  in  like  manner,  be  adopted  by  us. 

It  is  undeniable,  and  no  arts  can  long  conceal  the  fact,  that  Christ 
proposed,  in  the  most  emphatic  manner,  to  his  followers,  the  highest 
ethical  ideal,  corresponding  to  the  new  theoretical  religious  knowledge, 
and  further  developing  the  Old  Testament  precepts.  It  is  likewise 
equally  certain,  that  in  his  name  are  announced  to  all,  who  believe  in 
him,  grace  and  forgiveness  of  sins  ;  that  is  to  say,  pardon  for  every 
mbral  transgression.     These  are  two  phenomena,  which,  as  they  stand 


262  EXPOSITION  OF  DOCTRINAL  DIFFERENCES 

in  direct  opposition  one  to  the  other,  require,  in  consequence,  some 
third  principle  which  may  mediate  their  union.  This  third  concihating 
principle,  as  it  is  to  unite  the  two,  must  be  kin  alike  to  law  and  to 
grace,  to  the  rigid  exaction  and  to  the  merciful  remission.  This  is  the 
sanctifying  power  which  emanates  from  the  living  union  with  Christ; 
the  gratuitous  grace  of  holy  love,  which,  in  justification,  He  pours  out 
upon  His  followers.  In  this  grace  all  law  is  abolished,  because  no  out- 
ward claim  is  enforced ;  and,  at  the  same  time,  the  law  is  confirmed, 
becnusc  love  is  the  fulfilment  of  the  law  :  in  love,  law  and  grace  are 
become  one.  This  is  the  deep  sense  of  the  Cathohc  dogma  of  justifica- 
tion, according  to  which,  forgiveness  of  sins  and  sanctification  are  one 
and  the  same  ;  according  to  which,  justification  consists  in  the  reign 
of  love  in  the  soul.  Hence  the  maxim  which  the  ancient  Church, 
after  St.  Paul  (Rom.  iii.  25,)  so  frequently  repeated,  that,  on  entering 
into  communion  with  Christ,  the  sins,  committed  before  that  event, 
were  forgiven,  but  not  future  sins ;  implying  that  now  Christ  would 
fulfil  the  law  in  us,  and  we  in  him.  In  the  Catholic  Church,  therefore, 
controversies  could  never  be  prolonged  as  to  the  relation  between  law 
and  grace,  because,  by  its  doctrine  of  justification,  such  an  opposition 
was  essentially  and  eternally  precluded  :  while,  on  the  other  hand,  the 
Reformers  misapprehended  the  essence  of  love  to  such  a  degree,  that, 
instead  of  recognizing  in  it  whatever  was  most  spiritual,  most  vital, 
most  resuscitating,  and  thereby,  in  consequence,  the  fulfilment  of  the 
law,  they  looked  on  it  as  merely  the  law  itself.  Instead  of  raising 
themselves  to  the  heights  of  Catholicism,  and  thence  beholding  how  in 
love  the  entire  undivided  Christ  becometh  living  within  us,  and  the 
moral  teacher  and  forgiver  of  sins  is  alike  glorified,  they  urged  it  as 
matter  of  reproach  against  the  Catholic  Church,  that  it  buried  Christ, 
because,  in  their  one-sided  view,  they  regarded  the  Mediator  only  in 
his  capacity  of  Pardoner.* 


XXV.  — The  culminating  point  of  inquiry. — Luther  maintains  an  inward  and  essen- 
tial opposition  between  religion  and  morality,  and  assigns  to  the  former  an  eternal, 
to  the  latter  a  mere  temporal,  value. 

This  so  decided  and  unreconciled  opposition  between  gospel  and  law 


*  Apolog.  IV.  de  justific.  §  23.  p.  75.  "  Itaque,  qui  negant  fidem  (solam)  justifi- 
care,  nihil  nisi  legem,  abolito  Evangelio  et  abolito  Christo,  decent."  §  26,  p.  77  ; 
'Advcrsarii  Christum  ita  iulelligunt   mediatorem  et  propitiatorem,  quia  merueritha- 

bitum  dilectionis Annon  est  hoc  prorsus  scpelire  Christum,  et  totam   fidci  doc- 

trinam  tollere." 


BETWEEN  CATHOLICS  AND  PROTESTANTS.  263 

leads  to  a  total  degradation  of  the  latter  ;  so  that  all  differences  between 
Catholicism  and  Protestantism,  in  the  article  of  justification,  may 
shortly  be  reduced  to  this  ;  namely,  that  the  Catholic  Church  considers 
religion  and  morality  as  inwardly  one  and  the  same,  and  both  equally 
■eternal ;  while  the  Protestant  Church  represents  the  two  as  essentially  dis- 
tinct, the  former  having  an  eternal,  the  latter  a  temporal,  value.  Luther, 
in  numberless  passages  of  his  writings,  insists  on  keeping  both  princi- 
ples, the  religious  and  the  ethical,  as  far  apart,  nay,  further  apart,  than 
heaven  and  earth  ;  on  separating  them,  like  day  and  night,  like  sun- 
shine and  darkness.  He  teaches,  that  we  are  not  to  let  the  moral  law 
by  any  means  intrude  on  the  conscience  ;  that,  in  considering  our  re- 
lations to  God,  we  are  not  to  look  to  our  personal  bearing  to  that  law, 
and  that,  in  general,  we  are  to  attend  to  it  only  in  the  conduct  of  our 
every-day  earthly  existence.  When  the  question  recurred  to  him, 
wherefore,  then,  was  the  moral  law  given,  he  could  make  no  other  re- 
ply, than  "that  it  was  given  for  the  sake  of  civil  order  ;"  or,  that  it  had 
so  pleased  God  to  establish  such  an  ordinance,  the  observance  whereof, 
as  might  be  said  of  any  mere  legal  institution,  afforded  Him  pleasure. 
The  maintenance  of  the  moral  law,  accordingly,  he  would  leave  to  the 
jurisdiction  of  the  state,  and  not  by  any  means  include  among  real  re- 
ligious concerns.  It  will  be  well,  however,  to  hear  Luther's  own  words, 
who,  if  anywhere,  is  in  this  matter  his  own  best  interpreter.  He  says, 
"  we  must  thus  carefully  distinguish  between  both,  placing  the  gospel 
in  the  kingdom  of  heaven  above,  and  the  law  on  the  earth  below,  call- 
ing and  holding  the  righteousness  of  the  gospel  a  heavenly  and  godly 
righteousness,  and  that  of  the  law  a  human  and  earthly  one.  And  thou 
must  separate  and  distinguish  the  righteousness  of  the  gospel  as  pecu- 
liarly and  carefully  from  the  righteousness  of  the  la*v,  as  our  Lord  God 
hath  separated  and  divided  the  heavens  from  the  earth,  light  from  dark- 
ness, and  day  from  night.  So  is  the  righteousness  of  the  gospel  light 
and  day  ;  the  righteousne'  of  the  law  darkness  and  night ;  and  would 
to  God  we  could  divide  ti^em  still  further  one  from  the  other. 

"  Therefore,  as  often  as  we  have  to  treat  of,  and  to  deal  with,  faith, 
with  heavenly  righteousness,  with  conscience,  &c.  &c.,  let  us  cut  off  the 
law,  and  let  it  be  confined  to  this  lower  world.  But  if  the  question  be 
about  works,  then  let  us  enkindle  the  light  which  belongeth  to  works  of 
legal  justice,  and  to  the  night.  Thus  will  the  dear  sun,  and  the  clear 
light  of  the  Gospel  and  of  grace,  shine  and  illumine  by  day,  the  light  of 
the  law  shine  and  illumine  by  night.  And  so  these  two  things  must 
ever  be  separated  one  from  the  other,  in  our  minds  and  our  hearts,  that 
the  conscience,  when  it  feels  its  sins  and  is  terrified,  may  say  to  itself, 
now  thou  art  on   the  earth  ;  therefore  let  the  lazy  ass  there  work,  and 


2  6i  EXPOSITION  OF  DOCTRINAL  DIFFERENCES 

servo,  and  ever  carry  the  burden  imposed  upon  it.  That  is  to  say,  let 
the  body,  with  its  members,  be  ever  subjected  to  the  law.  But  when/ 
thou  mountest  up  to  heaven,  leave  the  ass  with  its  burden  upon  the 
earth.  For  the  conscience  must  have  nothing  to  do  with  the  law,  works, 
and  earthly  righteousness.  So  the  ass  remains  in  the  valley,  but  the 
conscience  ascends  with  Isaac  up  the  mountain,  and  knows  nothing 
either  of  the  law,  or  of  works,  but  seeks  and  looks  only  for  the  forgive- 
ness of  sins,  and  the  pure  righteousness  which  is  proffered  and  imparted 
to  us  in  Christ. 

'♦  On  the  other  hand,  in  civil  government  we  must  most  rigidly  exact, 
and  observe  obedience  to  the  law  ;  and,  in  that  department,  we  must 
know  nothing,  either  of  gospel,  or  conscience,  or  grace,  of  forgive- 
ness of  sins,  of  heavenly  righteousness,  or  even  of  Christ  himself;  but 
we  must  know  only  how  to  speak  of  Moses,  the  law,  and  works.  Thus 
both  things,  to  wit,  the  law  and  the  Gospel,  are  to  be  severed  as  far  as 
possible  one  from  the  other,  and  each  is  to  remain  in  the  separate  place 
to  which  it  appertains.  The  law  is  to  remain  out  of  heaven,  that  is  to  say, 
out  of  the  heart  and  the  conscience.  On  the  other  hand,  the  freedom 
of  the  Gospel  is  to  remain  out  of  the  world,  that  is  to  say,  out  of  the 
body  and  its  members.  On  this  account,  when  law  and  sin  shall  come 
into  heaven, — ^that  is  to  say,  into  the  conscience, — we  must  immedi- 
ately drive  them  out ;  for  the  conscience  must  at  no  time  know  of  law 
or  sin,  but  of  Christ  only.  And  again,  when  grace  and  freedom  come 
into  the  world, — that  is  to  say,  into  the  body, — we  must  say  to  them  : 
'  hearken,  it  becometh  not  ye  to  walk  and  dwell  in  the  hog-sty  and  on 
the  dung-heaps  of  this  earthly  life,  but  upwards  to  heaven  ye  should  as- 
cend.' "* 

Luther  cannot  often  enough  recur  to  the  idea  of  the  internal  and 
essential  difference  of  the  religious  from  the  ethical  principle,  as  in  the 
case  of  such  an  excellent  discovery  was  to  be  expected.  Elsewhere  he 
says,  "  Because  it  is  so  hazardous  and  dangerous  to  have  anything  to  do 
with  the  law,  and  it  may  easily  occur  that  herein  we  sustain  a  perilous 
and  grievous  fall,  as  if  we  were  to  be  precipitated  from  heaven  into  the 
very  abyss  of  hell  ;  it  is  very  necessary  that  every  Christian  should 
learn  to  separate  the  two  things,  most  carefully,  one  from  the  other. 
Thus,  he  can  let  the  law  rule  and  govern  his  body  and  its  members, 
but  not  his  conscience.  For  the  same  bride  and  queen  must  remain 
unspotted  and  unpolluted  by  the  law,  and  be  preserved  in  all  her  in- 
tegrity and  purity  for  her  only  one  and  proper  bridegroom — Christ. 
As  St.  Paul  saith,  in  another  place,  I  have  entrusted  ye  to  a  man,  that 
I  may  bring  a  pure  virgin  to  Christ. 


*  Comment,  on  Ep.  to  Galat.  loc.  cit.  p. 


62. 


BETWEEN  CATHOLICS  AND  PROTESTANTS.  265 

"  Therefore  must  the  conscience  have  its  bridal  bed,  not  in  a  deep  val- 
ley, but  on  a  high  mountain,  where  Christ  holds  sway  and  jurisdiction' ; 
who  neither  terrifies  nor  tortures  poor  sinners,  but,  on  the  contrary, 
consoles  them,  forgives  sins,  and  saves  them."* 

Luther's  reply  to  the  question,  "  what  need  is  there  then  of  the  moral 
law  ?"  is  recorded  in  the  following  passage  : — "  Why  do  men  keep  the 
law,  if  it  do  not  justify  ?  They  who  are  just  observe  it,  not  because 
they  are  thereby  justified  before  God  (for  through  faith  only  doth  this 
occur,)  hut  for  the  sake  of  civil  order,  and  because  they  know  that  such 
obedience  is  well-pleasing  and  agreeable  to  God,  and  a  good  example 
and  pattern  for  improvement  to  others,  in  order  that  they  may  believe  in 
the  gospel."  (Let  the  reader  remember  Zwingle's  views  on  the  same 
subject,  c.  I.  §  IV.) 

Had  Luther  felt,  in  a  higher  degree  than  we  can  discover  in  him,  the 
want  of  a  more  general  completion  and  more  consistent  development  of 
his  views,  he  would  most  certainly  have  embraced  the  opinion  of  a 
merely  righteous  Demiurgos,  as  asserted  by  the  Gnostics  ;  laid  claim 
to  their  heretical  antinomianism  in  behalf  of  the  Pneumatici ;  and,  like 
Marcion,  have  separated  the  Old  from  the  New  Testament. 

Marcion,  too,  was  unable  to  reconcile  law  and  grace,  the  all-good, 
merciful  God,  with  the  God  who  imposes  moral  precepts  and  who 
chastises ;  and  proceeded  so  far  as  to  hold  the  legislative  God  of  the 
old  covenant  to  be  essentially  distinct  from  the  God  of  the  new.  This 
opinion,  absurd  as  it  is  in  itself,  possessed,  however,  a  certain  consist- 
ency, as  did  also  the  assertion  of  the  Valentinians,  that  they  were 
exempt  from  the  law,  but  that  Catholics,  on  the  other  hand,  could  be 
saved  only  by  its  observance  ;  for  they  entertained  the  opinion  that 
they  were  substantially  different  from  the  latter ;  that  they  were  Pneu- 
matici, and  the  Catholics  Psychici, — beings  belonging  to  an  inferior 
grade  of  existence.  But  in  Luther  we  discover  no  cohesion  nor  con- 
nexion of  ideas ;  and  his  point  of  view  is  in  itself  utterly  untenable. 
To  the  moral  law  he  assigned  the  destination  of  terrifying  the  con- 
science ;  and  yet  the  law  and  the  conscience  are  to  stand  in  no  inward 
relation,  one  to  the  other ;  an  association  of  ideas,  which  is  utterly 
inconceivable  !  By  holding  up  the  moral  law,  the  sinner  is  to  be  ter- 
rifled  into  the  conviction,  that  for  having  violated  it  he  has  deserved  the 
eternal  torments  of  hell  ;  and  yet  it  is  to  possess  a  mere  temporal  worth, 
and  be  destined  for  merely  transitory  relation !  How  then  are  we  to 
understand  the  mission  of  Christ,  and  especially  his  atonement  1     Did 


t  Loc.  clt.  p.  64.    Compare  p.  79,  168,  172. 


266  EXPOSITION   OF  DOCTRINAL  DIFFERENCES 

not  the  latter  take  place,  in  order  to  deliver  us  from  the  eternal  punish- 
ment that  had  been  affixed  to  the  transgression  of  the  moral  law  ?  But 
how,  we  must  repeat  it,  can  the  violation  of  a  finite  law,  merely  adapted 
for  this  period  of  earthly  existence,  entail  an  eternal  chastisement  ? 
Was  it  for  the  fulfilment  of  so  miserable  an  end  that  the  Son  of  God 
was  to  become  incarnate  ?  It  might,  at  least,  have  occurred  to  Luther's 
mind,  that,  if  in  the  unconverted  the  consciousness  of  violating  the  law 
were  accompanied  with  such  deep  sorrow,  and  produced  such  terrors  of 
conscience,  he  ought  not  to  expel  it  from  the  conscience  of  the  con- 
verted.  It  might  have  been  expected  that  he  would,  at  least,  be  sensible 
that  the  law  would  lose  all  its  efficacy  on  the  unbelieving,  if,  in  rela- 
tion to  the  regenerated,  he  represented  it  as  so  paltry !  The  law,  then, 
is  to  lead  to  Christ !  Strange  conceit !  If  the  law  stand  in  no  essential, 
intimate  relation  to  Christ,  how  can  it  conduct  to  him?  How  can  that, 
which  abideth  not  in  him,  and  hath  not  root  in  him,  smooth  the  way 
to  him  ?  For  so  Luther  teaches,  when  the  law  hath  brought  the  sinner 
to  Christ,  it  must  be  again  banished  from  the  interior  of  man — his 
conscience  and  his  heart — and  be  confined  to  his  body !  What  doth 
not  belong  essentially  and  eternally  to  the  spiritual  part  of  man,  can  at 
no  period  of  time,  and  in  no  state  of  existence,  very  strongly  affect  it. 
If  thus  the  conscience  of  the  sinner  is  to  be  moved  by  the  law,  and  in 
order  to  rid  himself  of  his  own  anguish  he  is  to  embrace  the  forgiver 
of  sins,  then,  surely,  in  the  man  justified  in  Christ,  the  law  is  not  to  be 
limited  to  this  earthly  and  transitory  existence.  Therefore  hath  Christ 
not  abolished,  but  fulfilled,  the  law,  which  was  to  conduct  to  him! 
Rightly  hath  it  been  represented  as  Israel's  distracting  grief,  that  her 
God  abode  without  her,  far  removed  from  her,  and  thundering  forth 
terror  and  despair.  But,  at  the  same  time,  and  in  most  intimate  con- 
nexion  with  this  state  of  things,  the  law  of  Israel  was  likewise  only  ex- 
traneous, and  widely  remote  from  her,  and  therefore  menacing  on 
stony  tablets,  and  not  inscribed  on  the  living  heart  j  for  the  law  is  God's 
declared  will ;  and  thus  alienation  from  God  involved  also  alienation 
from  his  law.  By  the  coming  of  the  Son  of  God  into  the  world,  and 
his  reception  into  our  souls,  this  disunion  between  God  and  man  termi- 
Dated  : — in  Christ  both  are  reconciled,  and  are  become  one.  Shall 
then  the  law,  which  had  been  extraneous,  not  penetrate  also  into  the 
interior  of  man,  and  there  become  Hving,  and,  consequently,  be  fulfilled  ? 
Yea,  by  reconciliation  with  God  we  are  reconciled,  and  become  one 
with  His  law  also.  By  the  living  reception  of  God  into  our  hearts, 
through  the  means  of  faith,  we  likewise,  and  necessarily,  receive  His 
law  ;  for  the  latter  is  God's  eternal  will,  and  one  with  Him  ;  so  that, 
where  God  is,  there  also  is  His  law. 


BETWEEN  CATHOLICS  AND  PROTESTANTS.  267 

Religiousness  and  virtue !  how  intimately,  how  vitally,  are  they 
united  !  And  in  the  same  degree,  therefore,  religion  and  morality — 
faith  and  the  law  !  Contemplate  the  immoral  man — see  how  fading, 
how  drooping,  too,  is  all  religious  life  within  him,  how  utterly  incapa- 
ble it  is  of  putting  forth  blossoms !  How  the  clear,  pure  knowledge 
of  divine  things  is  obscured  within  him !  Contemplate  the  history  of 
nations,  and  ye  will  learn  how  every  immorality  and  unbelief,  or  mis- 
belief, have  gone  hand  in  hand  !  This  truth  the  progress  of  heathenism 
has  inscribed  in  frightful  characters  in  the  book  of  history.  On  the 
other  hand,  when  the  Saviour  would  lay  the  foundation  for  Christian 
piety — for  faith  in  himself,  he  commands  us  to  observe  in  life 
what  he  hath  taught !  And  this  was  the  experience  of  all  the  saints, 
that  the  more  moral  they  became,  the  more  their  piety  increased  ;  that, 
in  proportion  to  the  fidelity  and  purity  wherewith  the  Divine  law  was 
realized  within  them,  the  deeper  their  religious  knowledge  became ! 
Whence  comes  the  fact,  that  a  genuine  piety  evaporates,  when  a  viola- 
tion of  the  moral  law  occurs  ;  and,  again,  to  the  observance  of  the 
latter  the  former  is  so  easily  annexed  ?  Doth  not  this  point  incontro- 
vertibly  to  an  essential  unity  of  the  two  ?  Oh,  believe  me,  whoso  sees 
himself  forced,  in  order  to  preserve  in  his  heart  and  conscience  a  con- 
fiding faith,  to  banish  thence  the  moral  law,  hath  in  his  heart  and 
conscience  an  erroneous  faith  ;  for  the  true  living  faith  not  merely 
agrees  with  the  moral  law — it  is  one  with  it.  Again,  too,  whence  the 
fact,  that  the  religious  and  moral  elements  cannot  really  exist  asunder  ; 
that  the  one  perpetually  seeks  the  other,  na}^,  bears  it  in  its  own  bosom  ? 
From  the  living  sense  and  the  clear  aknowledgment  of  our  dependence 
on  the  all-gracious  and  merciful  God,  humility  and  confidence  first 
spring,  next  the  fulness  of  love,  which  already  includes  obedience  and 
resignation  to  the  will  of  heaven,  whereby  we  tread  immediately  on 
ethical  ground.  If  the  first  virtues  be  more  religious,  the  last  are  more 
ethical ;  but  the  distinction  between  them  is  absorbed  in  love — their 
living  centre — the  point  wherein  religiousness  and  morality  unite.* 

Now  only  have  we  obtained  a  complete  solution  to  the  Protestant 
doctrine,  that  faith,  in  its  abstract  sense,  alone  saves.  Salvation  the 
Catholic  attaches  only  to  the  undivided  interior  life  of  the  regenerated 
— to  faith  and  love — to  the  fulfilment  of  the  law,  or  to  the  concurrence 
of  the  religious  and  ethical  principles  :  he  places  both  in  an  equal  rela- 
tion to  a  future  life,   for  both  alike  possess  an  eternal  value.     Luther, 

*  In  modem  times  Schleiermacher,  Twesten,  and  Sack,  have  shown  themselves 
to  be  genuine  Protestants,  in  severing,  quite  immoderately,  the  ethical  and  the  reli- 
gious principle  one  from  the  other ;  this,  however,  has  been  done  more  by  the  two 
former  than  by  the  latter. 


26S  EXPOSITION  OF  DOCTRINAL   DIFFERENCES 

on  the  other  hand,  recognizes  faith  alone  as  the  principle  of  eternal 
felicity,  because  he  ascribes  to  morality  only  an  earthly,  perishable 
worth.  The  above  alleged  argument  of  the  Protestants,  that  works,  on 
account  of  the  partly  sinful  faculty  whence  they  emanate,  have  not  a 
saving  efficacy,  is  in  itself  inadequate  ;  for  from  the  same  motive  they 
should  represent  faith  as  weak  and  defective  ;  and,  consequently,  deny 
it  the  power  of  insuring  salvation.  But  from  the  point  of  view  which 
we  have  now  reached,  we  can  survey  the  whole,  and  all  becomes  per- 
fectly clear  and  luminous.  Hence  it  was  quite  in  the  spirit  of  Luther, 
and  even  better  than  he  understood  himself,  that  Andrew  Poach — a 
writer  who  took  part  in  the  controversies  raised  by  Major — advanced 
the  proposition,  that  even  the  perfect  fulfilment  of  the  law,  that  is  to 
say,  the  purest  morality,  had  no  claim  to  eternal  happiness.* 

Now  have  we  at  last  succeeded  in  completely  unfolding  the  specula- 
tive idea,  which  lies  at  the  bottom  of  the  Protestant  doctrine  of  justifi- 
cation. We  have  before  observed,  that  the  relation  towards  evil, 
wherein  the  Reformers  placed  the  Almighty,  and  their  ulterior  doctrine, 
that  it  cannot  even  by  Divine  power  be  rooted  out  from  the  regenerated, 
are  based  upon  the  idea  that  evil  necessarily  adheres  to  ever}'thing 
finite.  The  same  thought  may  also  be  expressed  in  the  following 
manner.  The  sense  of  sin  cannot  be  effaced  from  all  finite  conscious- 
ness— from  the  consciousness  of  man — it  constantly  accompanies  and 
tortures  man,  because  evil  is  inseparable  from  him,  as  a  limited  being ; 
to  this  he  is  predestined.  But  how  doth  he  obtain  quiet?  By  the 
lifting  up  of  the  mind  to  a  higher  point  of  view — to  the  inward  essence 
of  things — to  the  Infinite :  in  the  consciousness  of  God,  in  faith,  evil 
vanishes.  Hence,  moral  freedom  annihilatqd  was  converted  into  free- 
dom from  the  moral  law,  which  has  relation  merely  to  the  temporal, 
limited,  external  world,  but  has  no  kind  of  reference  to  that  which  is 
eternal  and  exalted  above  space  and  time.  But,  however,  we  by  no 
means  intend  to  assert,  that  the  Reformers  were  conscious  of  this 
fundamental  principle  of  their  system ;  on  the  contrary,  had  they  un- 
derstood  themselves — had  they  conceived  whither  their  doctrines  led — 
they  would  have  rejected  them  as  unchristian.  Yet  we  may  also  under- 
stand wherefore  the  Catholics,  if  they  wished  to  uphold  the  idea  of  the 
holiness  and  justice  of  God ;  if  they  wished  to  maintain  human  free- 
dom, insure  the  dignity  of  the  moral  law,  confirm  the  true  notion  of 
sin,  and  the  debt  of  sin,  and  not  suffer  the  doctrine  of  redemption  in 

*  "  Propositio  '  bona  opera  sunt  necessaria  ad  salutem '  non  potest  consistere  in 
doctrina,  legis,  neque  lex  ullas  habct  de  aetema,  vita,  promissiones,  etiam  perfectissime 
implcta."  Auctore  AndreS.  Poach,  1535.  The  orthodox  Lutherans,  indeed,  would 
not  admit  this  view. 


BETWEEN  CATHOLICS  AND  PROTESTANTS.  209 

Christ  to  be  converted  into  a  very  folly,  should,  with  all  their  energy, 
have  opposed  the  Protestant  theory  of  faith  and  justification. 


§  xxvi.-^Analysis  of  the  elements  of  truth  and  of  error  in  the  Protestant  doctrine 
of  faith,  as  hitherto  stated. 

If  we  now  take  a  retrospective  view  of  all  that  has  been  advanced, 
and  reduce  all  to  a  short  summary,  it  will  follow  that  in  Protestantism 
the  religious  element  formed  the  more  luminous  side,  and  the  ethical 
the  darker  ;  and  this,  of  course,  was  attended  with  the  consequence, 
that  ultimately  the  religious  element  was  regarded  only  with  a  very 
oblique  and  distorted  view. 

The  religious  element  no  one  will  fail  to  notice  in  Protestantism, 
Avho  only  recalls  to  mind  that  notion  of  Divine  Providence,  which  Lu- 
ther and  Melancthon  put  forth  at  the  commencement  of  the  Reforma- 
tion, but  which  Calvin  defended  to  the  end  of  his  days.  The  action 
of  Providence  the  Reformers  by  no  means  made  to  consist  merely  in 
the  guidance  of  all  things  little  and  great,  in  the  wise  and  tender  con- 
duct of  individuals,  as  of  the  whole  human  race.  No ;  according  to 
them,  all  the  phenomena  in  the  world  of  man  are  God's  own  work,  and 
man  is  the  mere  instrument  of  God  :  everything  in  the  world's  history 
is  God's  invisible  act,  visibly  realized  by  the  agency  of  man.  Who  can 
here  fail  to  recognize  a  religious  contemplation  of  all  things  ?  All  is 
referred  to  God — God  is  all  in  all. 

The  same  pious  view  of  the  world,  and  the  world's  history,  extends 
to  the  more  special  circle  of  Christian  doctrines.  The  fundamental 
principles  of  Christian  piety  are,  doubtless,  rigidly  maintained  ;  but 
only  a  perverse  application  of  them  is  made ;  for  the  same  relation, 
wherein,  as  we  have  seen,  the  Deity  is  represented  to  be  in  respect  to 
man,  is  established  between  Christ  and  the  believer.  The  Redeemer 
is,  in  such  a  way,  all  in  all,  that  he  and  his  spirit  are  alone  efficacious, 
and  faith  and  regeneration  are  exclusively  his  act ;  so  that,  as,  accord- 
ing to  Luther's  doctrine,  man  disappears  before  God,  so  the  Christian 
likewise  disappears  before  Christ.  The  following  passage  will  furnish 
us  with  the  clearest  insight  into  Luther's  feelings  on  this  subject :  "  I 
can  well  remember,"  he  remarks,  "  that  Dr.  Staupitz,  who  was  proving 
cial  vicar  of  the  Augustinians,  when  the  gospel  first  began  to  be 
preached,  said  to  me,  '  it  affords  me  the  greatest  consolation,  that  this 
doctrine  of  the  gospel,  which  is  now  coming  to  light,  gives  all  honour 
and  praise  to  God  alone,  and   nothing  to  men.     Now  it  is  clear  and 


270  EXPOSITION  OF  DOCTRINAL  DIFFERENCES 

evident  that  we  can  never  ascribe  too  much  honour,  goodness,  &c.,  tO 
our  Lord  God.'  So  he  then  consoled  me  :  and  it  is  the  truth,  that  the 
doctrine  of  the  gospel  takes  from  men  all  honour,  wisdom,  and  justicCf 
and  ascribes  them  to  the  one  just  Creator,  who  creates  all  things  out 
of  nothing.  Now  it  is  much  safer  to  ascribe  too  much  to  our  Lord  God; 
albeit,  however,  we  can  never  too  much  ascribe  to  Him.  Herein  I  do 
not  err  and  sin,  for  I  give  to  both — to  wit,  God  and  man — what  apper- 
taineth  to  each."* 

The  feelings  whereby  Luther  was  guided,  are,  to  judge  from  such  ap- 
pearances,  sound  to  their  inmost  core  ;  but  as,  in  feeling,  truth  and 
error  can  lie  enclosed,  and  only  in  a  higher  grade  of  intellectual  life 
are  separated  one  from  the  other,  so  this  is  here  the  case.  In  Luther 
we  imagine  ourselves  to  be  transported  to  the  primitive  times  of  our 
race,  when,  before  the  mind  of  man,  yet  giddy  from  his  fall,  all  forms 
pass  in  motley  confusion  ;  God  and  man  are  no  longer  kept  distinct,  and 
the  acts  of  both  are  blended  together. 

The  principle  of  freedom  Luther  did  not  apprehend  ;  since  in  it  he 
abhorred  the  destruction  of  all  deeper  religious  feehng  and  true  humili- 
ty ;  viewing  in  it  an  encroachment  on  the  rights  of  the  Divine  Majes- 
ty, nay,  the  self-deitication  of  man.  To  be  free  and  to  be  God  was, 
in  his  opinion,  synonymous."}"  But  what  was  the  consequence  ?  While 
he  desired  to  oppose  the  self-will,  he  annihilated  the  free-will,  of  man  ; 
and,  in  combating  his  self-seeking,  he  assailed,  withal,  his  self-existence 
and  individuality.  It  is  a  circumstance  worthy  of  special  considera- 
tion, that  Luther,  so  often  as  he  will  prove  man  to  be  no  longer  in  pos- 
session of  the  higher  freedom — that  freedom  which  truth,  piety,  and 
virtue  ensure,  shows  also  involuntarily,  that  he  no  longer  possesses  the 
freedom  of  election,  and  confounds  both  species  of  freedom,  which  are 
yet  so  very  distinct,  one  from  the  other  !  The  freedom  of  election  is 
for  man  the  necessary  condition  to  a  higher  freedom,  but  not  the  same. 
Thus  the  Reformer  worked  himself  up  to  an  incapacity  to  discover  in 
the  Catliolic  notion  of  humility  any  humility  at  all ;  for  humility,  accord- 
ing to  him,  consists  in  the  renunciation  of  an  independent  personality, 

*  Luther,  Comment,  on  Ep.  to  Galat.  loc  cit.  p.  35. 

+  Luther  de  servo  arbitrio  ad  Erasm.  Rotcrod.  1.  1.  fol.  1 1 7.  b.  "  Sequitur  nunc, 
liberum  arbitrium  esse  plane  divinum  nomen,  nee  uUi  posse  coinpetere,  quam  soli 
divincB  majcstati  ;  ca  enim  potestate  facit  omnia  quse  vult  in  cgbIo  ct  in  terr^,.  Quod 
si  hominibus  tribuitur,  nihil  rectius  tribultur,  quam  si  Divinitas  quoque  ipsa  cis  tri- 
buerctur,  quo  sacrilegio  nullum  esse  majus  possit.  Proinde  theologorum  erat,  ab  isto 
vocabulo  abstinere,  cum  de  humanJi  virtute  loqui  vellent,  et  soli  Deo  relinquere ; 
deinde  ex  hominum  ore  et  sermone  id  ipsum  tollere,  tanquam  sacrum  ac  venerabile 
nomen  Deo  suo  asserere." 


BETWEEN  CATHOLICS  AND  PROTESTANTS.  2tl 

and  of  personal  dignity,  and  is  of  an  essentially  physical  nature  ;  vvUcre- 
as,  according  to  the  genuine  and  old  Christian  view,  humility  is  of  a 
moral  essence,  and  must  depend  on  a  free  homage,  a  free  oblation  of 
oneself.  The  Rcl'ormcrs  said  :  "  See,  thou  art  not  thyself  free,  and 
yet  thou  wouldst  fain  be  free;  in  this  consists  all  thy  pcrversencss."' 
The  Catholic,  on  the  other  hand,  said  :  "  O,  man,  thou  art  created  free  } 
but  if  by  thy  freedom  thou  becomest  a  bond-slave  to  God,  thou  wilt 
receive  thy  freedom  glorified  back."  Hereby  it  was  possible  for  the 
Catholic  to  explain  how  a  lalse  freedom  could  be  sougljt  after  ;  and  his 
whole  system  became  at  once  a  Theodicea — a  justification  of  God  on 
account  of  evil  in  the  world,  which  Protestantism  must  absolutely  re- 
nounce, as  it  can  never  explain  how  man,  whom  it  believes  to  be  abso- 
lutely devoid  of  free-will,  could  ever  come  to  believe  himself  a  free 
agent,  and  tliereby  become  evil  ;  uidess,  with  the  want  of  freedom,  ho 
be  destined  to  this  lojiging  after  freedom,  and  in  this  way  he  be  doomed 
to  an  annihilating  contradiction  of  his  own  nature  with  itself,  and  there- 
by all  evil  be  referred  to  God. 

In  fact,  this  course  of  reasoning  the  Reformers  fearlessly  pursued  ; 
misapprehended,  together  with  free-will,  the  essence  of  the  moral  law 
and  moraUty,  which,  without  free-will,  is  inconceivable  ;  and  yet  ven- 
tured withal  to  accuse  Catholics  of  want  of  humility — Catholics,  accor- 
ding to  whose  doctrine  that  word  can  alone  possess  a  rational  sense ; 
and  who,  when  they  say  man  that  confesses  himself  a  sinner  before 
God  (and  this  is  the  principle  of  all  humility  in  iallen  creatures),  are 
alone  consistent. 

These  grievous  perplexities  necessarily  required  a  theory  of  justify- 
ing faith,  such  as  the  new  Church  gave.  Reduced  to  a  rational  expres- 
sion, this  faith  accordingly  signifies  the  giving  ourselves  back  full  of 
confidence  to  God,  as  at  our  birth,  and  through  the  course  of  our  lives, 
He  hath  constituted  us  ; — a  well-grounded  expectation  that  He  will 
grant  us  a  favourable  issue  out  of  the  enigmatic  labyrinth  of  evil,  which 
He  hath  himself  prepared,  and  into  which  He  hath  conducted  us.  By 
such  a  method,  undoubtedly,  no  glory  accrues  to  man  ;  but  whether  any 
glory  be  thereby  rendered  to  God,  the  enlightened  observer  will  be  able 
to  judge.* 


•  Luther  (de  servo  arbitrio  ad  Erasm.  Roterod.  1.  1.  fol.  236,)  expresses  this  thought 
in  the  following  way :  "  Ego  sane  do  mc  conlitcor,  si  qua  fieri  possit,  nollcm  milu  dari 
hborum  arbltrimn  aut  quippiam  in  nianfl  mca.  rolinqui,  quo  ad  salutem  conari  possem ; 
non  solum  idco,  quod  in  tot  adversitalibus  ct  periculis,  deinde  tot  inipugnantibus 
dojinonibus,  subsistcre  ct  rctincre  illud  non  valerem,  cum  unua   dxmou  potentior  sit 


272  EXPOSITION  OF  DOCTRINAL  DIFFERENCES 


§  xxvii. — Affinity  of  Protestantism  with  Gnosticism,  and  some  Pantheistic  systems  01" 
the  Middle  Age.  More  accurate  determination  of  the  difference  between  Zwingle's 
and  Luther's  principles. 

There  is  no  religious  phenomenon,  to  which  the  system  of  the  Refor- 
mers offers  more  resemblance,  than  Gnosticism,  to  which  we  have  al- 
ready had,  now  and  then,  occasion  to  advert.  In  the  first  place,  the 
latter  sprang  out  of  a  glowing  desire  after  eternal  life,  and  the  deepest 
sense  of  human  misery  in  general,  and  of  the  misery  of  sin  in  particu- 
lar. So  deep  a  horror  for  evil  filled  its  disciples,  that  they  deemed  it 
absolutely  incompatible  with  the  creation  of  the  good  God,  and  thence 
proceeded  even  to  uphold  a  dualism  of  principles.  From  the  present 
form  of  human  existence,  which  arose  out  of  the  mysterious  concur- 
rence of  these  principles,  evil,  according  to  them,  was  quite  insepara- 
ble ;  it  could,  though  combated,  never  be  overcome. 

Down  to  the  fourteenth  and  fifteenth  centuries,  we  find  Gnosticism 
continuing  in  broken  and  detached  systems.  The  Reformers  in  the 
sixteenth  century  embraced  it  under  a  milder  form.  It  is  not  to  be 
doubted,  but  that  they  were  moved  by  the  like  feelings ;  that  they  were 
deeply  impressed  with  the  sinfulness  of  the  world,  and  on  that  account 
represented  human  nature  as  so  thoroughly  corrupted,  that  the  disease 
was  in  this  life  absolutely  incurable. 

Secondly,  this  sense  of  sin,  pious,  doubtless,  but  confused  and  dis- 
tempered in  itself,  tended,  among  the  Protestants  as  well  as  the  Gnos- 


omnibus  hominibus,  neque  ullus  hominum  salvaretur  ;  scd  quod  ctiam,  si  nulla  peri- 
cula,  nullae  adversitates,  nulli  daemones  essent,  cogerer  tamen  perpetuo  in  incertum 
laborare  et  aerem  pugnis  verberare.  Neque  enim  conscientia  mea,  si  in  setemum 
viverem  et  operarer,  unquam  certa  et  secura  fieret,  quantum  facere  deberet,  quo  satis 
Deo  fieret.  Quocumque  enim  opere  perfecto  reliquus  esset  scrupulus,  ad  id  Deo  pla- 
ceret,  vel  an  aliquid  ultra  requireret,  sicut  probat  experientia  omnium  justiciariorum, 
et  ego  meo  magno  malo  tot  annis  satis  didici. 

"  At  nunc  cum  Deus  salutem  meam,  extra  meum  arbitrium  tollens,  in  suum  re- 
ceperit,  et  non  meo  opere  aut  cursu,  sed  sua  gratia  et  misericordid  promiserit  me 
servare,  securus  et  certus  sum,  quod  ille  fidelis  sit,  et  mihi  non  mentietur,  tam  potens 
et  magnus,  ut  nulli  damones,  nulla  adversitates  earn,  frangere,  aut  me  illi  rapere, 
poterunt.  Nemo  {inquit)  rapiet  eos  de  manu  mea,  quia  pater,  qui  dedit,  major  om. 
nibus  est.  Ita  fit,  ut  si  non  omnes,  tamen  aliqui  et  multi  salventur,  cum  per  vim 
liberi  arbitrii  nullus  prorsus  servaretur,  sed  in  unum  omnes  perderemur.  Turn  ctiam 
certi  sumus  et  securi,  nos  Deo  placere,  non  merito  operis  nostri,  sedfavore  miseri^ 
cordiiB  sua  nobis  promisscB,  atque  si  minus  aut  male  egerimus,  quod  nobis  non  im. 
putet,  sed  paterne  ignoscat  et  emendet.  Hcbc  est  gloriatio  omnium  sanctorum  in 
Deo  suo," 


BETWEEN  CATHOLICS  AND  PROTESTANTS.  273 

tics,  towards  its  own  destruction  ;  and,  as  it  did  not  comprehend,  and 
thereby  maintain  itself,  it  became  utterly  extinct. 

The  higher  the  degree  of  objective  sinfulness  is  considered,  wherein 
the  subject  sees  himself  involved  without  personal  guilt,  the  more  the 
magnitude  of  subjective  self-committed  evil  disappears ;  and  human 
nature  is  then  charged  with  the  debt,  which  the  individual  had  con- 
tracted. How  much  the  Gnostics  sought  to  excuse  themselves,  by 
means  of  their  theory  of  evil,  is  well  known.  In  like  manner,  the  Pro- 
testants represent  Adam,  who  is  accounted  the  only  sinner,  as  succeed- 
ed by  Christ,  who  alone  worketh  good  ;  and  if,  by  the  former,  all  per- 
sonal guilt  is  made  impossible,  so,  through  the  latter,  all  personal  merit 
is  rendered  unnecessary.  If  the  former  hath  bereaved  man  of  all  moral 
freedom,  and,  consequently,  of  all  capacity  for  good,  the  latter  is  so 
constituted,  that  all  liberty,  all  independent  working  of  good  on  the  part 
of  man,  becomes  unnecessary  ;  and  the  more  unavoidable  the  necessity 
of  sinning  is  represented  to  have  been  in  the  first  Adam,  the  more 
easily  obtainable  is  forgiveness  through  the  second  Adam  described  to 
be.  The  error  here  is  precisely  the  same  as  if  one  were  to  believe,  that 
a  deep  sense  of  guilt  was  possible,  only  under  the  condition  of  a  pro- 
digious magnitude  of  evil  deeds  committed  by  us  ;  for,  on  the  contrary, 
experience  shows,  that,  when  the  amount  of  evil,  objectively  consider- 
ed, is  small,  it  is  always  most  deeply  felt,  and  most  strongly  detested. 
In  fact,  no  blood-guiltiness,  no  perjury,  no  adultery  is  necessary,  in  order 
to  make  one  weep  out  his  whole  life  in  penitential  tears.  In  like  man- 
ner, it  is  quite  unnecessary  that,  through  Adam,  men  should  have  been 
bereaved  of  all  reason,  and  their  every  fibre  infected,  in  order  to  inspire 
them  with  a  deep  sense  of  the  misery  under  which  they  languish,  and 
to  make  them  hail  a  Redeemer  with  joy.  In  Adam  we  were  wounded, 
but  not  killed :  the  wound  causes  a  pain  to  be  felt,  and  the  physician 
to  be  welcomed,  and  admits  of  a  perfect  cure  ;  but  in  death  all  pain  is 
extinguished,  and  no  life  returns. 

Thirdly,  Gnosticism  desired  of  its  followers  the  consciousness,  the 
knowledge  (v*«5-<r,)  that  they  were  the  sons  of  the  good  God  ;  that  they 
could  not  be  lost ;  that  they  were  quite  certain  of  salvation  ;  and  with  this 
claim  was  associated  the  doctrine,  that  some  men  are  by  birth  o<  nnvf^xTt- 
K«/(menofthe  spirit,)  othersaJ  ■v//«;ti()io/(men  of  the  soul,)  and  others,  again, 
eJ  x'^ix.ol  (men  of  clay.)  In  Protestantism,  we  find,  as  parallels.  Faith, 
which  comprises  the  absolute  assurance  of  eternal  life,  and  the  doctrine* 
that  some  are,  from  eternity,  predestined  to  happiness,  others  to  damna- 
tion ;  and  this  is  merely  another  mode  of  expressing  the  Gnostic  classifica- 
tion  of  men.  Even  the  Gnostic  doctrine  of  the  Pneumatici  contains  a 
principle,  that  incited  to  the  highest  moral  enthusiasm,  to  the  most  per- 
18 


274  EXPOSITION  OF  DOCTRINAL  DIFFERENCES 

severant  struggle  against  all  evil ;  but  it  is  well  known  how  hoi'ribly 
this  doctrine  was  abused  in  life.  It  is  the  same  with  the  Protestant 
certitude  of  eternal  life,  and  of  absolute  predestination.  The  convic- 
tion, that  through  God's  mercy,  and  without  any  moral  obligation  on 
my  part,  I  shall  infallibly  have  a  share  in  eternal  happiness,  can  inspire 
me  with  gratitude  the  warmest,  and  the  most  capable  of  producing  the 
fairest  fruits  in  life ;  and  this  it  was  which  Luther  expected  to  be  the 
result  of  his  doctrine.  But  the  notion,  that  heaven  will  not  be  lost  to 
the  believer,  or  to  him  who  firmly  confides  ;  and  that  no  merit,  that  is 
to  say,  no  personal  worth,  bears  any  inward  relation  to  salvation,  could 
as  easily  produce  the  opposite  effects  in  practice  ;  and  that  these  did  not 
fail  to  ensue,  Luther  himself  often  enough  complains,  and  the  course  of 
our  investigations  will  furnish  us  with  numerous  proofs.  We  do  not 
contend,  that  such  an  assurance,  in  noble,  tender,  and  sensitive  souls, 
if  such  can  vaunt  of  this  assurance,  is  not  capable  of  bearing  the  most 
abundant  fruits  ;  but  how  doth  the  view,  which  the  Reformers  entertain 
of  human  sinfulness,  entitle  them  to  reckon  upon  souls  of  such  a  stamp  ? 
If  to  this  it  be  objected,  that  every  doctrine  can  be  abused,  we  admit 
the  fact,  but  maintain,  that  truth  of  itself  never  gives  occasion  to  abuse  ; 
that,  on  the  contrary,  abuse  springs  only  from  the  false  position,  where- 
in any  one  sets  himself  in  relation  to  the  truth  :  whereas,  with  an  erro- 
neous doctrine,  abuse  is  necessarily  intertwined,  and  it  is  a  mere  matter 
of  chance  whether  it  conduce  to  any  one's  spiritual  welfare.  This  is 
the  case  with  the  doctrine,  that  without  fulfilling  any  moral  obligations, 
we  become,  by  faith  alone,  partakers  of  Divine  grace  ;  this  is  the  case 
with  the  Gnostic  and  Protestant  feeling  of  assurance,  and  with  the  doc- 
trine of  predestination,  which  it  presupposes. 

Fourthly,  Marcion  was  so  impressed  with  the  loftiness  of  the  New 
Testament  revelation,  with  the  revelation  of  God,  as  a  gracious,  lov- 
ing, and  merciful  Father,  that,  on  that  account  he  held  the  divinity  in 
Christ  to  be  essentially  different  from  the  one  that  created  the  world 
filled  with  evils  of  every  kind,  gave  in  the  old  covenant  such  severe 
laws,  and  so  strictly,  according  to  them,  meted  out  rewards  and  punish- 
ments. Into  what  contradictions  Luther  brought  Nature  and  Grace, 
Law  and  Gospel,  we  have  already  seen,  and  not  less  so,  how,  in  the 
Redeemer,  he  saw  exclusively  the  merciful  forgiver  of  sins.*  Marcion, 
the  most  pious  of  Gnostics,  but  who  evinced  scarcely  any  trace  of  a 


*  Tertull.  adv.  Marc.  1.  i.  c.  2.  "  Et  ila  in  Christo  quasi  aliam  inveniens  disposi- 
tionem  solius  et  purae  benignitatis  ot  diversas  a  Creatore,  facile  novam  et  hoppitam 
argumentatus  est  divinitatem  in  Christo  suo  revelatam." 


BETWEEN  CATHOLICS  AND  PROTE.STANTS.  275 

■?cieritific  spirit,  supposed,  that  the  good  God  in  Christ  took  compassion 
on  men,  without  incurring  any  obligation  to  concern  Himself  as  to 
their  destinv  ;  since  they  belonged  to  a  creation  to  v/hich  He  was  a 
stranger  :  but  he  forgot,  that  it  was  inconceivable  how  men  could  even 
understand  Him,  and  enter  into  communion  with  Him,  because,  as  be- 
ings created  by  the  Demiurges  (a  spirit  independent  of  God,)  they  pos- 
sessed nothing  akin  to  God,  no  manner  of  likeness  unto  God.  In  his 
folly,  he  thought  he  more  highly  exalted  the  mercy  of  God,  by  repre- 
senting Him  as  redeeming  creatures^  not  only  estranged  from  Him  by 
sin,  but,  in  their  very  essence,  aliens  to  Him.  In  like  manner  Luther. 
Fallen  man,  according  to  him,  was  nothing  but  sin,  entirely  bereft  of 
the  Divine  image ;  a  doctrine  by  which  he  thought  to  exalt  the  glory 
of  the  Saviour;  without  considering,  that  he,  who  has  no  longer  any- 
thing to  be  redeemed,  cannot  possibly  be  susceptible  of  redemption. 
Yet  these  parallels  must  now  be  closed,  especially  a-s  we  should  be 
thrown  into  no  small  embarrassment,  were  we  to  compare  Luther's 
ascetic  exercises  with  those  of  Marcion.  Such  very  opposite  practical 
results  flowed  from  theories  which  have  the  closest  affinity  with  each 
other.  But  even  Prodicus,  the  most  libertine  enemy  to  the  law,  and 
the  Cainites  professed  theoretical  maxims  similar  to  those  of  Marcion  ! 

Another  doctrine,  to  which  Protestantism  bears  undeniable  relation* 
ship,  is  the  ideal  Pantheism,  whose  adherents,  through  the  whole  course 
of  the  middle  age,  were  arrayed  against  the  Church,  in  no  less  violent 
opposition  than  that  which  she  encountered  from  the  Gnostico-Mani- 
-chean  Dualists.  To  the  former  class  belong  Amalrich  of  Chatres,  and 
his  disciple,  David  of  Dinant,  with  their  followers,  various  classes  of 
the  Fraticelli,  Lollards,  and  Beghards,  the  brothers  and  sisters  of  "  the 
Free  Spirit,"  together  with  several  others.  They  held  the  doctrine  of 
the  One  and  All  of  things, — of  the  absolute  necessity  of  everything 
vvhich  occurs, — and,  consequently,  of  evil  in  the  creation,  of  the  want 
■of  free-will  in  man,  and  yet  of  the  utmost  latitude  of  freedom,  which 
he  can  enforce  against  the  dictates  of  the  moral  law,— of  the  certainty 
of  salvation, — that  is  to  say,  the  return  to  the  Deity,  or  absorption  in 
His  bosom,  which,  indeed,  forms  a  necessary  part  of  Pantheism,  and  of 
^very  doctrine  that  ascribes  a  divine  essence  to  man.  To  this  class 
Wycliff  belongs,  who  only  further  expanded  the  fatalistic  doctrines 
more  hesitatingly  taught  by  Thomas  Bradwardine  ;  ascribed,  in  his 
Trialogus,  evil  to  God  ;  and,  with  the  denial  of  freedom  of  election  in 
man,  admitted  in  his  system  an  absolute  predestination,  and  on  this  ac- 
count was  censured  by  an  English  synod. 

Luther  and  Zwingle,  to  a  certain  extent,  diverged  into  these  opposite 
•courses .;  and   herein  consists,  if  we  judge  rightly,  the  real  ditference 


276  EXPOSITION  OF  DOCTRINAL  DIFFERENCES 

between  them.  Luther  approximates  more  to  the  Gnostico-MarticheSre 
view  of  the  world; — Zwingle  to  the  Pantheistic.  In  the  first  period  of 
his  opposition  against  the  Church,  Luther,  in  his  pecuHar  humility^ 
wished  to  refuse,  to  fallen  man  only,  every  species  of  freedom  in  what 
concerned  holiness.  But,  in  the  course  of  his  hostility,  he  thought  to 
give  a  further  support  to  his  notion  of  humility,  by  representing  man^ 
as  in  himself,  devoid  of  freedom, — a  proof  of  his  unscientific  spirit, — - 
for,  by  this  second  doctrine,  he  entirely  took  away  all  weight  from  the 
first.  It  is,  however,  evident,  from  numerous  passages  in  his  writings, 
that  his  principal  object  was  to  inspire  men  with  humility  and  piety, 
by  consideration  of  their  deep  guilt  in  Adam  j  and  that,  in  the  course 
of  the  struggle,  he  evinced  a  disposition  to  cling  only  to  this  ground- 
work of  his  system, — which  Ave  may  call  the  would-be  Christian,-^ 
and  to  give  up  the  other,  which  we  may  characterize  as  the  specula- 
tive one*  Zwingle,  on  the  other  hand,  leant  almost  exclusively  on  the 
latter  (for  what  he  alleged  respecting  original  sin,  and  evil  in  general? 
is  scarce  worthy  of  attention  ;)  he  pretty  openly  declared  for  Panthe- 
ism, and  thereby  attached  himself  to  the  principles  of  that  second  party 
described  above,  which,  in  the  middle  age,  unfurled  the  banner  of  oppo-* 
sition  against  the  Church.  The  following  statement  will  furnish  the 
reader  with  more  detailed  explanations. 

The  leading  principles  in  his  writing  on  providence  are  as  follows  :; 
All  power  is  either  created  or  uncreated.  If  it  be  uncreated,  it  is  God 
himself;  if  it  be  created,  it  must  needs  be  created  by  God.  But,  to  be 
created  by  God,  signifies  nought  else  than  to  be  an  emanation  of  His 
power ;  for  whatever  is,  is  from  Him,  through  Him,  and  in  Him,  nay, 
is  Himself.  Thus,  created  power  is  ever  but  a  phenomenon  of  uni- 
versal power,  in  a  new  subject,  and  a  new  individual."}"     The  notion  of 


t  Luther  de  servo  abitr.  adv.  Erasm.  loc.  cit.  p.  177,  b.  "  Nonne  agnoscis  ?  Jam 
qusero  et  peto,  si  gratia  Dei  desit,  aut  separetur  ab  ill&.  vi  modicula,  quid  ipsa  faciet  ? 
Inefficax  Cinquis)  est,  et  nihil  facit  boni.  Ergo  non  faciet,  quod  Deus  aut  gratia  eju» 
volet ;  siquidem  gratiam  Dei  separatam  ab  e&  jam  posuimus,  quod  vero  gratia  Dei  non 
facit,  bonuin  non  est.  Quare  sequitur,  liberum  arbitriuin  sine  gratia,  Dei  prorsus  non 
liberum,  sed  immutabiliter  captivuin  et  servum  esse  inali,  cum  non  possit  vertere  se 
solo  adbonum.  Hoc  stantc,  dono  tibi,  ut  vim  liberi  arbitrii  non  modo  facius  modu 
culam,  fac  earn  angelicam,  fac,  si  potes,  plane  divinam,  si  adjeceris  iamen  hanc 
illatabilem  appendicem,  et  citra  gratiam  Dei  inefficacem  dicas ;  mox  ademeris  illi 
omnem  vim  :  quid  est  vig  inefficax,  nisi  plane  nulla  vis  ?"  But  as  might  be  expected 
from  this  conclusion,  we  find  immediately  a  recurrence  to  the  old  doctrine  :  "  Fixum 
ergo  stet,  .  .  .  nos  omnia  necessitate,  nihil  libero  arbitno  facere,  dum  vis  liberi  arbi- 
trii  nihil  est,  neque  facit,  neque  potest  bonum,  abscnte  gratis,. 

X  Zwingli  de  providentia,  torn.  i.  fol.  354,  a.     "  Qu»  tamen  creata  dlcitur,  cum 


BETWEEN  CATHOLICS  AND  PROTESTANTS.  277 

a  power,  peculiar  to  a  created  being,  is  as  incompatible  with  the  notion 
of  the  Deity,  as  with  the  notion  of  a  created  being,  since  this  would 
thereby  be  conceived  as  uncreated.  To  wish  to  be  free,  is  accordingly 
identical  with  wishing  to  be  one's  own  God  ;  and  the  doctrine  of  free- 
dom leads  at  once  to  self-deification,  and  to  polytheism.  The  predicate 
*'  Freedom,"  and  the  subject  "  creature,"  are  mutually  incompatible  ; 
and  the  expression,  "a  free  creature,"  involves  a  contradiction. 

He  continues:  Freedom,  as  a  self-power,  being  inconsistent  with  the 
omnipotence  of  God,  the  notion  of  a  creature  living  according  to  its 
own  design  is  evidently  subversive  of  the  wisdom  of  God.  For  this  is 
Jis  much  as  to  suppose,  that  God  would  alter  his  decree,  which  can  only 
be  eternal,  aad  consequently  immutable,  according  to  human  caprices 
and  actions,  the  result  of  human  prudence.  The  notion  of  Divine 
Providence  is,  therefore,  according  to  Zwingle,  in  every  respect,  one 
and  the  same  with  that  of  the  inevitable  necessity  of  all  occurrences ; 
and  quite  consistently,  therefore,  he  rejects,  with  the  ideavof  free-will, 
all  freedom  of  thinking  also.* 

His  thoughts  on  the  essence  of  created  energies  Zwingle  discloses 
further,  when  he  says,  the  being  of  all  things  is  the  being  of  God,  and 
God  Himself;  for,  should  we  assert  the  contrary,  then  the  notion  of 
the  infinite,  which  appertains  to  God,  is  destroyed  ;  since  any  thing, 
which  is  not  Himself,  is  placed  beside  Him,  and  out  of  Him.-\  To 
render  his  ideas  more  intelligible  to  the  Landgrave  of  Hesse,  he  makes 
use  of  the  following  comparison.     As  plants  and  animals  grow  out  of 

omnie  virtus  numinis  virtus  sit,  nee  enim  quidquam  est,  quod  non  ex  illo,  in  illo,  et 
per  fllud,  imo  illud  sit,  creata,  inquara,  virtus  dicitur,  eo  quod  in  novo  subjecto,  et 
nov&,  specie,  universalis  aut  generalis  ista  virtus  exhibetur.  Testes  sunt  Moses, 
Paulus,  Plato,  Seneca."  (!  !) 

*  L.  c.  "  Jani  si  quicquam  sua,  virtute  ferretur  aut  consilio,  jam  isthinc  ecssarent 
sapientia  et  virtus  nostri  numinis.  Quod  si  fieret,  non  esset  numinis  sapientia  sum- 
ma,  qui  non  comprehenderet  ac  caperet  universa  ;  non  essct  ejus  virtus  omnipotens, 
■quia  esset  virtus  libera  ab  ejus  potentia,  et  idcirco  alia.  Ut  jam  esset  vis,  quae  non 
«sset  vis  numinis,  esset  lux  et  intelligentia,  quae  non  esset  numinis  istius  sapientia." 

What  conclusions  for  a  Reformer  !  Above  all,  Zwingle  should  have  been  advised 
to  reform  his  logic.  More  plausible,  yet  still  devoid  of  all  true  solidity,  is  the  follow- 
ing :  "  Immutabilem  autem  diximus  administrationem  ac  dispositionem,  banc  ob 
«ausam,  ut  et  eorum  sententiam,  qui  hominis  arbitrium  libcrum  esse  adseverant,  non 
undique  firmam,  et  summi  numinis  sapientiam  certiorem  ostenderem,  quam  ut  earn 
eventus  uUus  latere  possit,  qui  deinde  imprudentem  cogeret  aut  retractare  aut  mutare 
consilium." 

t  L.  c.  fol.  355,  b.  "  Cum  autem  infinitum,  quod  res  est,  ideo  dicatur,  quod  essen. 
tia  et  existentia  infinitum  sit,  jam  constat  extra  infinitum  hoc  Esse  nullum  esse 
posse."  .  .  .  fol.  356 :  "  Cum  igitur  unum  ac  solum  infinitum  sit,  neccsse  est  prseter 
hoc  nihil  esse.'' 


278  EXPOSITION  OF  DOCTRINAL  DIFFERENCES,  &(r. 

ihe  earth,  and,  when  their  individual  life  is  extinct,  dissolve  again  rnto» 
its  bosom,  so  it  is  with  the  universe  in  respect  to  God  : — and  he  adds^ 
in  passing,  the  consoling  observation,  that  from  thence  the  immortality 
of  man  is  very  apparent,  since  we  see,  that,  nought  which  has  ever 
been,  can  quite  c«ase  to  be,  as  it  only  returns  to  the  Universal  Being- 
He  even  cannot  refrain  from  a  digression,  to  the  effect  that  the  Pytha- 
gorian  doctrine  of  the  transmigration  of  sou}s  is  not  quite  groundless, 
and  presents  one  very  favourable  side.* 

From  all  this  Zwingle  infers,  that  there  can  be  bat  one  cause,  and 
that  the  so-called  secondary  causes  should  not  be  regarded  as  causes, 
but  only  as  means  and  instruments  of  the  first,  which  is  at  once  the 
only  cause.f  By  this  he  utterly  denies,  that  man  can  be  the  free  prin- 
ciple of  causation  in  a  series  of  actions,  and  represents  him  as  a  com- 
pletely passive  instrument — a  living  machine,  which  never  acts  from 
itself,  which  is  only  set  in  motion,  and  is  alike  incapable  either  of  good 
or  of  evil.  So  far  Zwingle,  who  only  reduces  to  its  first  principles 
Luther's  doctrine  of  the  servitude  of  the  human  will.  We  have  often 
wondered  at  the  so-called  orthodox  Protestant  theologians  of  our  days, 
when  they  opposed  modern  theological  and  philosophiical  systems,  which 
more  consistently  carried  out  the  principles  of  the  Reformers,  so  little 
did  Protestant  orthodoxy  understand  itself!  With  all  his  deviations 
on  particular  points,  Schleiermacher  is,  in  my  opinion,  the  only  genuine 
disciple  of  the  Reformers. 


*  L.  c.  "  Scd  hanc  scntentiam  paulo  (fiKc!ro<fixlri^ov  tractatam  ....  eiemplo 
confirmabimus,"  etc. 
t  L.  c.  fol.  a58,>. 


CHAPTER    IV. 


DIFFERENCES    IN    THE    DOCTRINE    OF    THE    SACRAMENTS. 


§  xxviii. — Doctrine  of  Catholics  on  the  Sacraments  in  general. 

The  doctrine  of  the  sacraments  we  shall  now  treat  immediately  after 
the  exposition  of  the  doctrine  of  justification  ;  since,  according  to  the 
expression  of  the  Council  of  Trent,  justification  is,  by  means  of  the 
sacraments,  either  originally  infused  into  us,  or  subsequently  increased, 
or,  when  lost,  is  again  restored.*  We  shall  begin  with  stating  the 
Catholic  doctrine.  The  nature  of  the  sacraments  in  general  will  first 
be  defined  ;  next  the  object  of  their  institution  ;  then  the  manner  in 
which  they  communicate  grace  will  be  explained ;  and,  lastly,  their 
number  will  be  stated. 

A  sacrament  is  defined,  by  the  catechism  of  the  Council  of  Trent,  to 
be  an  outward  sign,  which,  in  virtue  of  the  divine  ordinance,  not  only 
typifies,  but  works,  the  supersensual ;  to  wit,  holiness  and  justice. f 
Here  the  same  manual  notices  the  distinctions  which,  according  to  the 
definition  we  have  cited,  exists  between  a  sacrament  and  an  image,  or 
the  sign  of  the  cross  and  the  like. 

On  the  object  of  their  institution,  the  same  catechism  enlarges  in  the 
following  manner.  In  the  first  place,  man,  as  a  being  belonging  to  the 
world  of  sense,  stands  in  need  of  a  sensible  type,  to  obtain  and  to 
preserve  the  consciousness  of  what  passes  in  his  supersensual  part.  It 
adds,  if  man  were  a  pure  spirit,  then  would  the  divine  powers,  which 
produce  justice  and  holiness,  require  no  sensible  medium.  In  the 
second  place,  the  catechism  represents  the  sacraments  as  pledges  of  the 
Divine  will  in  regard  to  man,  as  sureties  of  the  truth  of  God's  promises. 
It  is  only  with  difficulty,  it  continues,  that  men  can  be  brought  into 
belief ;  hence  it  was,  that  God,  in  the  Old  Testament,  in  corroboration 
of  His  word,  made  use  of  outward  signs  to  strengthen  the  confidence  of 


*  Concil.  Trident.  Sess.  vii.  decret.  de  Sacram. 

t  "  Quarc  ut  exphcatius,  quid  sacramentum  sit,  declaretur,  docendum  erit,  rem 
esse  sensibus  subjectam,  qu£B  ex  Dei  institutione  sanctitatis  et  justitiae  turn  signifi- 
candEB,  turn  efficiendae.  vim  habet." 


280  EXPOSITION  OF  DOCTRINAL  DIFFERENCES 

man  in  the  Divine  assurances.  In  like  manner,  such  signs  have  been 
instituted  by  Christ,  to  serve  to  men  as  pledges  of  the  forgiveness  of 
sin,  of  heavenly  grace,  and 'of  the  communion  of  the  Holy  Spirit. 
Thirdly,  the  sacraments  are  represented  as  the  channels  (quasi  alvei,) 
whereby  the  power  which  flows  from  the  sufferings  of  Christ,  the  grace 
which  the  Saviour  hath  merited  for  us,  is  individualized,  and  applied 
to  each  one ;  in  order  that  by  aid  thereof,  the  health  of  the  soul  may 
be  re-established,  or  confirmed.  Fourthly,  remarks  the  catechism,  they 
are  to  be  considered  as  outward  marks  and  tokens  of  confession  among 
the  faithful.  Lastly,  the  idea,  with  which  this  exposition  of  the  cited 
manual  concludes,  is  far  more  ingenious  and  more  profound  than  it 
may  at  first  sight  appear, — the  idea,  namely,  that  the  sacraments  con- 
tribute the  more  to  cherish  Christian  piety,  as  they  are  well  calculated 
to  humble  arrogance  by  the  reflection,  that,  as  man  had  ignominiously 
delivered  himself  over  to  the  dominion  of  the  lower  world,  so  he  needs 
its  mediation  to  enable  him  to  rise  above  it.  That  false  spiritualism, 
which,  during  a  considerable  part  of  the  Middle  Age,  as  well  as  at  the 
period  of  the  Reformation,  everywhere  burst  forth,  and  sought  to  obtain 
ascendancy,  might,  by  an  earnest  consideration  alone  of  the  great 
humiliating  truth  which  this  idea  involves,  have  attained  to  a  conscious- 
ness of  its  fearful  aberrations.* 

As  regards  the  mode  in  which  the  sacraments  confer  on  us  sanctify- 
ing grace,  the  Catholic  Church  teaches,  that  they  work  in  us,  by  means 
of  their  character,  as  an  institution  prepared  by  Christ  for  our  salvation 
(ex  opere  operato,  scilicet  a  Christo,  in  place  of  quod  operatus  est 
Christus,)'\  that  is  to  say,  the  sacraments  convey  a  divine  power, 
merited  for  us  by  Christ,  which  cannot  be  produced  by  any  human 
disposition,  by  any  spiritual  effort  or  condition  ;  but  is  absolutely,  for 
Christ's  sake,  conferred  by  God  through  their  means.  Doubtless,  man 
must  receive  this  grace,  and  therefore  be  susceptible  of  it ;  and  this 
susceptibility  is  evinced  in  repentance  and  sorrow  for  sin,  in  the  desire 
after  divine  aid,  and  in  a  confiding  faith.  But  he  can  only  receive  it, 
and  therefore  be  only  susceptible  of  it.  By  this  doctrine,  accordingly, 
the  objectivity  of  Divine  grace  is  upheld  ;  and  we  are  prevented  from 


*  L.  c.  p.  167.  The  whole  exposition  of  the  catechism  is  taken  from  the  manuals 
of  the  theologians  of  the  Middle  Age  :  for  example,  from  Hugh  St.  Victor,  Alexan- 
der Hales,  Bona  Ventura,  and  Thomas  Aquinas.  See  the  last  named  schoolman's 
Summ.  tot.  theolog.  Par.  3.  Q.  Ixi.  Art.  1.  p.  276. 

t  Concil.  Trid.  Sess.  vii.  can.  viii.  "  Si  quis  dixerit,  per  ipsa  novae  legis  sacra- 
menta  ex  opere  operato  non  conferri  gratiam,  sed  solam  fidem  divinae  promissionis  ad 
gratiam  consequendam  sufficere,  anathema  sit." 


BETWEEN  CATHOLICS  AND  PROTESTANTS.  281 

drawing  down  the  effects  of  the  sacrament  into  the  region  of  the  sub- 
jective ;  and,  from  entertaining  the  opinion,  that  these  consisted  in 
mere  moral  and  dialectic  results,  in  human  feelings,  considerations, 
and  resolves,  which,  as  at  the  view  of  a  picture  representing  Christ 
crucified,  are  excited  within  us  at  the  moment  of  receiving,  or  even 
may  precede  the  reception.  This  human  activity,  except  in  the  case 
of  infants  to  be  baptized,  is  indeed  necessary ;  but  it  is  not  the  divine 
grace  promised  in  the  sacrament,  nor  doth  it  even  merit  it.  Nay,  the 
religious  energies  of  the  human  soul  are  set  in  new  motion  by  the 
sacrament,  since  its  divine  matter  impregnates  the  soul  of  man,  vivifies 
it  anew,  establishes  it  in  the  most  intimate  communion  with  God,  and 
continues  to  work  within  all  men,  who  do  not  show  themselves  in- 
capable of  its  graces,  or,  as  the  council  expresses  it,  do  not  place  an 
obstacle  in  the  way.* 

The  doctrine  of  justification, — according  to  which  the  divine  activity 
precedes  the  human,  and  then  both,  in  case  the  latter  doth  not  obsti- 
nately resist,  constitute  one  and  the  same  divine  and  human  work,— 
recurs  in  the  theory  of  the  sacraments.     And  from  the  universal  relation 

*  Concil.  Trid.  I.e.  can.  vi.  "  Si  quis  dixerit,  Sacramenta  novae  legis  non  conti- 
nere  gratiam,  quam  significant,  aut  gratiam  ipsam  non  ponentibus  obicem  non  con. 
ferre,  quasi  signa  tantum,  etc.  anathema  srt."  Bellarmine  has  treated  this  subject  of 
the  sacraments  with  the  felicity  which  he  always  evinces  in  doctrinal  investigations  : 
"  Igitur  ut  intelligamus,'  says  he,  "  quid  sit  opus  operatum,  notandum  est  in  justifica- 
tione  quam  recipit  aliqus,  dum  percipit  sacramenta,  multa  concurrere,  nimirum,  ex 
parte  Dei,  voluntatem  utendi  ilia,  re  sensibili ;  ex  parte  Christi,  passionem  ejus ;  ex 
parte  ministri,  voluntatem,  potestatem,  probitatem  ;  ex  parte  suscipientis,  voluntatem, 
fidem,  et  paenitentiam ;  denique  ex  parte  sacramenli,  ipsam  actionem  externam,  quae 
consurgit  ex  debits,  applicaiione  materiae  et  formae.  Caeterum  ex  his  omnibus  id, 
quod  activfe  et  proximo  et  instrumentaliter  efficit  gratiam  justificationis,  est  sola  actio 
ilia  externa,  qute  sacramentum  dicitur,  et  heec  vocatur  opus  operatum,  accipiendo 
passivfe  (operatum,!  ita  ut  idem  sit  sacramentum  conferre  gratiam  ex  opere  oper. 
ato,  quod  conferre  gratiam  ex  vi  ipsius  actionis  sacramentalis  a  Deo  ad  hoc  insti. 
tutae,  non  ex  merito  agentis  vel  suscipientis."  After  proving  all  that  has  been  here 
stated,  and  in  reference  to  what  has  been  said  of  the  minister,  after  showing  that  his 
will  only  is  necessary,  Bellarmine  continues  :  "  Voluntas,  fides,  et  poenitentia  in  sus- 
cipiente  adulto  necessarift  requiruntur,  ut  dispositiones  ex  parte  subjecti.  non  ut 
causae  activae  ;  non  enim  fides  et  poenitentia  effiiciunt  gratiam  sacramentalem,  neque 
dant  efEcaciam  sacramenti,  sed  solum  tolluntobstacula,  quae  impedirent,  ne  sacramen- 
ta suam  efficaciam  exercere  possent,  unde  in  pueris  ubi  non  requiritur  dispositio, 
sine  his  rebus  fit  justificatio.  Exemplum  esse  potest  in  re  naturali.  Si  ad  ligna  com- 
burcnda  primum  exsiccarentur  ligna,  deinde  excuteretur  ignis  exsilice,  tum  applicare- 
tur  ignis  ligno,  et  sic  tandem  fieret  combustio,  nemo  diceret  causam  immediatam 
combustionis  esse  siccitatem,  aut  cxcussionem  ignis  ex  silice.  aut  applicationem  ig- 
nis ad  ligna,  sed  solum  ignem,  ut  causam  primariam,  et  solis  calorem,  seu  calefaction- 
em,  ut  causam  instrumentalem."     Bellarm.  de  Sacram.  1.  ii.  c.  1. 1.  iii.  p.  108-9. 


282  EXPOSITION  OF  DOCTRINAL  DIFFERENCES 

which,  according  to  CathoHc  doctrine,  exists  between  grace  and  free- 
will, we  might  infer,  that  the  opus  operatum  doth  not  establish  a 
divine  activity  only,  nor  imply  a  mere  inertness  on  the  part  of  man.* 

That  Catholics  reckon  seven  sacraments,  needs  no  further  evidence  ; 
but  Catholics,  we  may  notice  in  passing,  assert  of  no  sacrament,  that 
its  reception  is  entirely  and  absolutely  necessary  to  salvation.  So,  for 
instance,  the  ardent  desire  of  a  catechumen  for  baptism,  when  in- 
vincible outward  obstacles  prevent  its  accomplishment,  is  sufficient. 
God,  who  freely  chooses  one  mode  of  communicating  to  us  His  grace, 
can  make  use  of  another ;  but  it  is  not  for  man  to  reject,  according  to 
his  caprice,  the  means  of  salvation  offered  to  him  by  Christ,  and  to 
prefer  another  path  of  grace.  This  would  argue  a  very  gross  presump- 
tion, and  be  a  most  culpable  contempt  of  the  divine  ordinances.  A 
spirituality  of  this  kind  is,  with  all  its  pretensions  to  refinement,  nought 
else  than  a  coarse,  carnal  arrogance. 


§  xxLx. — Lutheran  doctrine  of  the  Sacraments  in  general.     Consequences  of  this 

doctrine. 

At  the  commencement  of  the  Reformation,  Luther  and  Melancthon 
evinced  on  this  matter  the  most  decided  opposition  to  the  Catholic 
Church  ;  and  the  internal  ground  of  this  opposition  lay  entirely  in  their 
one-sided  conception  of  the  justification  of  man  before  God.  Hereby 
especially  the  communication  of  really  sanctifying  graces,  by  means  of 
the  sacraments,  was  thrown  into  the  back-ground,  nay,  even  totally 
called  in  question  ;  just  as  if  the  Reformers  dreaded  being  sanctified. 
The  highest  point  to  which  they  could  rise,  was  the  one-sided  view  of 
the  sacraments,  considered  as  pledges  of  the  truth  of  the  Divine  pro- 
mises for  the  forgiveness  of  sins.  The  sacraments,  accordingly,  were 
to  have  no  other  destination,  than  to  make  the  faithful  receiver  assured 
that  his  debt  of  sins  was  remitted,  and  to  console  and  to  quiet  him. 

The  sacraments  being  now  no  longer  considered  as  channels  of  grace, 
which  convey  an  internal  sanctifying  power,  and  proffer  it  to  man,  their 
effects  were  necessarily  confined  to  the  subjective  acts  of  the  individual 
at  the  moment  of  reception  ;  and  it  was  asserted,  that  the  participation 


*  Let  the  reader  compare  Sess.  vi.  c.  vi.  of  the  Council  of  Trent  with  what  will 
be  said  below  respecting  penance.  Many  divines,  moreover,  along  with  Bellarmine 
in  the  passage  just  cited,  bring,  in  connection  with  the  doctrme  of  the  opus  operatum, 
the  fact,  that  the  efficacy  of  the  sacraments  is  not  determined  by  the  virtue  and  piety 
of  those  who  dispense  them. 


BETWEEN  CATHOLICS  AND  PROTESTANTS.  283 

of  them  was  only  in  so  far  attended  with  fruit,  as  faith  in  the  forgive- 
ness of  sins  existed. 

Hereby,  therefore,  in  the  first  place,  the  opus  operatum— the  objective 
character  of  these  means  of  grace— was  of  necessity  rejected  ;  and 
everything  drawn  down  into  the  sphere  of  the  subjective.  A  second 
point  of  opposition  was  formed  by  the  Lutheran  notion  of  a  sacrament, 
as  above  described ;  inasmuch  as  Catholics,  with  whom  forgiveness  of 
sins  and  sanctification  are  one  and  the  same  divine  act,  understand 
both,  by  the  justification  produced  or  augmented  by  the  medium  of  the 
sacraments. 

As  it  is  by  the  right  use  of  the  sacraments  that  man  is  sanctified,  so 
it  is  by  the  same  means  that  his  sins  are  forgiven  him,  or,  when  these 
are  already  forgiven,  that  sanctifying  grace  is  increased.  On  the  other 
hand,  the  Reformers,  whose  system  everywhere  lays  too  exclusive  a 
stress  on  the  pardon  of  sins,  teach  that  even  the  sacraments  serve  only 
as  instruments  for  confirming  faith  in  this  remission  of  sins.  In  the 
first  edition  of  his  "  Loci  Theologici,"*  Melancthon  betrays  not  even  a 
perception  of  any  deeper  or  more  comprehensive  notion  of  the  sacra- 
ments, than  the  one  here  stated ;  and  Luther,  in  his  work  on  the 
Babylonish  captivity  of  the  Church,  unfolds  no  other  view.f 

In  regard  to  the  distinction  between  the  symbols  of  the  Old  Testa- 
ment and  the  Sacraments  of  the  New,  Catholic  theologians  were  wont 
to  teach,  that  the  former  imparted  no  justifying  grace,  that  placed  us 
in  a  real,  vital  communion  with  God,  but  that  the  latter  did  so.     This 


*  P.  46  :  "  Apparet  quam  nihil  sacramenta  sint,  nisi  fidei  exercendas  fAvufxoa-vv^.'^ 
P.  141,  et  seq. :  "Nostra  imbecillitas  signis  erigitur,  ne  de  misericordia  Dei  inter  tot 
insultus  peccati  desperet.  Non  aliter  atque  pro  signo  favoris  divini  haberes,  si  ipse 
tecum  coram  colloqueretur,  si  peculiare  aliquod  pignus  misericordife,  qualecunque  mi- 
raculum  tibi  exliiberet :  decet  de  his  te  signis  sentire,  ut  tam  certo  credas,  tui  miser- 
tmn  esse  Deum,  cum  bcneficium  accipis,  cum  paiticipas  mcnsce  Domini,  quam  credi- 
turus  tibi  videris,  si  ipse  tecum  colloqueretur  Deus,  aut  aliud  quidquam  ederet  mira- 
culi,  quod  ad  te  peculiariter  pertineret.  Fidei  excitandae  gratia,  signa  sunt  proposita. 
Probabilis  et  illi  voluntatis  sunt,  qui  symbolis  seu  tesseris  militaribus  haec  signa  com- 
paraverunt,  quod  essent  notae  tantum,  quibus  cognosceretur,  ad  quos  pertinerent  pro- 
missiones  divinas." 

t  Op.  Jen.  tom.  iii.  fol.  266,  b.  "  Omnia  sacramenta  ad  fidem  alendam  sunt  in- 
stituta."  289,  b  :  "  Error  enim  est  sacramenta  novte  legis  differre  a  sacramentis  ve- 
teris  legis  penes  efficaciam  significationis."  287  :  "  Ita  nee  verum  esse  potest, 
sacramentis  inesse  vimefRcacem  justificationis,  seu  esse  signa  efficacia  gratife.  Haec 
enim  omnia  dicuntur  in  jacturam  fidei,  ex  ignorantiS,  promissionis  divinEB.  Nisi  hoc 
modo  efRcacia  dlxeris,  quod  si  adsit  fides  indubitata,  certissirae  et  eflicacissime  grati- 
am  conferunt." 


284  EXPOSITION  OF  DOCTRINAL  DIFFERENCES 

distinction  the  Protestants  evidently  could  not  approve,  since  they  held 
justification  and  sanctification  as  separate  things,  and  asserted  that  the 
former  was  determined  only  by  faith.  What  prevented  them,  how- 
ever, from  maintaining  that  our  means  of  salvation  were  the  channels 
of  truly  sanctifying  graces,  as  cannot  be  asserted  of  the  Jewish  sym- 
bols ?  But  Melancthon  writes  : — Circumcision  is  nothing  ;  so  is  bap- 
tism nothing  ;  the  communion  of  the  Lord's  Supper  is  nothing ;  they 
are  rather  testimonies  and  «-i?f«y/<rfj  (seals)  of  the  Divine  will  toward 
thee  ;  through  them  is  thy  conscience  assured,  if  it  ever  doubted  of  the 
graciousness  and  the  good-will  of  God  in  thy  regard."  Here  baptism 
and  the  holy  communion  are  ranked  indiscriminately  with  circumcision  ; 
and,  like  it,  are  represented  as  mere  signs  of  covenant.  Melancthon, 
however,  expresses  himself  still  more  distinctly  on  this  point :  he  likens 
the  sacraments  of  the  New  Law  to  the  signs,  which  were  given  to 
Gideon,  to  assure  him  of  the  victory  he  would  gain.  Herein,  however, 
we  must  beware  not  to  alter  the  point  of  comparison,  which  Melanc- 
thon wishes  to  institute.  He  does  not  mean  to  say,  that  in  the  same 
manner  as  the  pledge,  given  to  Gideon,  afforded  him  the  certainty  that 
he  would  overcome  the  adversaries  of  God's  people,  so  the  sacraments 
are  to  us  a  sign  of  victory  that  we  shall  conquer  our  enemy,  namely, 
evil.  No,  in  the  opinion  of  Melancthon,  the  resemblance  consists  only 
in  the  abstract  assurance.  In  the  one  case,  the  assurance  refers  to  the 
fact,  that  Israel  would  come  victorious  out  of  the  impending  contest ; 
in  the  other,  it  implies  only  that  we  should  derive  consolation,  even 
were  we  to  succumb  in  the  struggle.  So  mean  a  conception  of  the 
sacraments  necessarily  led  to  the  view,  that  they  operate  only  through 
faith  in  the  Divine  promise  of  the  forgiveness  of  sins. 

It  was  only  in  course  of  the  disputes  with  the  fanatics,  as  Luther 
called  them,  or  with  the  Sacramentarians,  that  the  Reformers  of  Wit- 
temberg  approximated  again  to  the  doctrine  of  the  Church.  Already 
the  Confession  of  Augsburg  expresses  itself,  though  indefinitely  enough, 
yet  still  in  a  manner  to  enable  Catholics  to  declare  themselves  tolera- 
bly satisfied  with  it. 

The  "  Apology "  is  still  more  explicit,  for,  in  a  few  brief  words,  it 
says,  that  a  sacrament  is  a  ceremony,  or  a  work  instituted  by  God, 
wherein  that  is  represented  to  us,  which  the  grace  annexed  to  the  cere- 
mony proffers.* 


*  Confess.  August.  Art.  xiii.  *'  De  us<l  sacramentoram  docent,  quod  sacramenta 
instituta  sint,  non  mode  ut  sint  notae  professionis  inter  homines,  sed  magis  ut  sint  signa 
et  testimonia  voluntatis  Dei  erga  nos,  ad  excitandam  et  coniirmandain  fidem  in  his, 


BETWEEN  CATHOLICS  AND  PROTESTANTS,  28& 

But,  by  degrees,  the  Lutherans  again  adopted  the  entire  notion  of 
the  opus  operatum,  although  they  continue,  even  down  to  the  present 
day,  to  protest  against  it — a  protest  which  can  be  accounted  for  only 
by  their  apparent  ignorance  of  the  origin  of  the  Lutheran  opposition  to 
the  same,  and  by  the  arbitrary  signification  they  have  attached  to  the 
Catholic  doctrine.*  Thus,  in  course  of  time,  no  important  difference 
inherent  in  the  nature  of  things  could  be  pointed  out  J  but,  as  a  dis- 
pute had  once  existed  between  Catholics  and  Protestants,  and  the  later 
Protestants  would  not  acknowledge  the  mistakes  of  the  elder  ones,  they 
saw  themselves  forced  to  invent  differences.  Even  Chemnitius  gave 
Luther's  original  doctrine  in  a  very  disfigured  form,  and  would  not 
avow  that  he  indulged  in  any  such  one-sided  view  of  the  sacraments, 
and  even  took  the  trouble  to  misrepresent  the  schoolmen,  particularly 
Gabriel  Biel,  in  order  to  conceal  from  the  eye  of  uninformed  readers 
Luther's  own  variations.f 

Meanwhile  the  original  view  of  Luther  on  the  sacraments  (though, 
as  the  correction,  which  shortly  after  was  made  in  it,  showed  it  had 
arisen  out  of  a  heedless  spirit  of  opposition,  and  from  want  of  serious 
reflection,)  produced  very  important  consequences.  As  the  aforesaid 
means  of  salvation,  according  to  this  theory,  were,  by  their  symbolical 
character,  destined  only  to  confirm  and  consolidate  faith  in  the  forgive- 
ness of  sins  ;  so  the  number  of  the  old  ecclesiastical  sacraments  must 
of  necessity  be  diminished.  Every  one  at  the  first  glance  must  per- 
ceive, that  matrimony  could  no  longer  be  numbered  among  these,  for 
it  was  assuredly  not  instituted  to  serve  as  a  pledge  for  the  forgiveness 
of  sins.  Even  the  signification  of  holy  orders  could  no  more  be  appreci- 
ated, since  this  sacrament  was  as  little  destined  to  nourish  and  foster 
the  faith  of  the  person  ordained,   that  his  sins  were  remitted.^     In 


qui  utuntur,  proposita.  Itaque  utendum  est  sacramentis,  ita  ut  fides  accedat,  quae 
credat  promissioiiibus,  quse  per  sacramenta  exhibentur  et  ostenduntur."  Apolog.  p. 
178  :  "  Sacramenta  vocamus  ritus,  qui  habent  mandatum  Dei,  et  quibus  addita  est 
promissio  pfratise."  P.  206  :  ''  Sacramentum  est  ceremonia  vel  opus,  in  quo  Deua 
nobis  exhibet  hoc,  quod  ofFert  annexa  ceremonise  gratia." 

*  Marheineke  admits  this  at  least,  and  says  the  difference  between  the  two  con- 
feasions  consists  simply  in  this,  that  Catholics  teach,  "  sacramenta  continere  gra- 
tiam."  Protestants,  on  the  other  hand,  inculcate  "  sacramenta  confcrre  gratiara." 
Catholics  make  use  of  both  expressions,  as  may  be  seen  from  what  has  been  already 
stated.  But  how  far  the  continere  is  unsuited  to  the  Protestant  theory,  the  in,  sub 
et  cum  pane  clearly  point  out. 

+  Chemnit.  Exam.  ^  H,  p.  39.  His  misrepresentations  are  well  pointed  out  by 
Bellarmine  in  his  work  "  De  Sacramentis,"  1.  ii.  p.  110. 

i  Melancth.  loc,  theolog.  p.  157.     "Matrimonium  non  esse  institutura  ad  signifi- 


S86  EXPOSITION  OF  DOCTRINAL  DIFFERENCES 

short,  the  number  of  seven  sacraments  (in  direct  contradiction  to  Scrip» 
turc,  and  the  well-founded  tradition  of  the  Catholic,  as  well  as  of  the 
orthodox  Greek  Church,  nay,  even  of  the  Nestorians  and  Monophy- 
sites,  who,  fourteen  hundred  years  ago,  separated  from  the  communion 
of  these  Churches,)  was  reduced  to  two  ;  and  merely  the  sacraments  of 
baptism  and  the  Lord's  supper  retained  ;  although  the  two  so  retained 
could  not  even  be  understood.  Confirmation  was  only  to  be  a  renewal 
of  baptism  ;  and  the  Lord's  supper,  which  was  considered  merely  as  a 
pledge  of  the  forgiveness  of  sins,  was  to  supply  the  place  of  extreme 
unction  ;  for,  in  danger  of  death,  man  needed  most  the  assurance  of 
the  pardoning  mercy  of  God.  Of  penance  we  shall  have  to  speak 
more  in  detail.* 

On  the  other  hand,  it  is  evident  that  the  Catholic,  who  does  not  con- 
ceive the  believer  under  the  one-sided  view  of  a  man  that,  for  Christ's 
sake,  has  obtained  merely  the  remission  of  his  sins ;  but,  under  the 
living  believer,  understands  a  man  redeemed  from  sin,  and  consecrated 
to  God  in  mind  and  sense,  needs  a  circle  of  sacraments,  embracing  all 
the  important  events  of  life,  and  reflecting  the  ever-recurring  view  of 
his  earthly  pilgrimage,-^a  circle  of  sacraments  which  symbolically  ex- 
press the  high  relation  of  each  passage  of  his  life  to  the  atonement  of 
Christ,  and  guarantee  and  really  impart  the  divine  energ\',  which  is 
requisite  to  its  beginning  and  its  consummation. 

The  entanglement  of  man  with  the  lower  world,  w^hich  since  Adam^s 
disobedience,  hath  been  subjected  to  a  curse,  is  revealed  in  the  most 
diverse  ways.  Even  so  diverse  are  the  ways  whereby  we  are  raised  up 
to  a  world  of  a  higher  order,  in  and  by  the  fellowship  with  Christ. f     If, 


candam  gratiam  "  (gratia  is  here  only  the  divine  forgiveness  of  sins)  "  non  est  quod 
dubitemus.  Quid  autem  in  mentem  venit  iis,  qui  inter  signa  gratias  ordinem  nume- 
"rarunt  ?     Cum  non  aliud  sit  ordo,  quam  deligi  ex  ecclesid  eos,  qui  decent,"  etc. 

*  Melancth.  1.  c.  p.  156.  "  Signum  gratiae  certum  est  participatio  mensa3,  hoc 
est,  raanducare  corpus  Christi  et  bibere  sanguinem.  Sic  enim  ait  ...  .  quoties  fece- 
ritis,  facite  in  memoriam  mei.  Id  est  :  cum  facitis,  admoneamini  Evangelii,  sen 
remissionis  peccatorum.  .  .  .  Est  autem  significatio  hujus  sacramenti,  confirmare 
nos  toties,  quoties  labescunt  conscicntiEB,  quoties  de  voluntate  Dei  erga  nos  dubita- 
mus."  i^That  is  to  say,  as  often  as  we  doubt,  whether  God  be  earnest  in  forgiving  us 
our  sins.)  "  Id  cum  abas  sape,  tum  maxime,  cum  moriendum  est,  accidit.  Unc- 
tionem  arbitror  esse  earn,  de  qua,  Marci  vi,"  .  .  .  (the  fourteenth  verse  of  the  fifth 
chapter  of  James  did  not  then  occur  to  his  mind  !)  "  Sed  ea  signa  esse  tradita,  ut 
certo  significent  gratiam,  non  video."     (As  if  it  were  not  expressly  stated  in  James : 

t  Thorn.  Aquinas  (Summ.  p.  iii.  q.  Ixv.  art.  i.  p.  296)  objects  :  "  Videtur,  quod  non 
debeant  esse  septem  sacramenta.     Sacramenta  enim  efficaciam  habent  ex  virtute 


BFITWEEN  CATHOLICS  AND  PROTESTANTS.  287 

by  earthly  generation  and  birth,  we  have  been  brought  into  a  general 
connexion  with  this  distracted  world ;  so,  in  our  maturer  years,  this 
connexion  ever  meets  us  in  more  special  relations,  and  in  more  definite 
forms :  and  what,  by  our  birth,  was  deposited  as  a  germ,  is  now  ex- 
panded, and  thereby  realized  and  strengthened.  But  man  feels  him- 
self ever  more  and  more  strongly  straitened  by  the  laws  of  this  world, 

divina  ex  et  virtute  passionis  Christ!.  Sed  una  est  virtus  divina  et  una  Christi  passio  : 
una  enim  oblatione  consummavit  in  sempiternum  sanctificatos."  Among  other 
tilings,  he  replies  :  "  Dicendum  quod  sacramenta  ecclesi®  ordinantur  ad  duo,  scihcet 
ad  perficienduni  hominem  in  his,  quce  pertinent  ad  cultum  Dei  secundum  religionem 
Christians  vitsB,  et  etiam  in  rcmedium  contra  defectum  peccati.  Utroque  autem 
niodo  convenienter  ponuntur  septem  sacramenta.  Vita  enim  spirituahs  conformita- 
tem  ahquam  habet  ad  vitam  corporalem,  sicut  et  caetera  corporaHa  conformitatem 
quandam  spirituahum  habent.  In  vita  autem  corporali  dupliciter  ahquis  perficitur. 
Uno  modo  quantum  ad  personam  propriam,  alio  modo  per  respectum  ad  totara  cora- 
munitatcm  societatis,  in  qua  vivit :  quia  homo  naturaliter  est  animal  sociale.  Re- 
?pcctu  autem  sui  ipsius  perficitur  homo  in  vita  corporali  dupliciter.  Uno  modo  per 
se,  acquirendo  scilicet  aliquam  vitro  perfectionem :  alio  modo  per  accidens,  scilicet 
removendo  impedimenta  vitffi,  puta  asgritudines  vel  aliquid  hujusmodi.  Per  se  autem 
jjcrficitur  corporalis  vita  tripliciter.  Pn'mo  qUidem  per  generationem,  per  quam  homo 
incipit  esse  et  vivcre.  Et  loco  hujus  in  spirituali  vita  est  baptismus,  qui  est  spiritualis 
regcneratio :  sf:cundum  illud  ad  Titum  iii.  Secundo,  per  augmentum,  quo  aliquis 
perducitur  ad  perfectam  quantitatcm  et  virtutem.  Et  loco  hujus  in  spirituali  vita 
est  confirmatio,  in  qua  datur  sanctitas  et  robur.  Unde  dicitur  discipulis,  jam  bapti- 
zatis,  Luc.  ult.  :  '  Sedete  in  civitate,  quoadusque  induamini  virtute  ex  alto.'  Tertio 
per  nutritionem,  qua  conservatur  in  homine  vita  et  virtus.  Et  loco  hujus  in  spirituali 
vita  est  Eucharistia,  unde  dicitur,  Joann.  vi.,  '  Nisi  manducaveritis  carnem  filii  ho- 
minis  et  biberltis  ejus  sanguinem,  non  habebitis  vitam  in  vobis.'  Et  hoc  quidem 
sufEceret  homini,  si  haberet  et  corporaliter  et  spiritualiter  impassibilem  vitam.  Sed 
quia  homo  incurrit  intcrdum  et  corporalem  infirmitatem  et  spiritualcm,  scilicet  pecca- 
tum,  ideo  necessaria  est  homini  curatio  ab  infirmitate.  Quae  quidem  est  duplex,  una 
quidem  est  sanatio,  quae  sanitatem  restituit.  Et  loco  hujus  in  spirituali  vita  est  pceni- 
tentia,  secundum  illud  Psalmi :  '  sana  animam  meam,  quia  peccavi  tibi.'  Alia  autem 
est  restitutio  valetudinis  pristinae  per  convenientem  diaetem  et  exercitium.  Et  loco 
hujus  in  spirituali  vita  est  extrema  unctio,  quae  removet  peccatorum  reliquias,  et 

hominem  paratum  reddit  ad  finalem  gloriam,  unde  dicitur,  Jac.  v Perficitur 

autem  homo  in  ordme  ad  totam  communitatem  dupliciter.  Uno  modo  per  hoc,  quod 
accipit  potestatem  rcgendi  multitudinem  seu  exercendi  actus  publicos.  Et  loco  hujus 
in  spirituali  vita  est  sacramentum  ordinis,  secundum  illud,  Hebr.  vii.,  '  quod  sacer- 
dotes  hostias  offcrunt  non  tantum  pro  se,  sed  etiam  pro  populo.'  Secundo,  quantum 
ad  naturalem  propagationem  :  quod  fit  per  raatrimonium  tam  in  corporali  quam  in 
spirituali  vita,  ex  eo  quod  non  solum  est  sacramentum,  sed  naturae  ofEcium.  Ex  his 
etiam  patct  sacramcntonim  numerus,  secundum  quod  ordinantur  contra  defectum 
peccati.  Nam  baptismus  ordmatur  contra  carentiam  vitae  spiritualis :  confinnatio 
contra  infirmitatem  animi,  quae  in  nuper  natis  invenitur  :  Eucharistia  contra  labihta- 
tem  animi  ad  peccandum :  poenitentia  contra  actuale  peccatum,  post  baptismum 
commissum,"  etc. 


288  EXPOSITION  OF  DOCTRINAL  DIFFERENCES 

—they  encompass  him  with  ever-growing  force ;  and  of  his  own  free 
choice,  as  well  as  under  a  sort  of  mysterious  necessity,  he  contracts, 
with  a  being  of  his  own  kind,  the  closest  alliance  in  the  bonds  of 
earthly  and  sexual  love,  in  order  to  provide  for  the  perpetuity  of  his 
species,  and  thereby  for  the  whole  economy  of  this  lower  world.  Here- 
by he  becomes  at  once  an  active  and  efficient  member  of  the  state, 
which  is  itself  a  larger,  but  ever  limited  circle  of  families,  who,  usually 
having  all  sprung  from  one  and  the  same  progenitor,  have,  through 
their  opposition  to  other  associations  of  families,  been  drawn  into  pecu- 
liar destinies,  and  thereby  received  the  impress  of  a  special  character ; 
while,  in  a  common  order,  and  for  mutual  protection  against  such  an 
opposition,  they  maintain  themselves  with  all  the  individual  interests 
determined  by  such  a  state  of  things.  If,  when  once  man  hath  come 
into  the  world,  all  the  relations  we  have  adverted  to  take  place  only 
at  particular  periods  of  his  life,  there  are  others  again  which  pervade 
every  stage  of  his  existence.  Self-preservation  forms  the  centre  point 
of  all  earthly  exertion,  which  is  concentrated  in  the  care  for  one's  live- 
lihood. Much  as  thou  mayest  strive,  0  man  !  by  a  new  recruiting  of 
thy  bodily  strength,  to  renovate  thy  earthly  existence,  the  seed  of  death 
was  laid  in  the  first  moment  of  thy  life, — it  announces  its  being  amid 
the  fairest  bloom  of  personal  charms, — it  waxes  more  and  more  in 
strength,  and,  at  last,  overmasters  life  itself.  Thus,  in  various  alter- 
nations of  earthly  action  and  suffering,  of  joy  and  of  sorrow,  doth  the 
end  of  life  unavoidably  grow  out  of  the  beginning ;  it  is  betokened  by 
sicknesses  of  various  kinds,  until  the  creature,  that  had  sprung  out  of 
dust  and  ashes,  again  resolves  into  the  same. 

To  this  inferior  order  of  things,  the  Church,  in  virtue  of  the  commis- 
sion given  to  her  by  Christ,  opposes  a  higher  order,  not  to  annihilate 
the  former,  but  to  bestow  on  it  the  blessings  of  redemption,  to  explain 
its  significancy,  and  to  purify,  by  heavenly  influences,  all  the  stages  of 
earthly  and  sinful  existence  ;  to  raise  humanity  again  up  to  God,  as 
through  Adam  it  had  fallen,  and  to  exalt  time  into  eternity.  Symboli- 
cal signs  bring  the  higher  world  more  immediately  within  the  percep- 
tion of  sense,  and  withal  convey  from  that  world  the  capacity  for  its 
influence.  To  the  earthly  birth,  stained  with  sin,  the  spiritual  second 
birth  for  heaven  is  annexed.  At  the  moment  when  the  growing  perils 
of  the  world  threaten  to  encompass  the  individual,  and  lay  fast  hold 
upon  him,  cometh  the  confirmation  of  his  spirit,  by  the  Spirit  from 
above,  to  enable  him  to  encounter  the  arduous  impending  struggle. 
The  earthly  sexual  intercourse,  calculated  as  it  is  to  draw  down  man  to 
destruction,  into  the  lowest  depths  of  terrestrial  existence,  is  transform- 
ed into  a  heavenly  alliance ;  and  sensuality,  which  is  opposed  to  all 


ISETWEEN  CATHOLICS  AND   PROTESTANTS.  289 

'  "icrmanent  connexion,  is  subdued  in  Christ  the  Lord,  and  made  instru= 
mental  to  the  indissoluble  union  of  spirits.  If  by  marriage  man  con- 
tracts a  more  intimate  allianc6  with  the  earthly  and  limited  existence 
of  the  state  ;  so  marriage  is  sanctified  by  a  symbolical  action,  which, 
while  it  consecrates  it  to  be  the  central  organ  for  the  union  of  all  be- 
lievers, makes  them  consider  themselves  members  of  an  all-embracing 
divine  kingdom  on  earth,  which,  totally  distinct  from  circumscribed 
terrestrial  kingdoms,  is  destined  to  permeate  all  these,  and  to  vivify 
them  with  its  s|)irit ;  in  the  same  way  as  the  individual's  ecclesiastical 
life  should  pervade  his  civil  existence.  If  matrimony  be  the  vital  con- 
dition, not  only  of  states,  but  of  all  earthly  existence,  and  of  its  regular 
.progress,  so  Holy  Orders  are  the  condition  to  all  ecclesiastical  life,  and 
all  the  other  sacraments.  In  opposition  to  the  earthly  nurture,  and  the 
perishable  food,  the  celestial  Bread  is  offered  us  for  our  lasting  spiritual 
sustenance  through  life  ;  so  that  the  Table  of  the  Lord  forms  the  centre- 
point  of  divine  service  and  religious  existence,  as  the  table  of  the  father 
of  the  family  constitutes  the  centre  of  domestic  service  and  civil  life. 
If  in  the  violent  obstructions  of  bodily  organism  the  foe  of  earthly  life 
manifests  himself,  so  Extreme  Unction  imparts  strength  and  consola^- 
tion, — warning  us,  that,  in  every  case,  the  real  man  is  redeemed  by  a 
higher  power  ;  and  this,  especially  in  the  approaching  dissolution  of 
the  bond  between  body  and  soul,  never  fails  of  its  effect.  The  holy 
action  devoted  to  the  cure  of  the  penitent  sinner,  who,  after  being  in- 
corporated into  the  Church,  hath  grievously  fallen,  cannot  be  conceived 
as  a  normal  principle  in  the  history  of  the  spiritual  life  ;  for,  otherwises 
the  fall  after  regeneration  would  come  to  be  regarded  as  unavoidable 
and  necessarjs — that  is  to  say,  as  no  sin.  But  yet  it  hath  been  ordain- 
ed by  God's  mercy  as  an  extraordinary  dispensation  of  grace ;  and  so 
the  septenary  number  of  sacraments  is  now  filled  up. 

Protestantism  despaired  of  the  possibility  of  the  earthly  being  quite 
ipervaded  by  the  heavenly  element,  and  of  the  former  being  viewed 
through  the  medium  of  the  latter  ;  and  hence  it  was  forced,  not  only  to 
reject  the  doctrine  of  seven  sacraments  as  the  effect  of  human  pre- 
sumption, struggling  against  an  unavoidable  necessity  ;  but,  in  the  two 
sacraments  it  retained,  it  saw  only  the  principle  of  the  forgiveness  of 
sins,  rendered  necessary  in  consequence  of  the  indomitable  carnal  spirit 
of  man. 

18 


290  EXPOSITION  OF  DOCTRINAL  DIFFEfKENCES 

t  jjj.. Fuither  consequences  of  the  original  Lutheran  view  of  the  essence  ofss^' 

sacrament. 

That  infant  baptism,  according  to  the  Protestant  view  of  the  sacra-' 
ttients  is  an  act  utterly  incomprehensible,  cannot  be  doubted  :  for  if  it 
be  through  faith  only  that  the  sacrament  takes  effect,  of  what  value  can- 
it  be  to  the  unconscious  child  1  The  Anabaptists,  against  whom  Lu- 
ther was  so  incensed,  drew  but  the  natural  inferences  from  the  premises 
which  be  had  laid  down,  and  could  not  be  refuted  by  him  without  his 
proving  unfaithful  to  his  own  principle. 

In  the  same  way,  it  was  not  difficult  to  come  to  the  conclusion,  that, 
with  such  views,  there  was  not  the  slightest  reasan  for  adopting  a  real 
presence  of  Christ  in  the  Eucharist.  For  if  the  Lord's  Supper,  as  Luther 
said,  be  only  a  pledge  of  the  forgiveness  of  sins,  no  reason   can   be 
assigned  why  Christ  should  be  present.      The  bare  bread,  and  the  bare 
wine,  would  achieve  all  which  was  expected  of  the  sacrament.    As  little 
as  God  need  be  personally  present  in  the  rainbow,  to  make  that  natural 
phenomenon — selected  as  a  token  of  promise  to  the  infant  world,  that 
the  inhabitants  of  the  earth   should  never  more  be  destroyed  by  a 
^gluo-e — =attain  its  pacifying  end ;  so  little  is  the  real   presence  of  the 
Saviour  necessary  in  the  sacrament  of  the  altar,  if  it  be  to  serve  only 
as  a  pledge  of  the  remission  of  sins.     This  Andrew  Carlstadt  perceived ; 
and,  from   the  very  principle  laid  down  by  Luther,  as  to  the  mode  of 
viewing  a  sacrament,  he  drew  conclusions  against  the  real  presence  of 
Christ  in  the  Lord's  Supper ;   and,  in  our  opinion,  Plank  should  not 
have  doubted  whether  Carlstadt  had  not  really  been  conducted  in  this 
way  to  the  denial  of  the  Real  Presence,  as  in  one  of  his  writings  he 
himself  stated  it.*     We  recognize  the  internal  consistency  and  neces- 
sity of  Carlstadt's  view,  so  soon  as  he  had  fallen  into  Luther's  one-sided 
conception  of  the  sacraments.      Here,  it  appears  to  us,  we  have  found 
the  clue  for  explaining  the  fact,  that,  shortly  after  the  breaking  out  of 
the  dispute  adverted  to,   Luther  wrote,  in  the  following   manner,  to 
Bucer  and  Capito,  who  had  requested  of  him  an  elucidation  of  the  dif- 
ficulties which  Carlstadt  had  raised  against  the  real  presence  of  Christ 
in  the  sacrament  of  the  altar.     He  says,  that  five  years  previously  he 
had  come  to  the  same  opinion  as  Carlstadt  had  arrived  at,  and  would 
willingly  have  enforced  it,  "in  order  to  be  able  to  give  a  blow  to  the  Pa- 


*  Plank,  History  of  the  rise,  &c.  of  the  Protestant  system  of  doctrine,  2d  boofc, 
,  215. 


BETWEEN  CATHOLICS  AND  PROTESTANTS.  291 

pacy,"  had  he  not  been  deterred  by  the  clear  words  of  Scripture.* 
His  whole  theory  of  the  sacraments  led  him  to  the  adoption  of  Carl- 
stadt's  view  ;  and  what  with  repugnance  he  saw  himself  forced  to 
revere  as  Scriptural,  possessed  in  his  system  no  internal  consistency. 
With  the  same  urgency  should  Luther's  opinion,  that  the  foundations 
of  the  Church  had  been  shaken,  since  it  had  fallen  into  essential  errors, 
have  led  him  to  dispute  the  true  presence  of  the  Lord  in  the  sacrament. 
For  it  was,  doubtless,  inconsistent  to  admit,  on  the  one  hand,  a  real, 
and  therefore  efficacious,  presence  of  Christ  in  the  Church  ;  and  on  the 
other  hand,  to  assert,  that  she  had  fallen  away  from  Him,  or  rather. 
He  had  withdrawn  from  her,  and,  in  matters  of  such  vast  moment,  had 
suffered  her  to  walk  her  own  way. 

If  we  be  justified,  perhaps,  in  assuming,  that  Luther's,  and,  more 
especially,  3Ielancthon's,  general  exposition  of  the  sacraments,  had 
prepared  the  way  for  the  original  Helvetic  view  of  the  Lord's  Supper 
(for  the  conclusions,  which  Luther  himself  was  so  disposed  to  draw, 
pressed  not  less  urgently  on  the  minds  of  others  ;)  so,  on  a  nearer  con- 
sideration,  we  may  discover,  in  this  exposition,  the  source  whence 
emanated  the  rejection  of  all  the  sacraments,  or,  at  least,  that  indiffer- 
ence for  them,  to  which,  in  the  first  period  of  the  Reformation,  we 
discern  so  strong  a  propensity,  as,  for  instance,  in  Carlstadt  and 
Schwenkfeld.  Luther,  and  especially  Melancthon,  had  more  than  once 
asserted,  that  he,  who  held  fast  in  faith  to  the  Divine  promise,  did  not 
even  need  the  sacraments. f  Hence,  against  the  doctrine,  that  sacra- 
ments are  the  pledges  of  the  forgiveness  of  sins,  Carlstadt  observes  : 
"  he  who  hath  the  right  remembrance  of  Christ,  is  sure  of  his  redemp- 
tion, and  hath  peace  in  God  through  Christ, — not  through  the  sacrament. 

*  E  M Cinch,  in  Bilibald  Pirkheimer's  Schweizer-Krieg,  p.  54,  communicates  a 
letter  of  this  scholar  to  Melancthon,  wherein  the  same  view  appears  to  be  stated. 
It  is  said  :  "  So  QEcolampadjus,  Zwingle,  and  others,  are  highly  opposed  to  Luther; 
and  if  Luther  had  not  investigated  the  matter  so  deeply,  and  had  not  engaged  in  so 
strenuous  an  opposition  against  Dr.  Carlstadt,  he  would  have  been  the  leader  in  this 
cursed  error."  Pirkheimer  means  to  say,  that  it  was  only  out  of  opposition  to  Carl- 
stadt, that  Luther  had  been  brought  back  to  the  doctrine  of  a  real  presence  of  Clm'st 
in  the  Lord's  supper. 

t  Melancthon  loc  theol.  p.  142.  "Sine  signo  restitui  Ezechias  potuit,  si  nudse 
promissioni  credere  voluisset :  vel  sine  signo  Gideon  victurus  erat,  si  crcdidisset.  Ita 
sine  signo  justificari  potes,  mode  credas.''  Luther  de  captivit.  Babylon.  1.  c.  fol. 
280  :  "  Neque  enim  Deus  aliter  cum  hominibus  egit  aut  agit,  quam  verbo  promis- 
sionis.  Rursus  nee  nos  cum  Deo  unquam  aliter  agere  possumus,  quam  fide  in  ver- 
bum  promissionis  ejus.  Opera  ille  nihil  curat,  nee  eis  indiget,  quibus  potius  erga 
homines  et  cum  hominibus  et  nobis  ipsis  agimus."  Fol.  286,  b  :  "  Qui  eis  credit,  is 
implet  ea,  etiamsi  nihil  operetur." 


292  EXPOSITION  OF  DOCTRINAL  DIFFERENCES 

If  Christ  be  our  peace  and  our  assurance,  then  creatures  without  soul 
cannot  tranquilHzc  us  and  make  us  secure."*  It  was  only  when  Luther 
heard  his  own  thoughts  uttered  from  the  lips  of  others,  that  he  found 
them  dangerous  and  vmtrue.  Hence,  in  his  larger  catechism,  he  suffers 
not  a  word  to  escape  him,  whereby  the  sacraments  could  be  represented 
as  anywise  superfluous  ;  nay,  with  all  earnestness,  and  the  greatest 
urgency,  he  exalts  their  power  and  efficacy. f 

§  XXXI. — Zwinglius  and  Calvin  on  the  sacraments. 

Zwinglius  formed  the  worst  and  most  miserable  conception  of  the 
sacraments,  that  it  is  possible  to  imagine  ;  yet,  in  doing  so,  as  we  have 
said,  he  merely  followed  out  the  hints  given  him  by  Luther  and  Me- 
lancthon. 

He  considers  the  sacraments  only  as  ceremonies  whereby  a  man  pro'^ 
fesses  himself  a  member  of  the  Church,  and  a  follower  of  Christ.  He 
accordingly  very  much  approves  of  the  Lutherans  throwing  aside  the 
belief  that  the  sacraments  contribute  aught  towards  justification  ;  but 
he  laments  the  more  that  they  should  still  regard  them  as  pledges  of 
the  Divine  mercy  and  favour  ;  since  he,  whose  faith  needs  such  a  con. 
firmatlon,  actually  possesses  none.  In  this  respect,  he  says,  the  recep* 
tion  of  the  sacraments  rather  affords  the  Church  an  assurance  that  her 
followers  believe,  than  that  they  themselves  become  thereby  more 
sure  and  steadfast  in  their  faith.:}: 


*  See  the  extracts  from  Carlstadt's  writing,  in  the  above  cited  work  of  Plank,  p.  218. 

t  Catech.  maj.  p.  510. 

t  De  vera,  et  falsa,  religione  Commentar.  Op.  torn.  xi.  fol.  197-9.  He  thus  con- 
cludes :  "  Sunt  ergo  sacramenta  signa  vel  ceremonise,  pace  tamen  omnium  dicam, 
sive  neoticorum  sive  veterum,  qulbus  se  homo  ecclcsiae  probat  aut  candidatum  aut 
railitem  esse  Christi,  redduntque  ecclesiam  totam  potius  certiorem  de  tuft  fide,  quam 
te.  Si  enim  fides  tua  non  aliter  fuerit  absoluta,  quam  ut  signo  ceremoniali  ad  con- 
firmationem  egeat,  fides  non  est."  De  peccato  original!  declarat.  1.  c.  fol.  122  : 
"  Signa  igitur   nihil   quam    extems   res  sunt,  quibus  nihil  in  conscientia,  eflicitur. 

Fides  autem  sola  est  qua  beamur Symbola  igitur  sunt  externa  ista  renim 

spiritualium,  et  ipsa  minime  sunt  spiritualia,  ncc  quidqua:;)  spirituale  in  nobis  per- 
ficiunt :  sed  sunt  eonun,  qui  spirituales  sunt,  quasi  tessera?."  I'^lscwhere  he  expresses 
himself,  however,  in  a  somewhat  milder  strain;  for  instance,  in  his  Fidei  Ecclesias- 
ticee  Expositio,  1.  c.  p.  551 :  "  Docemus  ergo,  sacramenta  coli  dcbcrc,  velut  res  sacras, 
ut  quae  res  sacratissimas  significent,  tam  eas,  quae  gestae  sunt,  tarn  cas  quae  nos  agere 
et  exprimere  debemus.  Ut  baptismus  significat  et  Christum  nos  sanguine  suo 
abluisse,  et  quod  nos  ilium,  ut  Paulus  docet,  induere  debemus,  hoc  est  ad  ejus  formu- 
1am  vivere  ;  sic  Eucharistia  quoque  significat  cum  omnia,  qure  nobis  divina  liberali- 
tate  per  Christum  donata  sunt,  tum  quod  grati  debemus  ea.  charitate  fratris  amplecti, 


BETWEEN  CATHOLICS  AND  PROTESTANTS.  293 

If,  contrary  to  the  clearest  teaching  of  Holy  Writ,  and  the  testimony 
of  all  Christian  ages,  Luther  and  Melancthon  had  degraded  the  sacra- 
ments into  mere  tokens  of  covenant  between  God  and  men  ;  so  Zwin- 
glius  advanced  a  step  further,  and  represented  them  as  signs  of  covenant 
between  man  and  man.  Who  could  now  connect  any  sense  with  the 
words  of  Christ :  "  He  who  bclieveth,  and  is  baptized,  shall  be  saved  ?" 
And  how  powerless  and  unmeaning  must  the  passage  of  Paul  appear, 
wherein  he  calls  baptism  '•  the  laver  of  regeneration,  and  of  the  new- 
ness of  the  Holy  Spirit  ?"  But  the  uncertainty  of  belief,  which  Zwin- 
glius  exhibits  at  the  beginning  of  his  treatise  on  the  sacraments,  is 
worthy  of  notice.  He  begs  pardon,  if  he  offends  the  opinions  of  others, 
and  he  declares  that,  with  the  exception  of  Eck  and  Emser,  he  is  at 
peace  with  every  one,  and  in  return  claims  the  indulgence  of  others 
for  himself.*  He  speaks  as  if  the  question  turned  on  mere  hiunan 
opinions — on  things  of  a  doubtful  nature  ;  just  as  if  the  Christian  Church 
were  such  a  wretched,  mismanaged  body,  that  she  did  not  even  know, 
and  could  not  know,  with  certainty,  what  it  was  which  she  daily  prac- 
tised, and  practised  at  the  command  of  Christ,  and  must  through  all 
centuries  continue  to  practise.  When  once  the  firm  ground,  and  sure 
and  eternal  footing,  is  abandoned,  then  all  must  indeed  vacillate,  and 
all  doctrines  be  abandoned  to  mere  conjecture. 

It  was  quite  in  the  opposite  sense  that  Calvin  tauglit.  His  doctrine, 
with  the  exception  of  one  point,  differs  not  at  all  from  that  of  the 
Lutheran  formularies.  Calvin  carefully  points  out  all  the  parts  of  what 
is  understood  by  a  sacrament,  and  recommends,  with  much  urgency, 
its  use.f     The  point  in  which  he  deviates  from  the  Catholic  and  the 


qua  Christus  nos  suscepit,  curavit,  ac  beatos  reddidit."  Here,  accordingly,  the  sa- 
crament signifies  something  for  the  receiver,  not  for  the  Church  only.  But  this 
writing  of  Zwinglius  was  liisswan-hke  song,  as  Bullinger  in  the  preface  to  it  asserts, 
p.  550  :  "  Nescio  quid  cygneum  viciua  inortc  cantavit."  A  very  high  strain  of  song 
truly  !  Yet  in  his  work,  Deverd  et  falsa  religione,  p.  108,  he  had  already  expressed 
himself  in  a  similar  way. 

*  De  vera  et  fals4  relig.  lib.  i.  p.  197. 

t  Calvin.  Institut.  lib.  iv.  §  3,  fol.  471.  "  Ut  exigua  est  et  imbecillis  nostra  fides, 
nisi  undique  fulciatur,  ac  modis  omnibus  sustentetur,  statim  concutitur,  fluctuatur, 
vacillat  adeoque  labescit.  Atque  ita  quidem  hie  se  captui  nostro  pro  imraeusa  sui 
indulgentia  attcmperat  miserieors  Dominus,  ut  quando  auimales  sumus,  qui  humi 
semper  adrepcntes  et  in  carne  haercntes  nihil  spirituale  cogitamus,  ac  ne  concipimus 
quidem,  dementis  etiam  istis  tcrrenis  nos  ad  se  deducere  non  gravetur,  atque  in  came 
proponere  spiritualmm  bonorum  speculum,"  etc.  Helvet.  1,  cap.  xix.  p.  65  :  "  Prae- 
dicationi  verbi  sui  adjunxit  Dcus  mox  ab  initio  in  ecclesia  sua  sacramenta  vel  signa 
sacramentalia.  Sunt  autem  sacramenta  symbola  mystica,  vel  ritus  sancti  aut  sacrae 
actiones,  i  Deo  ipso  institutae,  constantes  verbo  suo,  signis,  et  rebus  significatis,  qui- 


294  KXPOSITION  OF  DOCTRINAL  DIFFERENCES 

Ludieian  doctrine,  consists  especially  herein,  that  he  will  have  the 
sanctifying  grace  distinct  and  separate  from  the  sacrament,  as  the 
sensible  sign.  The  former,  according  to  him,  is  not  conjoined  with  the 
material  clement  :  and  hence  to  every  Christian  is  this  element  ten- 
dered, but  not  so  the  divine  nourishment.*  The  necessity  of  this 
doctrine,  in  the  system  of  Calvin,  is  evident ;  for  as  it  is  only  to  the 
elect  that  the  Divine  grace  is  imparted,  and  the  rest  are  passed  over 
by  God,  so  grace  must  by  no  means  be  connected  with  the  visible 
sign.f  Nay,  the  Divine  grace  worketh  irresistibly  :  it  might,  therefore, 
easily  happen,  that  some,  not  among  the  chosen,  should,  without  the 
Divine  will,  be  classed  among  the  elect,  if  the  heavenly  nurture  and 
power  united  with  the  sensible  sign  itself  were  offered  to  every  one  ! 
Hence  in  baptism  the  non-elect  are  only  outwardly  washed  ;  and  the 
same  receive  in  the  Lord's  supper  but  mere  bread  and  wine  ;  a  view 
which  Gottschalk,  a  predestinarian  of  the  ninth  century,  likewise  enter- 
tained ;  at  least  such  an  opinion  is  imputed  to  him.  Moreover,  Calvin 
also  admits  but  two  sacraments.:]: 

bus  in  ecclcsia  summa  sua  bencficia  homini  exhibita  retinct  in  memoria.,  et  subinde 
renovat,  quibus  item  promissiones  suas  obsignat,  et  quae  ipse  nobis  interius  praestat, 
exterius  representat,  ac  veluti  oculis  contemplanda  subjicit,  adeoque  fidem  nostrara, 
spiritii  Dei  in  cordibus  nostris  operante,  roborat  et  auget,  quibus  denique  nos  ab  omni- 
bus aliis  populis  ct  religionibus  separat,  sibique  soli  consecrat  et  obligat,  et  quid  a  no- 
bis rcquirat  significat." 

•  Loc.  cit.  §  y,  fol.  474.  "  Caeterum  munere  suo  tunc  ritfe  dcmum  perfunguntur 
(sacramenta)  ubi  interior  illi  magister  spiritus  accesserit :  cujus  unius  virtute  et  corda 
penetrantur,  et  afFcctus  permoventur,  et  sacramentis  in  animas  nostras  aditus  patet. 
Si  desit  ille,  nihil  sacramenta  plus  prtcstare  mentibus  nostris  possunt,  quam  si  vel  so- 
lis  splendor  coecis  oculis  affulgeat,  vel  surdis  auribus  vox  insonet.  Itaque  sic  inter 
spiritum  sacramentaque  partior,  ut  penes  ilium  agendi  virtus  resideat,  his  ministcrium 
duntaxat  rclinquatur  ;  idque  sine  spiritiis  actione  manet  frivoluni,  illo  vero  intus  agen. 
te,  vimque  suam  cxercente,  multee  energife  refertum." 

+  Loc.  cit.  §  17,  fol.  477,  "  Spiritus  Sajictus  {quern  non  omnibus promiscue  sa. 
cramenta  advehunt,  sed  quem  peculiar  iter  suis  confert)  is  est,  qui  Dei  gratiassecum 
affert,  qui  dat  sacramentis  in  nobis  locum,  qui  efficit,  ut  fructificcnt."  Here  lies  the 
real  point  of  difference.  Now  Cnlvin  makes  the  matter  appear,  as  if  the  Catholics 
separated  the  power  working  in  the  sacraments  from  their  primary  fountain,  and 
looked  upon  them  as  working  of  themselves.  "Tantum  hie  quaeritur,  propriane  et 
intrinsica.  ("ut  loquuntur)  virtute  operetur  Deus,  an  extemis  symbolis  suas  resignat 
vices.  Nos  vero  contendimus,  qufpcunque  adhibeat  organa  primarise  ejus  operation! 
nihil  decedcrc."  And  now,  "  Interim  illud  toUitur  figmentum,  quo  justificationis 
causa  virtusque  Spiritus  Sancti  dementis,  ceu  vasculisac  plaustris,  includitur." 

X  Loc.  cit.  §  19,  fol.  478.  "  Sacramenta  duo  instituta,  quibus  nunc  Christiana  ec- 
clesia  utitur,  baptismus  et  ccEna  Domini."  Quite  in  the  same  sense  are  the  first  Hel. 
vetic  Confession,  c.  xix ;  the  Augsburg,  art.  xxv. ;  the  Gallic,  art.  xxxv-  p.  123 ;  the 
Belgic,  art.  xxxiv.-v,  p.  192. 


BETWEEN  CATHOLICS  AND  PROTESTANTS.  295 


§  zxxii. — Baptism  and  Penance. 

After  having  pointed  out  the  divergences  of  opinion  as  to  the  nature 
of  a  sacrament  in  general,  we  must  now  proceed  with  details,  and  begin 
with  baptism.*  It  is  principally  in  describing  the  effects  of  this  means 
of  salvation,  that  the  Christian  Communities  differ  from  one  another; 
and,  indeed,  the  different  notion  which  each  entertains  of  justification, 
determines,  as  we  may  suppose,  this  diversity  of  opinion.  If,  according 
to  Catholic  doctrine,  original  sin  in  children,  in  adults  original  sin 
together  with  actual  sins,  is  by  the  due  reception  of  baptism  removed, 
according  to  that  process  of  regeneration  above  described  ; — so  that 
the  believer,  having  become  a  member  of  Christ,  walketh  no  more 
according  to  the  fiesh,  but  interiorly  quickened  by  the  Divine  Spirit, 
showeth  himself  a  new  man :  so  among  the  Protestants,  their  well 
known  theory  of  the  mere  forgiveness  of  sins  is  here  again  predominant. 
Through  the  faith  received  before  baptism,  is  the  adult  justified  ;  but 
through  baptism,  in  which  all  that  Christ  hath  done  for  us  is  applied, 
and  the  Holy  Ghost  with  all  his  gifts  is  imparted,  this  faith  is  sealed. 
This  certainly  is  a  far  more  elevated  theory  of  baptism  ;  one,  unques- 
tionably, more  consonant  to  Holy  Writ,  than  that  adopted  by  Luther,  at 
the  commencement  of  the  Reformation.  However,  according  to  the 
Lutherans,  original  sin  still  remains  in  the  baptized — an  opinion,  which 
cannot  in  this  place  be  matter  of  any  further  investigation.  The  Cal- 
vinistic  formularies  point  out  very  beautifully  the  new  life,  commencing 
with  baptism,  and  they  do  so  still  better  than  the  Lutheran.^ 


*  In  its  sixth  session,  the  Council  of  Trent  supposes  the  case  of  an  adult,  who  by 
baptism  is  received  into  tlie  Christian  Church  ;  and,  in  fact,  in  this  way  the  holy  act 
■can  best  be  understood. 

f  Catechism,  maj.  part  iv.  ^  9,  p.  12.  "  Sola  fides  personam  dignam  facit,  ut 
hanc  salutarem  et  divinam  aquam  utiliter  suscipiat."  <5  14,  p.  54  :  "Quapropter  qui- 
vis  Christianus  per  omnem  vitam  suam  abunde  satis  habet,  ut  baptismum  recte  per- 
discat  atque  exerceat.  Sat  enim  habet  negotii,  ut  credat  firmiter,  queecunque  bap- 
tismo  promittuutur  et  ofFeruntur,  victoriam  nempe  mortis  ac  dioboh,  remissionem 
peccatorum,  gratiam  Dei,  Christum  cum  omnibus  suis  operibus  [his  suiferings  and 
death  and  the  like]  et  Spiritum  Sanctum  cum  omnibus  suis  dotibus."  (This  is  not 
true,  see  1  Cor.  xii.)  The  Smalcald  Article,  part  iii.  c.  5,  ij  1,  in  order  to  be  able  to 
say  something  against  Catholics,  confounds  scholastic  opinions  with  the  doctrine  of 
the  Church.  Helvetica  1,  cap.  xx.  p.  71 :  "  Nascimur  enim  omnes  in  peccatorum 
sordibus,  et  sumas  filii  irae.  Deus  autem,  qui  dives  est  misericordia,  purgat  nos  h, 
peccatis  gratuite,  per  sanguinem  filii  sui,  et  in  hoc  adoptat  nos  in  filios,  adeoque  fee. 
dere  sancto  nos  slbi  cormectit,  et  variis  donis  ditat,  ut  possimus  novam  vivere  vitam. 
Obsignantur  haec  omnia  baptismo.  Nam  intus  regeneramur,  purificamur,  et  renova- 
mur  A  Deo  per  Spiritum  Sanctum,"  etc. 


29(>  EXPOSITION  OF  DOCTRINAL  DIFFERENCES 

TIic  Catholic  Church,  moreover,  from  the  second  century,  hath  m  - 
Tested  t!  original  simple  act  of  baptism  with  a  rich  abundance  of  sym- 
bolical ceremonies,  in  order  to  stamp  more  deeply  on  the  minds  of  hei 
children  the  idea  of  this  sacrament,  and  to  symbolize,  by  various 
emblems,  the  exalted  nature  of  the  newness  of  life  in  Christ.  Al- 
though, doubtless,  the  symbolization  of  this  sacrament,  unessential  in 
itself,  belongs  not  to  this  place,  but  only  the  doctrine  itself ;  yet  we 
may  be  permitted  to  draw,  in  a  few  words^  the  attention  of  the  reader 
to  this  ceremonial,  and  thereby  render  him  more  familiar  with  the 
Catholic  view  of  baptism,  whereby  it  will  become  more  evident  what  a 
decided  influence  this  view  hath  on  the  conception  of  the  other  sacra- 
ments. As  the  Lord  once,  by  a  mixture  of  spittle  and  dust,  cured  the 
corporeo,l  deafness  of  a  man,  so  the  same  mixture,  applied  in  baptism, 
denoteth  the  fact,  that  the  spiritual  organs  are  henceforth  opened  for 
the  mysteries  of  God's  kingdom.  The  burning  candle  signifieth  that 
now  truly  the  divine  light  from  above  hath  fallen  upon  the  mind,  and 
the  darkness  of  sin  been  changed  into  a  celestial  splendour.  The 
salt  denoteth  the  wise  man,  freed  from  the  folly  of  this  world :  the 
anointing  with  oil,  the  new  priest  j  for  every  Christian  is».in  the  spiritual 
sense  of  the  word,  a  priest  who  hath  penetrated  into  the  inmost  sanc- 
tuary, and  hath  renewed  the  most  living  communion  with  God  in  Christ 
Jesus ;  and  the  white  garment  imports  that  the  believer,  washed  clean 
in  the  blood  of  the  Lamb,  must  henceforth  preserve,  unto  the  second 
coming  of  the  Lord,  the  innocence  which  he  had  lost  in  the  first  Adam,, 
and  won  again  in  the  second.  Symbol  is  crowded  upon  symbol,  ia 
order  to  express,  in  the  most  manifest  way,  the  one  idea ;  that  a  total, 
permanent  change  is  to  occur  in  man,  and  a  new,  higher,  and  lasting 
existence  is  henceforward  to  commence  ;  and  hence,  among  other  rea- 
sons, baptism  is  not  repeated. 

Hereby,  on  the  part  of  the  Churchy  the  confident  expectation, — on 
the  part  of  the  believer,  the  solemn  vow,  is  declared,  never  more  to  fall 
into  any  grievous  (mortal)  sin ;  but  rather  to  wax  more  and  more  in 
holiness  of  life.  If  such  a  sin  be  committed,  then  the  darkness,  the 
folly  of  the  ^vo^ld,  and  the  unpriestfy  life,  take  again  possession  of  the 
soul ;  and  thereby  is  communion  with  God  broken  0%  and  the  bap- 
tismal grace  forfeited.  Hence,  if  the  sinner  wish  to  be  converted  from, 
his  evil  ways,  he  needs  a  new  reconciliation  with  Godj  and  therefore 
another  sacrament;  and  such  a  sacrament  is  penance  conceived  to  be^ 
Yet  it  ought  not  to  be  hence  inferred,  that  penance,  as  a  sacrament,  is 
instituted  only  for  such  as  return  from  a  course  of  conduct,  and  a  state 
of  feeling,  absolutely  incompatible  with  the  abode  of  Christ  in  their 


BETWEEN  CATHOLICS  AND  PROTESTANTS.  297 

sould.     It  is  for  all  believers  an  institution  of  fatherly  instruction,  ex- 
hortation, correction,  quieting,  and  solace. 

But  it  is  quite  otherwise  in  the  Lutheran,  and  even  in  the  Calvinistic 
creed.  Since,  according  to  this  creed,  the  power  of  the  Divine  Spirit 
in  regeneration  is  able  to  work  no  extirpation  of  sin  ;  since,  on  the 
contrary,  original  sin  as  such,  the  carnal  sin  as  such,  though  weakened, 
is  still  considered  to  endure  in  the  man  "  born  again  of  water  and  the 
spirit ;"  a  totally  different  view  of  the  relation  of  the  baptized  to  Christ 
is  necessarily  entertained.  And  the  sins, — even  the  more  grievous 
sins, — of  the  former,  appear  not  as  anything  which  hath  dissolved  that 
state  of  grace  obtained  in  baptism,  and  therefore  not  as  anything 
whereby  the  fellowship  with  Christ  would  be  again  broken  off.  All 
sins,  moreover,  being  but  the  particular  forms  of  original  sin,  not  ex- 
tirpated, but  only  forgiven  in  baptism,  and  in  all  this  God  only  working 
salvation,  but  man,  on  the  other  hand,  not  acting  independently,  bap- 
tism not  only  imparts  the  assurance,  that  all  our  sins  committed  before 
baptism  are  forgiven,  but  gives  the  pledge  of  the  remission  of  all  the 
sins  to  be  afterwards  committed.*  Baptism  is  a  letter  of  indulgence 
sealed  by  God  for  one's  own  life,  and  therefore,  in  every  transgression, 
we  need  only  recall  and  recuscitate  in  our  minds  the  promises  recorded 
in  that  letter  ;  and  this  is  what  the  Reformers  call  a  regressus  ad  bap- 
tismum.  Hence,  baptism  is  characterized  also  as  the  sacrament  of 
penance,  that  is  to  say,  as  the  moral  pledge  given  by  God,  that  sins 
at  every  moment  of  his  life  are  remitted  to  the  believer,  and  that  he 
is  admitted  to  grace  ;  or,  in  other  words,  penance  is  no  peculiar  sacra- 
ment.f     Hence,  Luther  could  not  pardon  St.  Jerome  for  having  called 


*  See  Luther's  Commentary  on  the  Epistle  to  the  Galatians.  "  Therefore  we  say- 
that  man  is  a  true  Christian  ;  not  one  who  hath  and  fceleth  no  sin,  but  one  to  whom 
the  sins  which  he  hath  and  feclcth  are  not  imputed  by  our  Lord  God,  and  on  account 
of  the  faith  which  he  has  in  Christ.  And  this  doctrine  ministers  to  the  poor  con. 
science  a  mighty  and  steady  solace,  when  it  would  be  like  to  quake  before  God's 
wrath  and  judgment.  Wherefore  is  a  Christian,  when  he  is  what  he  ought  to  be, 
perfectly  and  entirely  free  from  all  laws,  and  subject  to  no  law  whatever,  whether 
internal  or  external." — p.  68.  (Nothing  conduces  to  his  condemnation  provided  he 
only  believe.) 

t  Melancthon,  however,  occasionally  makes  an  exception,  the  cause  whereof  we  shall 
hereafter  have  occasion  to  show.  Apolog.  art.  iv. :  "  In  ccclesiis  nostris  plurimi  sfppe 
in  anno  utun'ur  sacramentis,  ah  solutione  et  c(EnkT)omm\V  Art.  v. :  "Absolutio 
proprie  diet  potest  sacramentum  pcenitentiae,  ut  etiam  scholastici  theologi  eruditi- 
orcs  (?)  loquuntur."  Art.  vii.  :  "  Vere  igitur  sunt  sacramenta,  bapti.smus,  coena  Do- 
mini, absolutio,  qure  est  sacramentum  pajnitentiae."  In  the  third  revisal  of  his  Loci, 
after  1545,  he  says  :  "  Cum  autem  vocabulum  sacramenti  de  ceremoniis  intelligitur 


1298  EXPOSITION  OF  DOCTRINAL  DIFFERENCES 

penance  the  second  plank  redeeming  from  shipwreck;  since,  as  he, 
says,  the  first,  namely,  baptism,  could  never  be  lost,  provided  only  man, 
so  often  as  he  was  seized  with  terror  for  his  sins,  renewed  the  promises 
made  in  baptism.  He  is  even  of  opinion,  that  this  view  is  borne  out 
by  the  principle  of  the  Church,  forbidding  the  repetition  of  baptism. 
Accordingly,  while  Catholics  conceive  the  effects  of  baptism  to  extend 
to  our  whole  lives,  in  such  a  way,  that,  from  the  moment  of  baptism,  to 
the  close  of  our  earthly  career,  life  ought  to  flow  on  pure,  stainless, 
and  ever  consecrated  to  God  ;  Luther  looks  on  these  effects  of  baptism 
as  administering  consolation  to  man,  even  amid  all  his  transgressions. 
Thus,  had  the  Reformers  considered  the  real  internal  renovation  and 
sanctification  of  man  to  be  possible  through  baptism,  and  regarded  this 
renovation  as  one  with  justification,  they  would  have  seen  clearly,  that, 
by  any  grievous  sin,  the  grace  of  baptism  could  be  lost,  and  penance 
would  then  have  been  acknowledged  as  a  second  sacrament.  But, 
since  they  look  on  justification  as  merely  the  forgiveness  of  sins,  and 
the  sacrament  of  baptism  as  its  seal  or  letter,  the  operation  of  baptism 
according  to  them,  continues  uninterrupted.* 

The  particular  parts  of  penance  are  accordingly  very  differently  de- 
scribed by  the  two  confessions.  The  Protestants  regard  contrition  and 
faith,  as  the  stages  through  which  a  particular  penitential  act  takes  its 
course.  Contrition  they  explain  by  "  terrors  of  conscience  "  {conscientice 
terrores,)  which  consist  in  that  dread  of  the  Divine  judgment,  that  at- 
tends the  consciousness  of  the  non-fulfilment  of  the  Law.     This  fear 


institutis  in  prfedicatione  Christi,  numerantur  hasc  sacramenta,  baptismus,  coena  Do- 
mini, absolutio."     Compare  Augusti's  Christian  Archceology,  vol.  ix.  p.  28. 

*  Melancthon  loc-  theol.  p.  145.  "  Usus  vero  signi  (baptismi)hic  est,  testariquod 
per  mortem  transeas  ad  vitam,  testari  quod  mortificatio  camis  tuae  salutaris  est." 
[The  notion  of  mortificatio,  and  of  the  transiius  ad  vitam,  or  of  the  vivificatio,  has 
been  explained  above,  and  is  evident  from  what  follows.]  "  Terrent  peccata,  terret 
mors,  terrent  alia  mundi  mala  ;  confide  quia  <r<ppoiyi(f'x.  accepisti  misericordiae  erga  te, 
futurum  ut  salveris,  quomodoeumque  oppugncris  a  portis  inferorum.  Sic  vides,  et 
eignificatum  baptismi  et  signi  usum  durare  in  Sanctis  per  omnem  vitam."  P.  146: 
"  Idem  baptismi  usus  est  in  mortificatione.  Monet  conscientiam  rcmissionis  pecca- 
torum,  et  certam  reddit  de  gratia  Dei,  adeoque  efficit  ut  ne  despcremus  in  mortifica- 
tione.' Proinde  qnantisper  durat  wortificatio,  tantisper  signi  usus  est.  Non  absol. 
vitur  autcm  mortificatio,  dum  vetus  Adam  prorsus  extinctus  fuerit."  P.  149  :  "  Est 
enim  poenitentia  vetustatis  nostras  mortificatio,  et  renovatio  spiritus  :  sacramentuin 
ejus,  vel  signum,  non  aliud,  nisi  baptismus  est."  P.  150:  "  Sicut  evangelium  non 
amisimus  alicubi  lapsi,  ita  nee  evangelii.  tr<pfixyi(!i  baptismum.  Ccrtum  est  autem 
evangelium  non  semel  tantum,  sed  itcrum  ac  iterum  remittere  peccatum.  Quare 
non  minus  ad  secundum  condonationem,  quam  ad  prlmam,  baptismus  pertinet."  All 
these  passages  are  but  extracts  from  Luther's  work,  De  captivate  Bahylonicd.  Op. 
torn,  ii.fol.  287,  b. 


BETWEEN  CATHOLICS  AND  PROTESTANTS.  299 

is  next  banished  by  instrumental  faith  :  and  the  conscience  hereby- 
obtaining  the  solace  and  the  quiet  which  the  Lutherans  so  exclusively 
look  to,  the  whole  penitential  act  is  terminated.  Hence,  absolution  is 
nothing  more  than  a  declaralioii  that  sin  is  forgiven.*  Even  the  Cal- 
vinists  have  not  refused  their  approbation  to  this  decision ;  yet  they 
have  received  it  with  the  modification  which  their,  in  some  degree  pro- 
founder,  doctrine  of  justification  demanded. f 

§  xxxin. — Continuation  of  the  doctrine  of  Penance. 

The  Catholics  raise  the  same  objections  to  the  Lutheran  view  of 
penance,  as  to  Luther's  doctrine  of  justification.  They  accuse  it  of 
poverty,  and  they  charge  it  with  holding  down  the  believer  to  an  ex- 
tremely low  grade  of  the  spiritual  life,  allowing  him  scarcely  a  percep- 
tion of  the  fulness  of  the  riches  of  evangelical  grace,  while  it  is  very 
far  from  expressing  the  biblical  idea  of  jtceTasvojot.  The  doctrine  of  the 
Catholic  Church  is,  that  the  sacramental  penance  should  pass  through 
three  stages  ;  whereof  the  first  is  contrition,  with  the  firm  purpose  of 
change  of  life  ;  the  second,  confession  ;  the  third,  satisfaction  :  and 
hereby  the  sacerdotal  absolution  also  receives  a  signification,  wholly 
difl^erent  from  that  which  is  attached  to  it  by  the  Protestants.  As  re- 
gards, in  the  first  place,  contrition,  it  is  of  an  essence  far  more  exalted 
than  what  the  Lutherans  term  conscienticB  terrores,  above  which  only 
the  rudest  natures  are  incapable  of  rising  ;  for  these  terrors  involve  no 
detestation  of  sin,  as  such,  and  contain  no  trace  of  the  tenderer  emo- 
tions :  they  are  but  the  dread  of  sensible  evil.  It  is  contrary  to  all 
experience,  that,  within  the  circle  of  Christian  life,  sorrow  for  moral 
transgressions,  and  for  the  falling  short  of  evangelical  perfection,  can 
or  ought  to  be  called  forth  only  by  the  representation  of  hell-torments  : 
and  he  who  would  obstinately  insist  thereon,   would   merely  deduce  a 


*  Confessio  Augustana,  art.  xii.  "  Constat  autem  poenitentia  propria  his  dua- 
bus  partibus ;  altera  est  contritio,  seu  terrores  incussi  conscientiae,  agnito  peccato  ; 
altera  est  fides,  quae  concipitur  ex  evangelio  seu  absolutione,  et  credit  propter  Chris, 
turn  remitti  pcccata,  et  consolatur  conscientiam,  et  ex  terroribus  libcrat." 

+  Calvin.  Instit.  lib.  iii  c.  34,  (^  8.  The  Lutheran  denomination  of  the  two  parts 
here  occurs  under  the  name  of  mortificatio  and  vivificatio.  But,  as  we  remarked 
above,  by  the  former  expression,  the  putting  off  of  the  old  man,  and  by  the  latter  the 
putting  on  of  the  nev7  man,  are  to  be  understood;  so  signifying  something  other 
than  the  Lutheran  contritio  et  fides.  When  Augusti,  in  his  Archaology  (vol.  ix.  p. 
25,)  says,  the  terminology  of  the  Calvinists  is  either  borrowed  from  Mclancthon  or 
made  to  harmonize  with  his,  the  first  assertion  is  decidedly  true,  but  the  second  is 
not  at  all  S3. 


300  EXPOSITION  OF  DOCTRINAL  DIFFERENCES 

general  rule  from  the  experience  of  his  own  individual  feelings,  and,  in 
the  same  measure,  furnish  a  remarkable  example  of  his  own  narrow- 
mindedness,  as  well  as  of  his  ignorance  of  the  plastic  power  of  Chris- 
tianity. It  would  bo  even  contrary  to  the  most  clearly  attested  facts, 
to  represent  the  dread  of  Divine  chastisements  as  the  only  path  which 
first  leads  men  into  the  bosom  of  the  Christian  Church.  Christ  is  the 
divine  teacher  of  truth  ;  and  we  need  only  peruse  the  Clementines,  and 
the  account  which  Justin  hath  given  of  his  conversion  to  Christianity, 
at  the  commencement  of  his  dialogue  with  the  Jew  Trypho,  as  well  as 
the  narrative  which  Tatian,  in  his  apology  for  the  Christian  religion, 
and  Hilarius  of  Poictiers,  in  his  work  on  the  Trinity,  have  furnished 
of  their  respective  conversions,*  to  convince  ourselves  that  the  transi- 
tion from  heathenism  to  Christianity  was  especially  brought  about  by 
the  following  means,  to  wit, — the  recognition  of  reason,  that  Christ 
had  communicated  most  credible  revelations  respecting  divine  things, 
and  freed  the  frail  heart  of  man  from  uncertainty  and  distracting 
doubt.  We  should  not  look  on  the  teaching  ofBce  of  Christ  as  merely 
accidental,  as  Luther  did,  and  thereby  fell  into  such  a  narrow  concep- 
tion of  things.  He  who,  from  a  desire  of  truth,  first  embraces  the  Son 
of  God  manifested  in  the  flesh,  stands  on  much  higher  ground  than 
one  who  has  been  induced  to  do  so  from  the  fear  of  hell ;  and  other 
motives  at  least  will  concur  to  produce  the  sorrow  for  sin.  How,  then, 
within  the  pale  of  Christianity,  should  this  sorrow  consist  only  in  that 
fear  ?  But  even  where  it  exists,  it  is  very  far,  according  to  Catholic 
principles,  from  completing  the  notion  of  repentance.  The  dread  of 
the  divine  judgments  is  deemed  by  Catholics  (o  be  only  an  incitement 
to  repentance, — a  germ  from  which,  after  it  hath  been  further  expand- 
ed, something  far  nobler  must  grow  out,  if  a  true  or  perfect  contrition 
is  to  be  manifested.  Out  of  faith  and  confidence,  which,  according  to 
Catholics,  must  precede,  and  not  follow,  repentance,  the  hatred  to  sin, 
and  the  germs  of  Divine  love  are  to  be  unfolded  ;  so  that  these  must 


*  Lactantius  divin.  Instit.  lib.  i.  c.  1,  is  brief  enough  to  permit  our  citing  a  passage 
in  reference  to  this  subject.  After  having  described  the  assiduity  with  which  the 
ancient  philosophers  sought  for  the  truth,  he  says  :  "  Sod  ncquc  adepti  sunt  id,  quod 
volebant,  et  opcram  simul  atque  industriam  perdiderunt :  quia  Veritas,  id  est  arcanum 
summi  Dei,  qui  facit  omnia,  ingcnio  ac  propriis  non  potest  sensibus  comprchendi : 
alioquin  nihil  inter  Dcum  hominemquc  distaret,  si  consilia  et  dispositiones  illius  ma. 
jestatis  istemse  cogitatio  asscqucrctur  humana.  Quod  quia  fieri  non  potuit,  ut  homi- 
ni  per  seipsum  ratio  divina  innotescerct,  non  est  passus  homincm  Deus,  lumen  sapi- 
entJEB  requirentem,  diutius  oberrare,  ac  sine  ullo  laboris  effcclu  vagari  per  tenebras 
incxtricabilcs.  Aperuit  oculos  ejus  aliquando,  et  notionem  veritatis  munus  suum  fc. 
cit,"  &c. 


BETWEEN  CATHOLICS  AND  PROTESTANTS.  301 

concur  to  make  up  the  penitential  feeling.  Contrition  (confrilio  cliari' 
fate  formafa)  is  with  them  a  profound  detestation  of  sin,  springing  out 
of  the  awakened  love  for  God,  with  the  conscious,  deliberate  determi- 
nation nevef  more  to  sin,  but  rather  to  fulfil  the  Divine  law  from  and  in 
a  love  for  Him.  In  every  case,  they  hold  no  emotion  of  the  soul 
worthy  the  nami^  of  repentance,  unless  with  this  emotion  be  connected 
at  least  a  firm  determination  of  the  will  to  abstain  from  all  sin,  though 
even  this  resolution  may  not  be  determined  by  clearly  defined  motives 
of  a  higher  kind.* 

Moreover,  it  is  scarcely  necessary  to  call  attention  to  the  frequency 
with  which  the  differences  between  the  Christian  communions  in  the 
doctrine  of  justification  recur  in  the  matter  before  us.  The  Protestants 
suppose  the  terrors  of  conscience  to  be  the  only  condition  necessary  to 
render  us  susceptible  of  the  blessings  manifested  to  us  in  Christ  Jesus. 
Instrumental  faith  delivers  from  these  terrors,  and  man  is  justified  by 
it  alone.  But,  from  faith,  the  resolution  to  begin  a  new  life,  and  the 
germs  of  love,  are  expected,  indeed,  as  the  fruit,  but  of  themselves  con- 
tribute nought  towards  making  us  acceptable  to  God,  and  are,  therefore, 
no  sign  of  the  Protestant  notion  of  contrition,  in  so  far  as  it  is  the  con- 
dition of  faith.  With  Catholics,  on  the  other  hand,  sanctification  and 
forgiveness  of  sins  are  one  act :  accordingly,  should  the  latter  ensue, 
the  spirit  of  man  must  be  moved  by  far  other  motives  than  mere  fear. 

The  Lutheran  doctrine  of  contrition  has  exerted  a  determining  influ- 
ence on  that  of  confession.     Everything  which  is  truly  interior  must, ' 
according  to  Catholic  doctrine,  be  outv/ardly  expressed  :  the  love  for 
Christ  in  our  interior  must  manifest  itself  externally  in  works  of  chari- 


*  Bellarm.  de  poenitent.  lib.  1,  c.  xix.,  torn.  iii.  p.  948  :  "Cum  partes  poenitentiae 
quserimus,  non  quosvis  motus,  qui  quocunque  modo  ad  poenitentiam  pertinent,  quae- 
rimus,  sod  cos  dunta.xat,  qui  ex  ipsa  virtutc  pcenitentifc  prodcunt.  Porro  terreri,  cum 
intentantur  minae,  non  est  ullius  virtutis  actus,  sed  naturalis  afFuctus,  quern  etiam  in 
pueris  et  in  ipsis  bestiis  cernimus.  Ad  haec  saepe  terrorcs  in  iis  inveniuntur,  qui  poeni- 
tentiam nullam  agunt,  ac  ne  inchoant  quidem,  ut  in  dfemonibus,  qui  credunt  et  cod- 
tremiscunt.  Jac.  11."  [There  is,  however,  a  distinction  between  beheveand  tremble, 
and  tremble  and  believe,  which  Bellarraine  has  here  overlooked.]  Siepe etiam  non- 
nulli  veram  poenitentiam  agunt,  nullo  poence  terrore,  sed  solo  Dei  et  justitice  amore 
impulsi,  qualem  credibile  est  fuisse  beatam  illam  feminam,  do  qua  Dominus  ait  Luc. 
vii. :  '  dimittuntur  ei  peccata  multa,  quoniam  dilexit  multum.'  Quod  si  terrores  sine 
poenitentia,  et  poenitentia  sine  terroribus  aliquando  esse  potest,  certo  non  debent  ter- 
rorcs ill!  inter  partes  poenitentijE  numerari.  Denique  fides,  ut  mox  probabirnus,  non 
est  pars  poenitentiae,  sed  cam  prascedit."  See  the  work  "  Hugo  of  St.  Victor,  and 
the  theological  tendencies  of  his  age,"  by  Albert  Liebner,  Leipzig,  1832,  p.  465, 
where  we  may  see  how  much  more  deeply  the  schoolmen  have  treated  tliis  subject  than 
the  reformers. 


302  EXPOSITION  Ot  DOCTRINAL  DIFFERENCES 

ty  to  the  brethren,  and  what  we  do  unto  these,  we  do  to  him  also.  It  is 
the  same  with  contrition  and  the  confession  of  sins  before  God, — an 
act  itself  purely  internal ;  if  it  be  deep,  strong,  and  energetic,  it  seeks 
an  outward  manifestation,  and  becomes  the  sacramental  confession  be* 
fore  the  priest ;  and  what  we  do  to  him,  we  do  again  unto  Christ  like- 
wise, whose  place  he  represents.  Origen  rightly  compares  sin  to  an 
indigestible  food,  which  occasions  sickness  at  the  stomach,  till  it  has 
been  thrown  ofi'  by  a  motion  in  the  bowels*  Even  so  is  the  sinner 
tormented  with  internal  pain,  and  then  only  enjoys  quiet  and  full 
health,  when,  by  means  of  confession,  he  hath,  as  it  were,  eased  himself 
of  the  noxious  internal  stuff.  Two  enemies,  who  wish  for  a  sincere  re- 
conciliation, and,  in  their  heartsj  despise  their  hatred,  will  certainly  feel 
themselves  forced  to  avow  to  each  other  their  mutual  injustice  ;  and  it 
is  only  by  means  of  this  confession  that  their  reconciliation  becomes 
sincere,  and  peace  is  restored  to  their  souls.  For  man  is  so  constituted, 
that  he  doth  not  believe  in  his  interior  feelings,  unless  he  see  them  in 
an  outward  manifestation  ;  and,  in  fact,  an  internal  sentiment  is  then 
only  ripened  to  consummation,  when  it  has  acquired  an  outward  shape. 
Moreover,  a  true  confession  to  God  cannot  be  indefinite  ;  for,  our  sins 
are  not  merely  abstract ;  we  are  guilty  of  specific,  definite  transgres- 
sions :  and  so  a  true  confession  of  sins  to  God,  is  one  necessarily  enter- 
ing into  minute  details  ;  consequently,  a  confession  to  the  priest  is  ne- 
cessary. 

But  now  the  internal  confession  of  sins — -the  interior  pain,  which  is 
required  by  the  Lutherans  for  penance — is  merely  a  dread  of  the  Di- 
vine judgments  :  it  is  no  detestation  of  sin  ;  no  hearty,  inward  hatred 
of  sin,  which  can  only  spring  up  by  degrees  after  absolution — after  the 
assurance  of  the  forgiveness  of  sins  hath  been  already  obtained.  Hence, 
an  outward  unbosoming  of  the  conscience  is  absolutely  impossible,  be- 
cause the  sinner  is  really  not  yet  in  that  spiritual  disposition  to  induce 
him  to  confess.  Sin  is  not  internally  rejected ;  how  then  should  the 
rejection  of  it  be  outwardly  manifested?  Humility  is  still  wanting  : 
shame  still  confounds  the  sense  of  the  sinner  ;  because  sin  is  too  much 
his  own,  and  is  not  yet  estranged  from  his  will.  On  the  other  hand, 
he,  who  truly  and  heartily  hates  sin,  confesses  it  with  an  involuntary 
joyful  pain  ;  v/ith  pain,  because  it  is  his  own ;  but  with  a  joyful  pain, 
because  it  now  ceases  to  belong  to  him,  and  to  be  his  own.  Hence, 
too,  we  can  understand,  why  Protestants  look  on  Catholic  confession 
as  a  carnificina  conscientiarum^  a  racking  of  the  conscience.  However 
much,  accordingly,  the  first  Reformers  did  homage  to  the  principle  of 
ecclesiastical,  and  particularly  of  auricular,  confession,  this  institution 


SETWSeN  catholics  and  PROTESTANTS.  3C3 

^Vould  not  long  endure.*  The  faithful  were  taught  to  do  something, 
^vhichj  according  to  the  general  views  of  their  teachers  respecting 
penance,  they  could  not  do :  they  were  to  confess,  and  yet  the  sin  sur- 
viving  in  their  soul  closed  their  lips  ;  they  were,  by  confession,  to  free 
their  breast  from  sin,  and  yet  they  could  never  properly  extricate  them- 
selves from  its  entanglements. 

Private  absolution,  however,  the  Reformers,  from  a  particular  motive, 
wished,  in  every  case,  to  retain  5  for,  as  the  individual  was  to  refer  to 
himself  the  general  forgiveness  of  sinsj  they  deemed  it  right  to  give 
them  a  special  absolution.! 


*  Luther  de  captiv.  Babyl.  Opp.  t.  li.  fol  292.  "  Occulta  autcm  confessio,  quae 
hiodo  celebratur,  etsi  probari  ex  scripture  non  possit,  ntiro  modo  tamen  placet,  et 
Utilis,  imo  necessaria  est,  nee  vellem  cam  non  esse,  imo  gaudeo  earn  esse  in  Ecclesia. 
Christi."  Art.  Smalcald.  P.  iii.  c.  viii.  p.  303.  "  Nequaquam  in  Ecclesia  confessio 
et  absolutio  abolenda  est :  prnjsertim  propter  tenaras  et  pavidas  conscientias,  et  prop- 
ter juvcntutem  indomitam  et  petulantem,  ut  audiatur,  examinetur  et  instituatur  in 
doctrina  Christiana.."     And  wo  often  find  the  same  doctrine  elsewhere  laid  down. 

t  The  XXI.  canon  of  the  fourth  council  of  Lateran  (Hard.  Cone.  torn,  vii  p.  35,) 
Bays  :  "  Omnis  utriusque  sexus  fidelis,  postquam  ad  annos  discretionis  pervenerit, 
omnia  sua  solus  pedcata  confiteatur  fidelitcr,  saltern  semel  in  anno,  proprio  sacerdotij 
et  injunctam  sibi  pcEnitentiain  studeat  pro  viribus  adimplere,  suscipiens  reverenter  ad 
minus  in  paschii  EucharistiaB  sacramentum." 

This  canon  is  to  be  ranked  merely  among  disciplinary  observances,  for  the  deter- 
mining  of  the  time  when  any  one  should  confess  doth  not  belong  to  the  essence  of  the 
sacrament.  Even  the  present  very  laudable  practice,  of  always  going  to  confession 
before  communiorl,  doth  not  rest  on  any  general  law  of  the  Church.  He,  who  doth 
not  feel  himself  guilty  of  any  grievous  transgression,  can,  without  confessing  to  the 
priest,  approach  of  his  own  accord  to  the  table  of  the  Lord  ;  and  so,  doubtless,  what 
was  formerly  the  practice  might  again  be  renewed,  and  each  one  resort  to  confession, 
only  when  he  found  his  conscience  particularly  burdened.  But  every  well-thinking 
man,  acquainted  with  the  human  heart  and  its  wants,  must  deeply  lament,  if  ever 
the  present  practice  should  be  changed  ;  and  it  is  only  the  indolent  priest,  who  reluc- 
tantly  discharges  his  undoubtedly  painful  office,  that  could  desire  such  a  change. 
The  intellectual  Pascal,  who,  perhaps,  of  all  theologians  and  philosophers  of  modern 
times,  has,  in  his  Pensees,  cast  the  deepest  glance  into  the  misery  of  man,  unfolds  in 
one  passage  his  arrogance  and  his  inclinatfon  to  deceive  himself,  and  never  to  trace  a 
faithful  image  of  his  own  interior.  He  then,  with  reference  to  the  differences  be- 
tween the  Christian  communions,  proceeds  to  say:  "  En  voici  une  preuve  qui  mc  fait 
horreur : 

"  La  religion  Catholique  n'oblige  pas  k  decouvrir  ses  peches  indifferement  h  tout 
le  mondc :  elle  souffi'e  qu'on  demcure  cache  ti  tous  les  autres  hommes,  mais  elle  en 
cxcepte  un  seul,  a,  qui  elle  commande  t  decouvrir  le  fond  de  son  cceur,  et  de  se  faire 
voir  tel  qu'on  est.  II  n'y  a  que  ce  seul  homme  au  monde  qu'elle  nous  ordonne  de 
d6sabuser,  et  elle  I'oblige  k  un  secret  inviolable,  qui  fait  que  cette  connaissance  est 
dans  lui,  comme  si  elle  n'y  etait  pas.  Peut-on  s'imaginer  rien  de  plus  charitable  et 
de  plus  doux  ?     Et  neanmoms  la  corruption  de  rhomrae  est  telle,  qu'il  trouve  encore 


aO-4  EXPOSITION  Of  DOCTRINAL  DIFFERENCES 

If  ill  confession  internal  repentance  is  outwardly  manifested,  and  the 
«inner  thereby  reveals  his  hidden  spiritual  condition  to  the  priest  of  the 
Cliurch,  this  Church,  in  her  turn,  acts  on  him  again  by  the  claim  of* 
satisfaction-;  so  that,  if  contrition  forms  the  essence  of  penitential  fceU 
ing,  and  the  confession  of  sins  its  form  and  its  completion,  its  confirma- 
tion is  secured  by  satisfaction.  These  three  acts  of  the  sinner, — for 
satisfaction,  as  far  as  regards  his  will,  is  already  performed,  though  Its 


de  la  duretd  dans  cette  loi ;  et  c'est  unc  dcs  principales  raisons  qui  a  fait  rcvoltcr  con* 
tre  I'Eglise  une  grande  partic  de  I'Europc. 

"  Que  Ic  ccEur  de  I'hommc  cstinjustc  ct  d('raisonnable,  pour  trouver  mauvais  qu'on 
t'oblige  de  fairc,  k  I'^gard  d'un  homme,  ce  qu'il  serait  juste  en  quelque  sort,  qu'il  fit  t 
regard  de  tous  les  hommcs  !     Car  estil  juste  que  nous  les  trompions  ? 

"  II  y  a  difFerens  degr^s  dans  cette  aversion  pour  la  v6rite  t  mais  on  peut  dire 
qu'elle  est  dans  tous  en  quelque  degre,  parcequ'clle  est  insuperable  de  Tamourproprc. 
C'est  cette  mauvaise  deiicatcssc  qui  oblige  ceux  qui  sont  dans  la  neccssite  de  repren* 
dre  les  autres,  de  choislr  tant  de  detours  et  de  temperamens  poureviter  de  les  choquer. 
II  faut  qu'ils  dcminuent  nos  defauts,  qu'ils  fassent  semblant  de  les  excuser,  qu'ils  y 
m^lent  des  louanges  et  des  temoignages  d'afFection  et  d'estirae.  Avec  tout  cela,  cette 
medicine  ne  laisse  pas  d'etre  amere  k  I'amour  propre.  II  en  prends  le  moins  qu'il 
peut,  et  toujours  avec  degout,  et  souvent  menie  avec  un  sccri;t  dcpit  contrc  ceux  qui 
la.  lui  presentent. 

"  II  arrive  de  la  que,  si  on  a  quelque  intcret  d'etre  aimd  de  nous,  on  s'dloigne  de 
nous  rendre  un  office  qu'on  sait  nous  dtrc  desagr^able  ;  on  nous  traite  comme  noua 
voulons  etre  traits :  nous  haissons  la  v^rit6,  on  nous  la  cache  ;  nous  voulons  dtre 
flattes,  on  nous  flatte ;  nous  aimons  a  etre  trompres,  on  nous  trompe. 

"  C'est  qui  fait,  que  chaque  degre  de  bonne  fortune,  qui  nous  <51eve  dans  le  monde, 
nous  61oigne  davantage  dc  la  verite,  parcequ'on  apprehende  plus  de  blesscr  ceux  dont 
I'afTection  est  plus  utile  et  I'aversion  plus  dangereuse. 

"  Un  prince  sera  la  fable  de  toute  I'Europe,  et  lui  seul  n'en  saura  rien.  Je  ne 
m'^tonne  pas  ;  dire  la  verite  est  utile  a  celui  k  qui  on  la  dit,  mais  d(5savantageux  ii 
ceux  qui  la  disent,  parcequ'ils  se  font  hair.  Or  ceux  qui  vivent  avec  les  princes 
aiment  mieux  leur  interets  que  celui  du  prince  qu'ils  scrvent,  et  ainsi  ils  n'ont  garde 
de  lui  procurer  un  avantage,  en  se  nuisant  a  eux-memes. 

"  Ce  malheur  est  sans  doute  plus  grand  et  plus  ordinaire  dans  les  plus  grandes  for- 
tunes; mais  les  moindres  n'en  sont  pas  exemptcs,  parcequ'il  y  a  toujours  quelque  in- 
tcret k  se  falre  aimer  des  hommes.  Ainsi,  la  vie  humaine  n'est  qu'une  illusion  per- 
petuelle ;  on  ne  fait  que  s'cntre-tromper  et  s'entre-flattcr.  Personne  ne  parle  de  nous 
en  notre  presence,  comme  il  en  parle  en  notre  absence,  L'union  qui  est  entre  les 
hommes  n'est  fondee  que  sm  cette  mutuelle  trompcrie ;  et  pcu  d'amities  subsisterai- 
ent,  si  chacun  savait  ce  que  son  ami  dit  de  lui,  lorsqu'il  n'y  est  pas,  quoiqu'il  parle 
alors  sinc^rement  et  sans  passion. 

"  L'homme  n'est  done  que  deguisement,  que  mensonge,  et  hypocrisic,  et  en  soi- 
meme  et  k  I'egard  des  autres,  II  ne  veut  pas  qu'on  lui  dise  la  verite,  il  evite  de  la 
dire  aux  autres ;  et  toutes  ces  dispositions,  si  eloignees  de  la  justice  et  de  la  raison, 
ont  une  racine  naturelle  en  nous." — Penstes  de  Pascal,  p.  I,  art.  v.  n.  8,  t.  i.  p.  194, 
<etc,     Paris,  1812. 


BETWEEN  CATHOLICS  AND  PROTESTANTS.  305 

■execution  be  delayed, — are  the  conditions  to  the  priestly  absolution, 
wherewith  the  sacramental  penance  is  concluded.  We  may  easily  per- 
ceive, that  absolution,  according  to  Catholic  principles,  can  by  no  means 
be  a  mere  declaration  that  sins  are  forgiven,  because  the  contrition  re- 
"quired  docs  not  consist  in  mere  terrors  of  conscience  ;  and  something, 
far  other  than  a  mere  instrumental  faith  in  the  merits  of  Christ,  is  de>- 
manded  of  the  penitent.  The  above-described  succession  of  acts  on 
the  part  of  the  sinner,  united  with  the  sacerdotal  function  (or,  in  other 
•words,  the  full  sacram.ent)  is  the  organ  of  God's  justifying  grace, 
"whereby  man  obtains  the  forgiveness  of  sins  in  safictification,  and  sanc- 
tification,  in  the  forgiveness  of  sins. 

Those  theologians  who  pretend  that  the  differences  between  the 
Christian  communions,  in  the  article  of  absolution,  consist  only  herein 
— that,  according  to  Catholic  principles,  the  priest  acts  merely  from 
the  fulness  of  his  power,  while  the  Protestant  minister  declares  only  the 
will  of  God,  and  announces  the  same  to  the  sinner;  those  theologians, 
we  say,  understand  not  a  single  syllable  of  the  doctrinal  peculiarities  of 
the  two  communions.  For  never  did  any  man  entertain  the  opinion, 
that  he  could  of  himself  forgive  sins  ;  and  the  Protestant  declaration, 
that  sins  are  remitted,  bears  quite  another  sense,  than  scholars  of  this 
sort  suppose. 

Respecting  satisfaction,  which,  before  absolution,  we  considered  con- 
summated, at  least  as  regards  the  will,  it  is  now  necessary  to  enter  into 
a  few  details.  It  is  of  a  two-fold  kind  ;  the  one  referring  to  the  past, 
the  other  both  to  the  future  and  the  past.  For  example,  if  any  one 
accuses  himself  of  possessing  unlawful  goods,  by  theft,  usury,  robbery, 
cheating,  or  any  other  way,  it  is  required,  that  the  penitent  should  make 
restitution  of  the  same,  if  he  wish  to  obtain  the  forgiveness  of  his  sins^ 
But,  as,  in  many  cases,  those  robbed  or  defrauded  cannot  obtain  pos- 
-session  of  their  lost  property,  so  a  corresponding  renunciation  of  the 
unlawful  goods,  in  some  other  appropriate  way,  is  enjoined;  for  it  is 
evidently  in  the  very  nature  of  things,  that  no  one,  while  retaining  the 
purloined  goods,  can  truly  repent  of  his  theft.  Hence  the  forgiveness 
of  sins,  which,  according  to  Catholic  doctrine,  is  identical  with  the  in- 
ternal extirpation  of  sin,  appears  determined  by  satisfaction  ;  for  the 
willing,  joyous,  restitution  of  property  unrighteously  acquired,  is,  in 
itself,  satisfaction.  According  to  the  different  transgressions,  satisfac- 
tion, as  is  obvious,  must  take  a  different  form.  This  is  the  first  species 
of  satisfaction,  consisting  in  the  performance  of  what  true  contrition  ab- 
solutely requires.  The  cure  that  follows  needs  the  most  careful  atten- 
tion, and  the  still  debilitated  moral  powers  require  the  application  of 
strengthening  remedies.     The  priest,  who   has   learned  to   know  the 

20 


300  EXPOSITION  OF  DOCTRINAL   DIFFERElNC'ES' 

spiritual  state  of  the  sinner,  ordains,  accordingly,  the  fitting  remedies/ 
—pious  exercises,  calculated  to  keep  up  his  seif-vigilancCs  and  to  im.* 
part  to  the  \7ill  a  safe,  lively,  and  vigorous  impulse,  in  the  direction  It 
most  needs.  The  enjoining  of  such  remedies  belongs  to  the  active 
superintendenee  of  the  Church;  and  he  who  knows  the  nature  of  mari, 
his  efieminate  tenderness  towards  himself,  his  timorous  unsteadiness  in 
the  choice  of  vigorous  means  conducive  to  his  salvation,  will  easily  un- 
derstand why  the  Church  should  have  come  in  aid  of  his  weakness,  and 
been  directed  by  Christ  to  support  and  determine,  by  the  declaration  of 
her  own  firm  and  manifest  will,  the  will  of  her  children.  The  declared 
will  of  the  parent,  is  the  stay  to  the  will  of  the  child  ;  it  comes  in  to  its 
aid,  doubhng  it,  as  it  were,  till  it  has  attained  sufficient  strength.* 

Considered  from  one  point  of  view,  however,  these  penitential  ex- 
ercises, imposed  by  the  Church,  bear  the  character  of  real  punishments,, 
and,  from  the  foundation  of  the  Church,  were  ever  regarded  in  this 
light:  and  this  again  drew  down  upon  her  the  charge  of Pelagianism. 
The  matter  accordingly  stands  thus  :  By  the  transgression  of  the  etef- 
nal  moral  law,  man  contracted  an  infinite  debt,  which  he  was  totally 
incapable  of  discharging.  Christ  took  it  upon  himself."  and  to  all,  who 
will  enter  into  a  true,  interior,  living  communion  with  Mim,  the 
Righteous  one,  that  debt  is  remitted.     But,  as  in  the  fulness  of  His 


*  Catcchismus  ex  decreto  Concil.  Trident,  p.  343,  "  SatisfErcerc  est  causas  peC- 
catorura  excidere,  et  eorum  suggestioni  aditum  non  indulgere.  In  quam  sententiam 
alii  assenserunt,  satisfactionem  esse  purgationem,  qua  eluitur  quidquid  sordium  prop- 
terpeccati  maculam  in  anima.  regedit,  atque  a  poenis  tempore  detinitis,  quibus  teneba- 
mur,  absolviniur.  Quas  cum  ita  sint,  facile  erit  fidelibus  persuadcre,  quam  neccs- 
sarium  sit,  ut  pcenitcntes  in  hoc  satisfactionis  studio  sc  cxerceant.  Docendicnim 
smit,  duo  esse  quse  pcecatum  conscquuntur,  maculam  et  pcenam  :  ac  quamvis  sem- 
per, culpa  dimissa,  simul  etiam  mortis  aetcmfp  supplicium,  apud  inferos  constitutumr 
condonetur,  tamcn  non  semper  contingit,  quamadmodum  a  Tridentina  Synodo  de- 
claratum  est,  ut  Dorainus  peccatorum  reliquias  et  poenam,  certo  tempore  definitam,. 
quBB  peccatis  debetur,  remittat,"  etc.  F.  347  :  "  Divus  etiam  Burnardus  duo  affir- 
mat  in  peccato  rcpcriri,  maculam- animce  et  plagam  ;  ac  turpitudinem  quidcm  ipsam 
Dei  misericordla  tolli :  verum  sanandis  peccatorum  plagis  valdc  ncccssariam  csSe 
earn  curam,  quee  in  remcdio  poenitentiiB  adhibetur,  quemadmodum  enim,  senate  vuU 
nere,  cicatrices  quaedam  remanent,  qu»  et  ipsae  curandae  sunt :  ita,  inanima  culpa 
condonstta,  supersunt  rcliquia;  peccatorum  purgandee,"  etc.  P.  352  :  "  Scdillud  im- 
primis a  saecrdotibus  observari  oportet,  ut,  audita  peccatorum  confessione,  antequanf 
poenitcntem  a  peccatis  absolvant,  diligenter  curent,  ut,  si  quid  illc  forte  de  re  aut  de 
existimatione  proximi  dctraxcrit,  cujus  peccati  mcrito  damnandus  esse  rideatur,  cu- 
mulata  satisfactione  compenset :  nemo  enim  absolvendus  est,  nisi  prius,  quae  cujua. 
cunque  fuerint,  restituere  polliceatur.  At  quoniam  multi  sunt,  quibus  etsi  prolijrc 
pollicentur,  se  officio  satis  esse  facturos,  tamen  certum  est  ac  deliberatum  nunquam 
promissa  exsolvere,  oranino  ii  cogendi  sunt,  ut  restituant,"  etc. 


BETWEEN  CATHOLICS  AND  PROTESTANTS.  807 

mercy  the  Almighty  instituted  this  ordinance,  it  was  not  His  will  to  re- 
lease all  who  should  return  to  Him,  after  personal  guilt,  from  the  tem- 
poral punishments  which  man  is  capable  of  enduring.  And  justice, 
which  is  not  superseded  by  love,  requires  the  imposition  of  such  penal- 
ties, the  more  especially  as  those  who  believe  in  Christ,  and  by  baptism 
are  become  members  of  His  body,  have  received  full  strength  to  observe 
the  Divine  law  ;  for  it  is  of  such  only  there  is  question  in  the  article  of 
penance. 

The  contempt  of  God's  commandments,  on  the  part  of  these,  and, 
still  more,  the  grievous  violation  of  them  by  a  believer,  is,  even  in  case 
of  amendment,  deservedly  punishable,  and  must  be  atoned  for.  Holy 
Writ  abounds  in  examples  of  men  who,  after  having  obtained  the  re-  « 
mission  of  their  sins,  still  received  temporal  chastisements  at  the  hand 
of  God ; — a  fact  utterly  inexplicable,  if  a  man,  being  once  justified, 
could  escape  entirely  without  punishment.  The  reformers,  indeed,  ex- 
plained these  chastisements,  as  having  a  mere  correctional  tendency, 
yet  in  such  glaring  contradiction  to  many  passages  of  the  Bible,  that,  so 
interpreted,  they  offer  no  sense.*  From  this  emasculated  opinion  the 
Reformers  might  well  have  turned  away,  had  they  but  calmly  inter- 
preted the  language  of  the  uneducated  man,  on  meeting  with  misfor- 
tunes :  "  I  have  deserved  them,"  is  his  ordinary  exclamation.  Thev 
would  then  have  perceived,  that  undebauched  feeling  regards  sufferings 
OS  something  far  different  from  mere  means  of  correction  ;  and  humility 
would  not  have  failed  to  suggest  a  view  more  consonant  with  its  own 
spirit. 

Moreover,  if  there  be  no  temporal  punishments  for  the  righteous,  there 
are  then  no  eternal  ones  for  the  unrighteous.  On  the  other  hand,  if  there 
are  eternal  punishments  for  the  latter,  so  there  must  be  temporal  punish- 
ments for  the  former,  when  after  baptism  they  relapse  into  sin ;  for  the 
question  here  is  as  to  the  notion  and  essence  of  punishments,  and  not  as 
to  any  of  their  accidental  qualities.  If  they  be  in  their  nature  purely 
remedial,  they  cannot,  in  the  one  case,  be  destined  solely  for  cure,  and, 
in  the  other,  only  for  chastisement,  in  the  strict  sense  of  the  word  ;  and 
vice  versa,  if  they  be  in  their  essence  solely  vindicative,  they  must  every- 
where retain  this  character.  Both  exclusive  views,  however,  are  erro- 
neous. Nay,  as  in  God,  goodness  and  justice  are  one,  so  each  of  those 
attributes  concurs  in  determining  the  object  of  punishments;  and  it  is 
only  when  man  has  wilfully  repelled  the  pardoning  and  reconciling  good- 
ness of  God,  that  he  feels  the  arm  of  His  justice  alone.     It  was  there- 


*  See  note  A  in  appendix. 


308  BETWEEN  CATHOLICS  AND  PROTESTANTS. 

fore  an  inconsistency,  on  the  part  of  the  Reformers,  to  leave  intact  the 
Scriptural  doctrine  of  hell-torments,  and  yet  to  look  on  punishments 
solely  as  the  means  of  amelioration. 

The  Church,  which,  in  the  tribunal  of  Penance,  recognizes  a  divine 
institution,  must  contemplate  all  the  relations  wherein  the  sinner  stands 
to  God,  and  foster  in  him  the  feeling  that  he  is  deserving  of  chastise- 
ment for  his  transgresssions.  She  must  attentively  consider  punish- 
ment in  all  its  bearings,  and  impose  satisfaction  in  the  strict  sense  of 
the  word,  so  as  withal  to  prevent  the  relapse  of  the  penitent,  to  confirm 
him  in  virtue,  and  to  cherish  the  feeling  of  repentance.  The  primitive 
Church  took  precisely  this  view  of  penitential  exercises  ;  and  it  is  con- 
trary to  history  to  assert  that  the  satisfactions  it  required,  were  directed 
solely  to  the  conciliation  of  the  Church.  The  old  visible  Church  did 
not  separate  itself  from  Christ,  as  in  modern  times  has  been  done,  out 
of  the  pale  of  Catholicism  :  and  men  therefore  transferred  to  primitive 
Christianity  their  own  modern  conceptions,  arising  out  of  the  very  op- 
posite principles,  when  they  endeavoured  to  enforce  this  unfounded 
theory  touching  the  ancient  satisfactions. 

The  Church,  moreover,  has  repeatedly,  in  language  as  unequivocal 
as  it  was  affecting,  declared,  that  through  the  satisfactions  she  exacted, 
the  merits  of  Christ  could  be,  in  no  wise,  impaired  ;  that  this  species 
of  satisfaction  ought  not  to  be  confounded  with  that  achieved  by 
Christ ;  and  lastly,  that  the  works  of  satisfaction  which  she  required, 
must  emanate  from  the  penitential  spirit  that  Christ  himself  inspires, 
and  from  thence  solely  derive  their  value.  Those  works,  on  the  other 
hand,  she  declared,  which  are  not  offered  up  by  a  sinner  justified  and 
regenerated,  being  perverse  in  themselves,  must  not  be  included  in  the 
above  denomination.*  Nevertheless,  down  to  the  present  day,  the 
Church  has  never  been  able  to  convince  her  adversaries,  that,  by  these 
ordinances,  the  glory  of  Christ  is  not  obscured,  nor  human  self-righteous- 
ness promoted.  But  who  does  not  perceive  the  necessity  of  such  an 
opinion  on  the  part  of  the  Protestants,  when  he  maturely  weighs  the 
Protestant  doctrine  of  justification,  which  we  have  above  described  ?  If 
satisfaction  in  the  form  of  restitution  were  made  a  condition  to  the  for- 


*  Concil.  Trid.  Sess.  xiv.  c.  viii.  "  Neque  vero  ita  nostra  est  satisfactio  haec, 
quam  pro  peccatis  nostris  exsolvimus,  ut  non  sit  per  Christum  Jcsum.  Nam  qui  ex 
nobis,  tanquam  ex  nobis,  nihil  possumus,  eo  co-opcrante,  qui  nos  confortat,  omnia 
possumus.  Ita  non  habet  homo  mide  glorietur,  sed  omnis  gloriatio  nostra  in  Christo 
est,  in  quo  viviinus,  in  quo  meremur,  in  quo  satisfacimus,  facientes  fructus  digno? 
poenitentiae  :  qui  ex  illo  vim  habent,  ab  illo  offeruntur  Patri,  et  per  ilium  acceptan- 
tur  a.  Patre."' 


BETWEEN  CATHOLICS  AND  PROTESTANTS.  309 

giveness  of  sins,  what  was  this  but  to  declare  works  as  necessary  to 
salvation  1  If  the  Protestants  exacted  satisfactions  as  spiritual  remedies, 
they  would  give  countenance  to  the  principle  that  man  must  co-operate 
with  God,  and  that  the  forgiveness  of  sins  depended  on  sanctification. 
If  they  declared  satisfaction,  in  the  proper  sense  of  the  word,  to  form  an 
integral  part  of  Penance  ;  then  this  were  tantamount  to  the  opinion, 
that  the  just  man  could  fulfil  the  law  ;  for  punishment  is  inflicted  on 
the  sinner  baptized,  in  order  precisely  to  impress  him  with  the  conviction 
that  he  was  enabled  to  observe  the  precepts  of  the  law.  Whichever 
way,  accordingly,  we  look  at  satisfactions,  the  fundamental  doctrines 
of  Protestantism  forbid  their  forzning  part  of  their  penitential  system.* 
With  the  ecclesiastical  punishments  we  have  described  as  remedies 
and  satisfactions,  the  doctrine  of  Indulgences  is  connected,  the  abuse 
whereof,  real  and  undeniable,  led  the  Reformers  into  so  many  false 
steps,  and  would  have  been  calculated  to  furnish  them  with  some  excuse, 
were  it  not  expected  of  great  men,  for  which  they  wished  to  pass,  and, 
especially,  of  a  Divine  envoy  (and  such  Luther  was  inclined  to  regard 
himself,)  that  they  should  not  take  occasion,  from  the  abuse  of  truths, 
to  reject  those  truths  themselves.  From  the  earliest  ages  of  Christianity, 
indulgences  were  understood  to  be,  the  shortening,  under  certain  con- 
ditions, of  the  period  of  penance,  imposed  by  the  Church,  and,  withal, 
the  remission  of  the  temporal  punishment. f  The  most  important  con- 
dition was  fulfilled,  when  the  sinner  furnished  such  proofs  of  contrition, 


*  Melancth.  loc.  theol.  p.  65.  "  Quid  enira  videtur  magis  convenire,  quam  ut  sint 
in  ecclesia,  publicorum  scelerum  satisfactiones  ?  At  illse  obscurarunt  gratiam." 
Calvin.  Instit.  lib.  iv.  c.  4,  ^  25  :  "  Talibus  mendaciis  oppono  gratuitam  peccatorum 
remissionem  :  quS,  nihil  in  scripturis  clarius  praedicatur." 

t  Concil.  Ancyran,  (an.  .314)  c.  v. ;  Hard.  Concil.  torn.  i.  p.  273.    "toi;c  (Ts  tTrto-xi- 

ou'ro);  a  <pik:tv5'^ce9r)x  i7ri/uirpiia-i!i)."  Concil.  Nicen.  an.  325,  c.  xii.  lib.  i.  p.  327  :  "«p' 
aTTi-O-i  Se  TO-jTOl;  TTfua-^itit  i^ira^iiv  riv  /r^ovi^nriv,  KUl  to  i'lKo;  Ttii  /uiT^tvoia;.  oiro/  /uh  ya^ 
Kt)  (pojS^  Kui  Jdx.^u(T;  icici  J-;ro^ovii  Kit  ayi^'.ifyixK  Tiit'iTrir^ga^m  ig^y^nAi  ah  c-^iiJU-Ti  iTrt- 
i'eiKtuvrau,"  etc.     Compare  Concil.  Carth  iv.  c.  75. 

TRANSLATION. 

Concil.  Ancyr.  (anno  314)  c.  v.  Hard.  Concil.  torn.  I.  p.  273.  "  But  bishops  have 
the  power,  when  they  have  examined  into  the  character  of  the  conversion,  to  exer- 
cise clemency,  or  to  prolong  the  time  :  above  all,  let  the  anterior  and  the  subsequent 
course  of  life  be  thoroughly  sifted,  and  so  let  mercy  be  exercised."  Concil.  Nicaen. 
anno  325,  c.  xxii.  lib.  i.  p.  327  :  "  But  in  all  these  things  it  is  proper  to  investigate 
the  object  and  the  nature  of  the  repentance.  But  such  as,  by  dread,  and  tears,  and 
patience,  and  good  works,  manifest  their  conversion  in  deed,  and  not  in  appear- 
ance," etc.     Compare  iv.  Council  of  Carthage,  c.  75. 


310  EXPOSITION  OF  DOCTRINAL  DIFFERENCES 

and  of  newness  and  holiness  of  heart,  that  he  seemed  no  longer  to  need 
the  special  ecclesiastical  remedies  we  have  described,  and  appeared 
worthy  to  be  released  from  the  temporal  punishment.* 

At  a  later  period,  many  theologians  gave  greater  extension  to  the 
doctrine  of  indulgences  ;  but  their  opinions,  though  very  well  grounded, 
have  not  been  declared  articles  of  faith  in  any  formulary  of  the  Church, 
and,  therefore,  enter  not  into  the  plan  of  this  work.  The  Council  of 
Trent,  with  Avise  precaution,  decreed  no  more,  than  that  the  Church 
has  the  right  to  grant  indulgences,  and  that  these,  dispensed  with  wis- 
dom, are  useful. f 

Of  the  relation  which  the  doctrine  of  purgatory  bears  to  these  satis- 
factions, we  shall  elsewhere  have  occasion  to  speak.* 

§  XXXIV. — Doctrine  of  the  Catholics  on  the  most  holy  sacrament  of  the  Altar, 
and  on  the  Mass. 

The  mighty  subject,  which  is  now  about  to  engage  our  attention, 
gave  birth  to  the  most  important  controversies  between  the  Christian 
communities.  All  the  other  distinctive  doctrines  are  here  combined, 
though  in  a  more  eminent  degree  ;  for  although,  as  has  been  clearly 
shown,  in  every  point  of  difference  the  whole  system  of  doctrine  is  mir- 
rored forth,  yet  here  this  is  more  especially  the  case.  On  the  view, 
too,  which  we  take  of  this  subject,  depends  the  fact,  whether  the  Church 
be  destined  to  possess  a  true  and  vital  worship,  or  ought  to  be  devoid 
of  one. 

According  to  the  clear  declarations  of  Christ  and  his  apostles,  and 
the  unanimous  teaching  of  the  Church,  attested  by  the  immediate  fol- 
lowers  of  our  Lord's  disciples,  Catholics  firmly  hold  that  in  the  sacra- 
ment of  the  altar  Christ  is  truly  present,   and  indeed  in  such  a  wav, 


*  In  the  ancient  Church,  the  absolution  was  given  only  after  the  satisfaction  had 
been  performed. 

t  Concil.  Trident.  Sess.  xxv.  decrct.  de  indulg.  At  the  same  time  tho  abuses  in  the 
dispensation  of  indulgences  are  openly  and  sharply  rebuked  and  forbidden.  "  In  his 
tamen  concedendis  moderationem,  juxta  veterem  et  probatam  in  ecciesi^  consuetu- 
dinem,  adhiberi  cupit :  ne  nimiS,  facilitate  ecclesiastica  disciplina  enervetur.  Abusus 
vero,  qui  in  his  irrepserunt,  et  quorum  occasione  insigne  hoc  indulgentiarum  nomen 
ab  hasreticis  blasphematur,  emendates  et  correctos  cupicns,  prsesenti  decreto  genera- 
liter  statuit,  pravos  questus  omnes  pro  his  consequendis,  unde  p'urima  in  Christiano 
populo  abusuura  causa  fluxit,  omnino  abolendos  esse.     Caeteros  vero,  qui  ex  super. 

Btitione,  ignorantia,  irrevercntifl.,  aliunde   quomodocunque  provenerunt maudat 

omnibus  episcopis,  ut  diligenter  quisque  hujusmodi  ?.busu3  ecclesiiE  suae  colligat,  eos- 
que  in  prima,  synodo  provincial!  referat,"  etc. 


BETWEEN  CATHOLICS  AND  PROTESTANTS.  311 

iTiat  Almighty  God,  who  was  pleased  at  Cana,  in  Galilee,  to  convert 
water  into  wine,  changes  the  inward  substance  of  the  consecrated  bread 
and  wine  into  the  body  and  blood  of  Christ* 

We  therefore  adore  the  Saviour  mysteriously  present  in  the  sacra- 
ment :-|-  rejoice  in  his  exceeding  condescending  compassion ;  and 
expresses,  in  caEticles  of  praise  and  thanksgiving,  our  pious  emotions, 
as  far  as  the  divinely  enraptured  soul  of  man  can  express  them.:}: 

Out  of  this  faith  sprung  the  mass,  which,  in  its  essential  purport,  is  as 
old  as  the  Church,  and  even  in  its  more  important  forms  can  be  proved 
to  have  been  already  in  existence  in  the  second  and  third  centuries. 
But  to  unfold  more  clearly  the  Catholic  doctrine  on  this  point,  it  is 
necessary  to  anticipate   somewhat  of  our  reflections  on  the  Church. 


*  Concil.  Trid.  Sess.  xni.  c.  iv.  "  Quoniam  autem  Christus,  rcdemptor  noster,  cor- 
pus suum  id,  quod  sub  specie  panis  ofFerebat,  vere  esse  dixit ;  ideo  persuasum  semper 
in  ecclesia.  Dei  fuit,  idque  nunc  denuo  sancta  haec  synodus  declarat,  per  consecra- 
tionem  panis  et  vini,  convcrsionem  fieri  totius  substantive  panis  in  substantiam  corpo- 
ris Christi  Domini  nostri,  et  totius  substantia  vini  in  substantiam  sanguinis  ejus. 
Quae  conversio  convenienter  et  proprie  a  sanct&.  Catholic^  ecclesia,  transubstantiatio 
est  appellata." 

+  L.  c.  c.  V.  "Nullus  itaque  dubitandi  locus  relinquitur,  quin  omnes  Christi 
fideles,  pro  more  in  catholica  eeclesia  semper  recepto,  latrice  cultum,  qui  vero  Deo 
debctur,  huic  sanctissimo  sacramento  in  veneratione  ezhibeant.  Neque  enim  ideo 
minus  est  adorandura,  quod  fuerit  a  Christo  Domino,  ut  sumatur,  institutum.  Nam 
illiim  eundem  Deum  prffisentem  in  eo  adesse  credimus,  quern  Pater  seternus  introdu- 
cens  in  orbem  terrarum  dicit :  'et  adorent  eum  omnes  Angeli  Dei,'  quem  magi  pro- 
cidentes  adoraverunt,  quem  denique  in  Galilsea  ab  apostolis  adcK-atum  fuisse,  scripture 
/iestatur." 

t  Tiio  well-known  Christian  hymn  saith  : — 

"  Lauda  Sion  salvatorem, 
Lauda  ducem  et  pastorem, 
In  hymnis  et  canticis. 
Quantum  potes,  tantum  aude, 
Quia  major  omni  laude  ; 
Nee  laudare  sufficis. 
Laudis  thema  specialis 
Panis  vivus  et  vitalis 
Hodie  proponitur,"  etc. 

In  another  we  find  the  following  : — 

"  Pange  lingua  gloriosi 
Corporis  mysterium, 
Sanguinisque  pretiosi, 
Quem  in  mundi  pretium, 
Fructus  ventris  generosi 
S.ex  efiudit  gentium,"  etc. 


312  EXPOSITION  OF  DOCTRINAL  DIFFERENCES 

The  Church,  considered  in  one  point  of  view,  is  the  living  figure  of 
Christ,  manifesting  himself  and  working  through  all  ages,  whose  aton- 
ing and  redeeming  acts,  it,  in  consequence,  eternally  repeats,  and  unin- 
terruptedly continues.  The  Redeemer  not  merely  lived  eighteen  hun- 
dred years  ago,  so  that  he  hath  since  disappeared,  and  we  retain  but 
an  historical  remembrance  of  him»  as  of  a  deceased  man  :  but  he  is,  on 
the  contrary,  eternally  living  in  his  Church  ;  and  in  the  sacrament  of 
the  altar  he  hath  manifested  this  in  a  sensible  manner  to  creatures  en- 
dowed \vith  sense.  He  is,  in  the  announcement  of  his  word,  the  abid- 
ing teacher  ;  in  baptism  he  perpetually  receives  the  children  of  men 
into  his  communion  ;  in  the  tribunal  of  penance  he  pardons  the  contrite 
sinner  ;  strengthens  rising  youth  with  the  power  of  iiis  spirit  in  confir- 
mation ;  breathes  into  the  bridegroom  and  the  bride  a  higher  concep- 
tion of  the  nuptial  relations  ;  unites  himself  most  intimately  with  all 
who  sigh  for  eternal  life,  under  the  forms  of  bread  and  wine  ;  consoles 
the  dying  in  extreme  unction ;  and  in  holy  orders  institutes  the  organs 
whereby  he  worketh  all  this  with  never-tiring  activity.  If  Christ,  con- 
ceaJed  under  an  earthly  veil,  unfolds,  to  the  end  of  time,  his  whole 
course  of  actions  begun  on  earth,  he,  of  necessity,  eternally  offers  him>- 
self  to  the  Father  as  a  victim  for  men  ;.  and  the  real  permanent  expo- 
sition hereof  can  never  fail  in  the  Church,  if  the  historical  Christ  is  to 
celebrate  in  her  his  entire  imperishable  existence.* 

The  following  may  perhaps  serve  to  explain  the  Catholic  view  on 
this  subject,  since  it  is  a  matter  of  so  much  difficulty  to  Protestants  to 
form  a  clear  conception  of  this  dogma. f 

Christ,  on  the  cross,  has  offered  the  sacrifice  for  our  sins.  But  the 
incarnate  Son  of  God,  who  hath  suffered,  died,  and  risen  again  front 
the  dead  for  our  sins,  living,  according  to  his  own  teaching,  is  present 
in  the  Eucharist,  the  Church  from  the  beginning  hath,  at  His  command 


*  Cone.  Trid.  Sess.  xiii.  c.  1.  "Is  igitur  Deus  et  Dominus  noster,  etsi  semel 
seipsum  in  ar&.  crucis,  morte  mtercedente,  Deo  patri  oblaturus  erat,  ut  setemam  illic 
redemptionem  operaretur;  quia  tamen  per  mortem  sacerdotium  ejus  eitinguenduna 
non  erat,  in  ccsna  novissima,  qua  nocte  tradebatur,  ut  dialectse  spwnsse  suae  ccclesiaB 
visibile,  sicut  hominum  natura  exigit,  relinqueret  sacrificium,  quo  cruentura  illud,. 
semel  in  cruce  peragendum,  repra  sentaretur,  cjusque  memoria  in  finem  usque  saeculi 
permaneret,  atque  illius  salutaris  virtus  in  remissioncra  eorum,  qute  a  nobis  quotidie 
committuntur,  peccatorum  applicarctur,"  etc.  C.  ii :  "  Et  quoniam  in  divine  hoc 
sacrificio,  quod  in  missa  pcragitur,  idem  ille  Christus  continetur,  et  incruente  immo. 
latur,  qui  in  ara  crucis  semel  se  ipsum  cruente  obtulit,  docet  sancta  synodus,  sacrifi- 
cium istud  vere  propitiatorium  esse,  per  ipsumque  fieri,  si  cum  vero  corde  et  recta 
fide,  cum  metil  et  revcrentia,  contriti  ac  poenitcntes  ad  Deum  accedanius,"  etc 

t  See  note  B  in  Appendix. 


BETWEEN  CATHOLICS  AND  PROTESTANTS.  313 

(Luke  xxii.  20,)  substituted  the  Christ  mysteriously  present,  and  visible 
only  to  the  spiritual  eye  of  faith,  for  the  historical  Christ,  now  inacces- 
sible  to  the  corporeal  senses.  The  former  is  taken  for  the  latter,  be- 
cause the  latter  is  likewise  the  former — both  are  considered  as  one  and 
the  same  ;  and  the  eucharistic  Saviour,  therefore,  as  the  victim  also  for 
the  sins  of  the  world.  And  the  more  so,  as,  when  we  wish  to  express 
ourselves  accurately,  the  sacrifice  of  Christ  on  the  cross  is  put  only  as 
a  part  for  an  organic  whole.  For  his  whole  life  on  earth — his  ministry 
and  his  sufferings,  as  well  as  his  perpetual  condescension  to  our  infir- 
mity in  the  Eucharist — constitute  one  great  sacrificial  act,  one  mighty 
action  undertaken  out  of  love  for  us,  and  expiatory  of  our  sins,  consist- 
ing, indeed,  of  various  individual  parts,  yet  so  that  none  by  itself  is, 
strictly  speaking,  the  sacrifice.  In  each  particular  part  the  whole 
recurs,  yet  without  these  parts  the  whole  cannot  be  conceived.  The 
will  of  Christ,  to  manifest  His  gracious  condescension  to  us  in  the 
Eucharist,  forms  no  less  an  integral  part  of  his  great  work,  than  all  be- 
sides, and  in  a  way  so  necessary,  indeed,  that,  whilst  we  here  find  the 
whole  scheme  of  redemption  reflected,  without  it  the  other  parts  would 
not  have  sufficed  for  our  complete  atonement.  Who,  in  fact,  would 
venture  the  assertion  that  the  descent  of  the  Son  of  God  in  the  Eucha- 
rist belongs  not  to  His  general  merits,  which  are  imputed  to  us  ?  Hence 
the  sacramental  sacrifice  is  a  true  sacrifice — a  sacrifice  in  the  strict 
sense,  yet  so  that  it  must  in  no  wise  be  separated  from  the  other  things 
which  Christ  hath  achieved  for  us,  as  the  very  consideration  of  the  end 
of  its  institution  will  clearly  show.*     In  this  last  portion  (if  we  may  so 


*  In  Theophilus  L.  S.  register.  Annae  ComnenaB  Supplementa  (Tub.  1832,  c.  iv. 
pp.  18-23^  a  fragment  from  tlie  still  unprinted  panoply  of  Nicetas  is  communicated 
in  reference  to  Soterichus  Panteugonus,  the  oldest  document,  to  our  knowledge,  in- 
forming us  of  any  doubt  being  entertained,  whether  the  mass  be  really  a  sacrifice. 
Soterich  lived  in  the  twelfth  century,  under  Manuel  Comnenus,  and  maintained  the 
opinion  that  it  was  only  in  an  improper  sense  that  Christ  in  the  Eucharist  was  said  to 
be  offered  up  as  a  victim  to  God.  But  the  Greek  bishops  assembled  together  rejected 
this  view,  and  Soterich  presented  a  recantation,  which  is  not  contained  in  the  above, 
named  writing,  but  which  I  printed  in  the  Theological  Quarterly  Review  of  Tiibin- 
gcn.  (See  the  Tuhinger  Quartalschrift,  1833,  No.  1,  p.  373.)  The  recantation  runs 
thus:  o^o^govw  tyi  aylf  ku  Upif  truviS'^  iTr)  tJ  tyiv  Bufiuv  ka)  r/iv  vuy  Trpng-uyojUivnv  nt)  tw 
TOTS  wgojrsto^Seicrav  Tnpx  tou  juovoyivovi  x.ti  ev*y9ga'^«Vai'T0C  Xoyov,  xa)  tot£  Trpoa-dt^^Seta-AV 
[it  stands  so  written  in  the  Paris  codex,  but  it  ought  evidently  to  be  Trgr^Tsf^bhtti )  *«/ 
yuv  waXiv  7rpr>sayiT^:tt,  JL;  th  rvjTh  onTXv  Kt-t  jM/«v,  Kxi  rZ  /uii  oiJrm  t^ovoZvTl  ivdSiuA.  Kay 
tt  jrgoc  dv5tTgO|«w  fv^nTKHTXi  yiyfxy.fji.my,  Siv 0.^1/40.11  KcL^vTrofiaKKee.  *H  i/^:jg«^» 
2*T«gi';^oc  0  llxyyfjyriyQi," 

TRANSLATION. 

'•  I  agree  with  the  holy  synod  herein,  that  the  sacrifice  now  to  be  offered  up,  and 


314  EXPOSITION  OF  DOCTRINAL  DIFFERENCES 

call  it)  of  the  great  sacrifice  for  us,  all  the  other  parts  are  to  be  present, 
and  applied  to  us  :  in  this  last  part  of  the  objective  sacrifice,  the  latter 
becomes  subjective  and  appropriated  to  us.  Christ  on  the  cross  is  still 
an  object  strange  to  us  :  Christ,  in  the  Christian  worship,  is  our  pro- 
perty, our  victim.  There  He  is  the  universal  victim — here  He  is  the 
victim  for  us  in  particular,  and  for  every  individual  amongst  us ;  there 
he  was  only  the  victim  ; — here  He  is  the  victim  acknowledged  and 
revered  :  there  the  objective  atonement  was  consummated  ; — here  the 
subjective  atonement  is  partly  fostered  and  promoted,  partly  expressed. 

The  Eucharistic  sacrifice,  in  conformity  to  its  declared  ends,  may  be 
considered  under  a  two-fold  point  of  view.  The  Church,  in  general, 
and  every  particular  Community  within  her,  being  founded  by  the  sacri- 
fice of  the  Son  of  God,  and  by  faith  in  the  same,  and  thus  owing  their 
existence  to  Him,  the  Eucharistic  sacrifice  must,  in  the  first  place,  be 
regarded  as  one  of  praise  and  thanksgiving.  In  other  words,  the 
Church  declares  that  she  is  incapable  of  offering  up  her  thanks  to  God 
in  any  other  way,  than  by  giving  Him  back  who  became  the  victim 
for  the  world; — as  if  she  were  to  say:  "Thou  didst,  O  Lord,  for 
Christ's  sake,  look  down,  with  graciousness  and  compassion,  upon  us  as 
Thy  children  ;  so  vouchsafe  that  we,  with  grateful  hearts,  may  revere 
Thee  as  otir  Father  in  Christ,  thy  Son,  here  present.  We  possess 
nought  else  that  we  can  offer  Thee,  save  Christ ;  be  graciously  pleased 
to  receive  our  sacrifice."  While  the  community,  in  the  person  of  the 
priest,  performeth  this,  it  confesses  perpetually  what  Christ  became, 
and  still  continues  to  be,  for  its  sake.  It  is  not  however  the  interior 
acts  of  thanksgiving,  adoration,  and  gratitude,  which  it  ofl^ers  up  to 
God,  but  it  is  Christ  himself  present  in  the  sacrament.  These  emotions 
of  the  soul  are  indeed  excited,  unfolded,  kept  up,  and  fostered  by  the 
presence  and  the  self  sacrifice  of  the  Saviour;  but  of  themselves  they 
are  deemed  unworthy  to  be  presented  to  God.  Christ,  the  victim  in 
our  worship,  is  the  copious  inexhaustible  source  of  the  deepest  devotion  ; 
but,  in  order  to  be  this,  the  presence  of  the  Saviour,  sacrificing  Him- 
self for  the  sins  of  the  world,  is  necessarily  required — a  presence  to 
which,  as  to  an  outward  object,  the  interior  soul  of  man  must  attach  it- 
self, and  must  unbosom  all  its  feelings. 

The  community,  however,  continually  professes  itself  as  a  sinner, 


once  offered  up  the  only-bcgotten  and  incarnate  Word,  was  once  offered  up,  and 
is  now  offered  up,  because  it  is  one  and  (he  same.  To  him  who  doth  not  so  believe, 
anathema  :  and  if  any  thing  hath  been  found  written  in  refutation  hereof,  I  subject 
it  to  the  anathema.  (Signed.)  "  Soterichus  Panteugonus," 


BETWEEN  CATHOLICS  AND  PROTESTANTS.  315 

needing  forgiveness,  and  striving,  ever  more  and  more,  to  appropriate 
to  itself  the  merits  of  Christ.  Now  the  sacrifice  appears  propitiatory, 
and  the  Redeemer  present  enables  us  to  be  entirely  His  own  children, 
or  to  become  so  in  an  ever-increasing  degree.  The  present  Saviour, 
in  a  voice  audible  to  the  spiritual-minded,  incessantly  addresses  His 
Father  above :  "  Be  graciously  pleased  to  behold  in  me  the  believing 
and  repentant  people  :"  and  then  He  crieth  to  His  brethren  below  : 
**Come  to  Me,  all  you  that  labour  and  are  heavy  laden,  and  I  will  re- 
fresh you  :  each  one,  who  returneth  to  Me  with  all  his  heart,  shall  find 
mercy,  forgiveness  of  sins,  and  every  grace."  Hence,  in  the  liturgy  of 
the  Latin,  as  well  as  of  the  Greek  Church,  it  is  rightly  said,  that  it  is 
Christ,  who,  in  the  holy  action,  offers  Himself  up  to  God  as  a  sacrifice ; 
He  is  at  once  the  victim  and  the  high-priest.  But  we,  recognizing,  in 
the  Eucharistic  Christ,  that  same  Christ,  who,  out  of  love  for  us,  deliv- 
ered Himself  unto  death,  even  the  death  of  the  cross,  exclaim,  at  the 
elevation  of  the  Host,  wherever  the  Catholic  Church  extends,  with  that 
lively  faith  in  His  manifest  mercy,  from  which  humility,  confidence, 
love,  and  repentance  spring — "  O  Jesus  !  for  Thee  I  live  ;  for  Thee  I 
die  !    0  Jesus  !  Thine  I  am,  living  or  dead." 

It  is  now  evident  to  all,  that  the  belief  in  the  real  presence  of  Christ 
in  the  Eucharist,  forms  the  basis  of  our  whole  conception  of  the  mass. 
Without  that  presence,  the  solemnity  of  the  Lord's  Supper  is  a  mere 
reminiscence  of  the  sacrifice  of  Christ,  exactly  in  the  same  way  as  the 
celebration  by  any  society  of  the  anniversary  of  some  esteemed  indivi- 
dual, whose  image  it  exhibits  to  view,  or  some  other  symbol,  recalls  to 
mind  his  beneficent  actions.  On  the  other  hand,  with  faith  in  the  real 
existence  of  Christ  in  the  Eucharist,  the  past  becomes  the  present — all 
that  Christ  hath  merited  for  us,  and  whereby  he  hath  so  merited  it,  is 
henceforth  never  separated  from  his  person :  He  is  present  as  that 
which  He  absolutely  is,  and  in  the  whole  extent  of  His  actions,  to  wit, 
as  the  real  victim.  Hence  the  effects  of  this  faith  on  the  mind,  the 
heart,  and  the  will  of  man,  are  quite  other  than  if,  by  the  mere  stretch 
of  the  human  faculty  of  memory,  Christ  be  called  back  from  the  distance 
of  eighteen  hundred  years.  He  Himself  manifests  His  love.  His  bene- 
volence. His  devotedness  to  us  :  He  is  ever  in  the  midst  of  us,  full  of 
grace  and  truth. 

Accordingly,  the  Catholic  mass,  considered  as  a  sacrifice,  is  a  so- 
lemnization of  the  blessings  imparted  to  humanity  by  God  in  Christ 
Jesus,  and  is  destined,  by  the  offering  up  of  Christ,  partly  to  express  in 
praise,  thanksgiving,  and  adoration,  the  joyous  feelings  of  redemption 
on  the  part  of  the  faithful  ;  partly  to  make  the  merits  of  Christ  the  sub- 
ject  of  their  perpetual  appropriation.     It  is  also  clear,  why  this  sacrifice 


316  EXPOSITION  OF  DOCTRINAL  DIFFERENCES 

is  of  personal  utility  to  the  believer ;  namely,  because,  thereby,  pious 
sentiments,  such  as  faith,  hope,  love,  humility,  contrition,  obedience, 
and  devotion  to  Christ,  are  excited,  promoted,  and  cherished.  The 
sacrifice  presented  to  God,  which,  as  we  have  often  said,  is  not  sepa- 
rated from  the  work  of  Christ,  merits  internal  grace  for  the  culture  of 
these  sentiments,  which  are  psychologically  excited  from  without,  by 
faith  in  the  present  Saviour,  whose  entire  actions  and  sufferings  are 
brought  before  the  mind.  As,  according  to  Catholic  doctrine,  forgive- 
ness of  sins  cannot  take  place  without  sanctification,  and  a  fitting  state 
of  the  human  soul  is  required  for  the  reception  of  grace,  as  well  as  an 
active  concurrence  towards  the  fructification  of  grace,  the  reflecting 
observer  may  already  infer,  that  it  is  not  by  a  mere  outward  or  bodily 
participation,  on  the  part  of  the  community,  that  the  mass  produces 
any  vague  indeterminate  effects. 

The  sacrifice  of  the  mass  is  likewise  offered  up  for  the  living  and  the 
dead  ;  that  is  to  say,  God  is  implored,  for  the  sake  of  Christ's  oblation, 
to  grant  to  all  those  who  are  dear  to  us,  whatever  may  conduce  to  their 
salvation.  With  the  mass,  accordingly,  the  faithful  join  the  prayer, 
that  the  merits  of  Christ,  which  are  considered  as  concentrated  in  the 
Eucharistic  sacrifice,  should  be  applied  to  all  needing  them  and  sus- 
ceptible of  them.  To  consider  merely  himself  is  a  matter  of  impossi- 
bility to  the  Christian,  how  much  less  in  so  sacred  a  solemnity  can  he 
think  only  of  himself  and  omit  his  supplication,  that  the  merits  of 
Christ,  which  outweigh  the  sins  of  the  whole  world,  may  likewise  be 
appropriated  by  all  ?  The  communion  with  the  happy  and  perfect 
spirits  in  Christ  is  also  renewed  ;  for  they  are  one  with  Christ,  and  His 
work  cannot  be  contemplated  without  its  effects.  Lastly,  all  the  con- 
cerns of  inward  and  outward  life, — sad  and  joyful  events,  good  and  ill 
fortune, — are  brought  in  connexion  with  this  sacrifice ;  and  at  this 
commemoration  in  Christ,  to  whom  we  are  indebted  for  the  highest 
gifts,  we  pour  out  to  God  our  thanksgivings  and  lamentations,  and  in 
Him,  and  before  Him,  we  implore  consolation,  and  courage,  and 
strength,  under  sufferings  ;  self-denial,  clemency,  and  meekness,  in  pros- 
perity. 

Hitherto,  however,  we  have  considered  the  mass  merely  as  a  sacri- 
ficial oblation  ;  but  this  view  by  no  means  embraces  its  whole  purport. 
The  assembled  congregation  declares,  from  what  we  have  stated,  that 
in  itself,  without  Christ,  it  discovers  nothing — absolutely  nothing — 
which  can  be  agreeable  to  God  :  nay,  nothing  but  what  is  inadequate, 
earthly,  and  sinful.  Renouncing  itself,  it  gives  itself  up  to  Christ,  full 
of  confidence,  hoping  for  His  sake  forgiveness  of  sins  and  eternal  life, 
and  every  grace.     In  this  act  of  self-renunciation,  and  of  entire  self- 


BETWEEN  CATHOLICS  AND  PROTESTANTS.  317 

tibandonraent  to  God  in  Christ,  the  believer  has,  as  it  were,  thrown  off 
himself,  excommunicated  himself,  if  I  may  so  speak,  in  his  existence, 
as  separated  from  Christ,  in  order  to  live  only  by  Him,  and  in  Him. 
Hence  he  is  in  a  state  to  enter  into  the  most  intimate  fellowship  with 
Christ,  to  commune  with  Him,  and  with  his  whole  being  to  be  entirely 
absorbed  in  Him.  For  the  unseemliness  of  the  congregation  no  longer 
communicating  ev'ery  Sunday  (as  was  the  case  in  the  primitive  Church,) 
and  of  the  priest  in  the  mass  usually  receiving  alone  the  body  of  the 
Lord,  is  not  to  be  laid  to  the  blame  of  the  Church  (for  all  the  prayers 
in  the  holy  sacrifice  presuppose  the  sacramental  communion  of  the  en- 
tire congregation,)  but  is  to  be  ascribed  solely  to  the  tepidity  of  the 
greater  part  of  the  faithful.  Yet  are  the  latter  earnestly  exhorted  to 
participate,  at  least  spiritually,  in  the  communion  of  the  priest,  and,  in 
this  way,  to  enter  into  the  fellowship  of  Christ.* 

Who  will  not  name  such  a  worship  most  Christian,  most  pious,  and 
real : — a  worship    wherein  God  is  adored  in  spirit  and  in  truth  ?     In- 
deed, how  can  a  carnal-minded  man,  who  will  not  believe  in  the  incar- 
nation of  the  Son  of  God, — 'for  the  most  powerful  obstacle  to  this  be- 
lief is  in  the  fact  that  man  clearly  perceives,   he  must  be  of  a  godly 
way  of  thinking,  so  soon  as  he  avows  that  God  has  become  man — how 
can  such   a  man  look  upon  the  mass  as  other  than  mere  foolishness  ? 
The  mass  comprises  an   ever^recurring  invitation  to  the  confession  of 
our  sins,  of  our  own   weakness  and  helplessness.     It  is   a  living  repre- 
sentation of  the  infinite  love  and  compassion  of  God  towards  us,  which 
he  hath  revealed,  and  daily  still  reveals,  in  the  delivering  up  of  His  only 
begotten  Son  :  and  therefore  it  contains  the  most  urgent  exhortation 
to  endless  thanksgiving,  to  effective  mutual  love,  and  to  our  heavenly 
glorification.    Hence  an  adversary   to  such  a   worship  must  be   one 
whose  thoughts  creep  exclusively  on  the  earth,  or  of  the  whole  act  un- 
derstands nought  else,  but  that  the  priest  turns  sometimes  to  the  right, 
sometimes  to  the  left,  and  is  clothed  in  a  motley-coloured  garment.    On 
the  other  hand,  he  who  misapprehends  the  wants  of  man,  and  the  high 
objects  of  our  Divine   Redeemer,  in  the  establishment  of  the  sacra- 
ments ;  he  who,  like  the  Manicheans,  rejects  the  sacraments  as  coarse, 


*  L.  c.  Seas.  xm.  c.  riii.  "  Quoad  usum  autera,  recte  et  sapienter  patres  nostri  tree 
rationes  hoc  sanctum  sacramentum  accipiendi  distinxerunt.  Quosdam  enim  docue- 
mnt  sacramentaliter  dimtaxat  id  sumcre,  ut  peccatores,  alios  autem  spiritualiter,  illoa 
nimirum,  qui,  voto  propositum  ilium  ccelestem  panem  edentes,  fide  viva,  quas  per  di- 
lectionem  operatur,  fructum  ejus  ct  utilitatem  sentiunt;  tertios  porro  sacramentaliter 
simul  et  spiritualiter  :  hi  autem  sunt,  qui  se  prius  probsint  et  instruunt,  ut  vestem  nup. 
tialem  induti,"  etc. 


318  EXPOSITION  OF  DOCTRINAL  DIFFERENCES 

sensual  institutions,  and  follows  the  track  of  a  false  spirituality,  will 
regard  the  Catholic  dogma  as  incomprehensible.  In  the  opinion  of 
such  a  man,  a  worship  is  in  the  same  degree  spiritual,  as  it  is  untrue. 
He  lays  before  his  God  the  lofty  conceptions  that  have  sprung  out  of 
the  fulness  of  his  intellectual  powers,  his  holy  feelings  and  inflexible 
resolves  ;  these  have  no  reference  to  the  outward  historical  Christ,  but 
only  to  the  ideal  one,  which  is  merged  in  the  subjectivity  of  these  feel- 
ings and  ideas  5  while  yet,  by  the  fact  of  the  external  revelation  of  the 
Logos,  internal  worship  must  needs  obtain  a  perpetual  outward  basis, 
and,  in  truth,  one  representing  the  Word  delivered  up  to  suffering,  be- 
cause it  was  under  the  form  of  a  self-sacrifice  for  the  sins  of  the  world 
that  this  maifestation  occurred.  How,  on  the  other  hand,  any  one  who 
has  once  apprehended  the  full  meaning  of  the  incarnation  of  the  Deity, 
and  who  with  joy  confesses  that  his  duty  is  the  reverse — namely,  to 
pass  from  seeming  to  real  and  divine  existence,  and  has  accordingly 
attained  to  the  perception  that  the  doctrine  of  a  forgiveness  of  sins  in 
Christ  Jesus,  of  an  exaltation  of  man  unto  God,  and  of  a  communica- 
tion of  divine  life  to  him,  through  our  Lord,  must  remain  unprofitable 
until  it  be  brought  before  us  in  concrete  forms,  and  be  made  to  bear  on 
our  most  individual  relations^— how  any  one,  I  say,  who  clearly  per- 
ceives all  this,  can  refuse  to  revere  in  the  Catholic  mass  a  divine  in- 
stitution, I  am  utterly  at  a  loss  to  conceive. 

After  this  exposition,  we  are  probably  now   enabled  to  give  a  satis- 
factory solution  to  the  chief  objection  which  the  Protestant  communites 
have  urged   against  the  Catholic  sacrifice  of  the  mass.     It  is  argued, 
that  by  the  mass  the  sacrifice  of  Christ  on  the  cross  is  abolished,  or  that, 
at  any   rate,  it  receives  a  detriment,  since  the  latter  is  considered   as 
incomplete,  and  needing  a  supplement.     Now,  it  is    self-evident,  (hat 
the  sacrifice  of  the  mass,  by  keeping  the  oblation  of  Christ  on  the  cross, 
or  rather  his  whole  ministry  and  sufferings,  eternally  present,  presup- 
poses the  same,  and  in  its  whole  purport  maintains  the  same  ;  and  so 
far  from  obliterating,  it  stamps  them  more  vividly  on  the  minds  of 
men  ;  and,  instead  of  supplying  the  bloody  sacrifice  of   the    cross  with 
some  heterogeneous  element,  it  brings  that  sacrifice  in  its  true  integrity 
and  original  vitality  to  bear  the  most  individual  application  and  appro- 
priation throughout  all  ages.     It  is  one  and  the  same  undivided  victim, 
—one  and  the  same  High  Priest,  who  on  the  mount  of  Calvary  and  on 
our  altars  hath  offered  Himself  up  an  atonement   for  the  sins  of  the 
world.     But,  as  this  view  is  so  obvious,  and  as  the  Reformers  neverthe- 
less constantly  repeated  their  objections,  and  impressed  them  so  strongly 
on  the  minds  of  their  followers,  that,  down  to  the  present  day  they  are 
repeated,  something  deeply  rooted  in  the  constitution  of  Protestantism 


BETWEEN  CATHOLICS  AND  PROTESTANTS.  BlQ 

itself  seems  to  lurk  under  these  objections,  and  requires  to  be  dragged 
to  light.  The  decisive,  conscious^  undoubting  faith,  that  Christ  before 
our  eyes  offers  himself  up  for  us  to  his  eternal  Father,  is  quite  calcula- 
ted to  produce  an  effect  piercing  into  the  inmost  heart  of  man — far  be- 
low the  deepest  roots  of  evil,  so  that  sin  in  its  inmost  germ  should  be 
plucked  from  the  will,  and  the  believer  be  unable  to  refuse  to  conse- 
crate his  life  to  God.*  This  ordinance  of  divine  compassion  neces-^ 
earily  leads,  along  with  others,  to  the  doctrine  of  internal  justification  5 
as,  on  the  other  hand,  the  mass  must  be  rejected  with  a  sort  of  instinct, 
wherever  that  doctrine  is  repudiated.  If  such  great  and  living  mani- 
festations of  the  Redeemer's  grace  be  unable  thoroughly  to  purify  the 
heart  of  man  ;  if  they  be  incapable  of  moving  us  to  heartfelt  gratitude 
and  mutual  love,  to  the  most  unreserved  self-sacrifice,  and  to  the  sup* 
plication,  that  God  would  accept  the  oblation  of  ourselves  ;  then  we 
may  with  reason  despair  of  our  sanctification,  and  abandon  ourselves  to 
a  mere   theory  of  imputation.     Now,  perhaps,  we  may  understand  the 

*  Luther  (de  captivit.  Bab.  opp.  ed.  Jen.  torn-  ii.  p.  279,  b.  and  280)  still  express, 
es  the  glorious  reminiscences  of  his  Catholic  education,  which,  however,  became  al- 
ways feebler,  till  at  last  they  were  totally  extinguished.  "  Est  itaque  missa,  sed  se- 
cundum substantiam  suam,  proprie  nihil  almd,  quam  verba  Christi  praedicta  :  '  acci- 
pite  et  manducate,'  etc.  Ac  si  dicat :  ecce  o  homo  peccator  et  damnatus,  ex  mera. 
gratuitaquc  charitate,  qua  diligo  te,  sic  Volente  misericordiarum  patre,  his  verbis  pro- 
ftiitto  tibi,  ante  omne  meritum  et  votum  tuum,  reniissionem  omnium  peccatorum  tuo- 
rum  et  vitam  aeternam.  Et  ut  certissimus  de  hac  mea  promissione  irrevoeabili  sis,  cor- 
pus meum  tradam  et  sanguinem  fundam,  morte  ipsa  hac  banc  promissionem  confirma- 
turus,  et  utrumquc  tibi  in  signum  et  memoriale  ejusdcm  promissionis  relicturus  Quod 
cum  frcquentavcns,  mei  memorsis,  banc  meam  in  te  charitatem  et  largitatcm  prfpdices 
et  laudes  et  gratias  agas."  (Here,  however,  it  is  merely  the  subjective,  and  not  the  objec. 
live  part  which  is  brought  forward.)  "  Ex  quibus  vides,  ad  missam  digne  habendam  ali- 
ud  non  requiri  quam  fidem,  qua  huic  promissioni  fidcliter  nitatur,  Christum  in  suis  verbis 
veracem  credat,  et  sibi  ha;c  immensa  bona  esse  donata  non  dubitet.  Ad  banc  fidem 
ftiox  sequetur  sua  spontc  dulcissimus  afFectus  cordis,  quS,  dilatatur  et  impinguatur 
spiritus  hominis  (hajc  est  charitas,  per  Spiritum  Sanctum  in  fide  Christi  donata,)  ut 
m  Christum,  tani  largum  et  benignuni  testatorem,  rapiatut,  fiatque  penitus  alius  et 
novus  homo.  Quis  enim  non  dulciter  lacrymetur,  imo  pree  gaudio  in  Christum  pene 
exanimetur,  si  credat  fide  indubitatS.,  hanc  Christi  promissionem  ineestimabilem  ad  se 
pertinere  ?  Quomodo  non  diliget  tantum  bencfactorem,  qui  indigno  et  longc  alia 
merito  tantas  divitias  et  hereditatem  hanc  JEternam  prseveniens  ofFert,  promittit  et 
donat  ?"  Compare  Sancti  Anselmi  orationes  n.  xxv.-xxxv.  opp.  edit.  Gerberon.  Par. 
1721,  p  264,  seq.  But  at  page  281  of  this  work  Luther  says  :  "  Ita  possum  quoti- 
die,  imo  omni  bora,  missam  habere,  dum  quoties  voluero,  possum  mihi  verba  Christi 
proponere  et  fidem  meam  in  illis  alere,"  etc.  This  is  indeed  true,  but  to  overlook 
every  other  consideration,  such  an  idealism  would  render  the  sacraments  utterly  un- 
necessary, and  public  worship  useless,  since  something  external  must  always  form 
the  foundation  of  the  latter. 


320  EXPOSITION  OF  DOCTRINAL  DIFFERENCES 

full  sense  of  the  above-cited  prayer,  which  the  Catholic  at  the  cleva» 
tion  of  the  host  utters  to  his  Saviour  :  "  To  thee  let  my  whole  life  be 
consecrated !" 

Yet  it  ought  not  to  be  overlooke(i,  that  the  Reformers  might  be  led 
into  error  through  various,  and  some  extremely  scandalous,  abuses,  espe« 
cially  an  unspiritual,  dry,  mechanical  performance  and  participation  in 
this  most  mysterious  function.  Moreover,  in  default  of  historical  learn- 
ing, the  high  antiquity  and  apostolic  origin  of  the  holy  sacrifice  was  un- 
known to  them.  If  it  cannot  even  be  denied,  that  their  whole  system, 
when  regarded  from  one  point  of  view,  should  have  led  them  rather 
zealously  to  uphold*  than  to  disapprove  of  the  sacrificial  worship  ;  yet 
they  instinctively  felt  that,  in  that  worship,  there  lay  something  in- 
finitely more  profound  than  all  the  doctrinal  foundations  of  their  own 
theological  system  ;  and,  accordingly,  they  were  driven  by  an  uncon* 
scious  impulse  into  a  negative  course. 

There  are  now  some  particulars  which  remain  to  be  considered.  The 
doctrine  of  the  change  of  bread  and  wine  into  the  body  and  blood  of 
Christ  occupies  an  important  place  in  the  Catholic  system  of  theology. 
Who  doth  not  immediately  think  of  that  true,  moral  change  which 
must  take  place  in  man,  so  soon  as  he  enters  into  communion  with 
Christ,  when  the  earthly  man  ceases,  and  the  heavenly  one  begins,  so 
that  not  we,  but  Christ  liveth  in  us?  In  the  Lord's  supper  Luther 
could  not  find  Christ  alone,— -bread  and  wine  ever  recurred  to  his 
mind,  because,  in  the  will  of  those  regenerated  in  Christ,  he  saw  a 
permanent  dualism,  a  perpetual  co-existence  of  a  spiritual  and  a  carnal 
inclination,  so  that  the  latter^ — evil  principle  in  man — -could  never  be 
truly  converted  into  the  former.  Moreover,  the  doctrine  of  transub* 
stantiation  is  the  clearest  representation  of  the  objectivity  of  the  food 
of  the  soul  offered  to  us  in  the  sacraments  5  and,  if  we  may  dare  to 
speak  of  the  internal  motions  of  the  Divine  economy,  we  should  affirm 
that,  by  this  transubstantiation,  wrought  through  a  miracle  of  God's 
omnipotence,  the  strongest  barrier  is  raised  against  any  false  subjective 
opinion.  This  doctrine,  which  most  undoubtedly  was  at  all  times 
prevalent  in  the  Church,*  though  at  one  time  more  clearly,  at  another 


*  In  the  Liturgy  of  St.  Chrysostom  {Goar  Eucholog.  p.  77)  we  meet  with  the 
following  forms  of  prayer:  " EiAoj/xs-oi'  (TIo-^tot*  tov  ciymv  agTOv.^''  "Bless,  O  Lord, 
the  lioly  bread,"  saith  the  deacon  ;  hereupon  the  priest  saith  :  "  Trma-ov  tov  y-tv  agroi' 
TouTOv  t/(m/ov  a-oofxct  tou  Xg/cTTou  a-w."  "  Make  this  bread  the  venerable  body  of  thy 
Christ."  Then  the  deacon  calls  upon  the  priest  to  bless  the  wine ;  whereupon  the  latter 
saith  :  "  To  cTs  iv  ^oTJig/ip  Toirt^  Ti'fAiov  aijuoi.  tou  Xg/o"Tcu  a-ou."  "  Make  what  is  con- 
tained  in  this  chalice  the  venerable  blood  of  thy  Christ."     Then  over  both  the  priest 


BETWEEN  CATHOLICS  AND  PROTESTANTS.  321 

less  clearly,  expressed,  according  as  occasion  seemed  to  require,  was, 
in  the  Middle  Age,  laid  down  as  a  formal  dogma,  at  a  period,  when  a 
false  pantheistic  mysticism,  which  we  have  elsewhere  described,  con- 
founded the  distinctions  between  the  human  and  the  divine,  and  identi- 
fied the  Father  with  the  world,  the  Son  of  God  with  the  eternal  idea  of 
man,  and  the  Holy  Ghost  with  religious  feelings.  Several  Gnostic 
sects,  and  afterwards,  Amalrich  of  Chartres,  and  David  of  Dinant,  in- 
culcated  these  errors.  They  regarded  the  historical  revelation  of  God 
in  Christ  Jssus  as  a  self-revelation  of  man,  and  the  sacraments  were, 
therefore,  in  the  eyes  of  these  people  nought  else  than  what  man  chose 
of  himself  to  attribute  to  them.  Hence,  they  rejected  them  as  useless  ; 
and,  identifying  with  God  the  energies  of  the  world,  they  conceived  it 
singular  that  those  powers,  which  in  themselves  were  thoroughly  divine, 
should  receive,  from  any  external  cause,  a  divine  nature  or  property. 
In  this  conjuncture  of  time,  it  appeared  necessary  to  point  out  more 
clearly  than  had  been  done  at  any  previous  period,  the  primitive  doc- 
trine that  had  been  handed  down,  and  to  set  it  in  the  strongest  light 
with  all  the  consequences  deducible  from  it.  The  doctrine  of  a  change 
of  substance  in  created  powers,  to  be  applied  as  a  divine  and  sanctifying 
nourishment  of  the  spirit,  most  clearly  established  the  opposition  of 
Christianity  to  the  fundamental  tenet  of  these   sects,  which  took  so 


saith:  *' Convertings  them  through  thy  Holy  Spirit,"  "jM6T«t/3<Xiiv  t^  wfufAUTi  g-oZ 
v^  a-yi'if"  The  Liturgy  of  St.  Basil  has  the  same  forms,  with  even  a  verbal  coinci- 
dence, (p.  166.) 

In  Rcnaudot's  Collectio  Liturgiarum  Orientalium  (tom  i.  p.  157  )  we  read  as  fol- 
lows  in  the  Liturgy  of  the  Alexandrine  Church  :  '"'Et/  J«  s^p'  M^ac  «/«  stI  tov;  aprov; 
Tourov;,  xa/  iTrl  tcl  IfOT^filt  TstuTa,  to  ■ffvrJfji.a.  <rou  to  ayioy,  hit.  TaVTU,  aywVn,  xu  ts/.sa^itii, 

i,;    TTAVToJ'uV^fAO;     •&■«?.        K«ti    WC/xVd,     TOV   /Uiy   cigTOV     a-ZjUH  .  .  .   .  TO   /s    TT-.T^gf-V    Cttjua.    T«f 

KtivHi  Ji*3-»'K»c  «uTou  Tou  xj^tou  Kai  S'sou  x.ii  o-fiiirMgif ,  Kou  Trxju^xo-ikioi;  it/jZu.  'ina-ov 
X/i/iTTou."  ''  Send  dovni  upon  us,  and  upun  these  breads,  and  upon  these  chalices, 
thy  Holy  Spirit,  that  he  may  consecrate  and  consummate  these  as  the  omnipotent 
God  ;  and  that  he  may  make  the  bread  the  body,  and  the  chalice  the  blood,  of  the 
New  Testament  of  him  our  Lord,  and  God,  and  Saviour,  and  universal  King,  Jesus 
Christ" 

The  so-called  universal  canon  of  the  Ethiopians  says,  loc.  cit.  p.  504  :  '•  Ostende 
faciem  tuam  super  hunc  panem  et  super  hunc  caliccm,  quos  proposuimus  super  hoc 
altare  spirituale  tuum  :  benedic,  sanctifica,  et  purifica  illos  ;  et  transmuta  hunc  pa- 
nem, ut  fiat  corpus  tuum  purum,  et  quod  mistum  est  in  hoc  calice,  sanguis  tuus  pre. 
tiosus."  Hereupon  Renaudot  observes  fp.  527  :)  '•  Veram  mutationem  significat  vox 
^thiopica,  rei  scilicet  unius  in  aliam,  ut  agnoscit  ipse  Ludolfus  in  lexicis  suis,  mul- 
tique  scripturee  loci  in  quibus  usurpatur,  palam  faciunt.  Si  vel  levissima  de  ejus 
significatione  esset  dubitatio,  vox  Coptica,  cui  respondet,  et  versiones  Arabicas  illam 
plene  discuterent." 
21 


322  EXPOSITION  OF  DOCTRINAL  DIFFERENCES 

much  pleasure  in  the  world  as  to  confound  it  with  the  divinity  ;  failing 
to  observe  that,  through  the  creative  energy  of  the  Redeemer  only  could 
a  new  world  be  called  into  existence,  and  that,  consequently,  it  was 
impossible  for  him  to  be  engendered  by  the  world.  Moreover,  out  of  the 
general  movement  of  the  age  sprang  a  peculiar  form  of  the  most  solemn 
adoration  of  the  Eucharist  {fesUim  corporis  Chrisfi,)  so  that  it  should 
be  no  longer  possible  to  confound  the  internal  acts  of  the  human  mind 
with  the  historical  Christ ;  for,  by  the  very  nature  of  the  festival,  Christ 
was  represented  as  extraneous  to  man,  and  neither  as  one  in  himself 
with  us,  nor  as  evolved  out  of  us,  but  as  coming  to  us  only  from  with- 
out.* In  the  doctrine  of  transubstantiation,  Christianity  with  its  en- 
tire essence  exhibits  itself  as  an  external,  immediate  divine  revelation. 
At  the  period  of  the  Reformation,  therefore,  it  was  the  more  necessary 
to  bring  out  this  doctrine,  and  the  ecclesiastical  rites  connected  with  it, 
in  the  moat  prominent  form  ;  as  an  empty,  erroneous  spirituality  was 
everywhere  manifesting  itself 

Lastly,  in  the  Catholic  Church  the  custom  prevails  of  receiving  com- 
munion only  under  one  kind  : — a  matter,  as  is  evident,  belonging  to 
discipline,  and  not  to  doctrine. f  It  is  well  known  that  this  custom  was 
not  first  established  by  any  ecclesiastical  law  ;  but,  on  the  contrary,  it 
was  in  consequence  of  the  general  prevalence  of  the  usuage,  that  this 
law  was  passed  in  approval  of  it.  It  is  a  matter  of  no  less  notoriety, 
that  the  monasteries  in  whose  centre  this  rite  had  its  rise,  and  thence 
spread  in  ever  wider  circles,  were  led  by  a  very  nice  sense  of  delicacy 
to  impose  on  themselves  this  privation.  A  pious  dread  of  desecrating, 
by  spilling  and  the  like,  even  in  the  most  conscientious  ministration,  the 
form  of  the  sublimest  and  the  holiest,  whereof  the  participation  can  be 
vouchsafed  to  man,  was  the  feeling  which  swayed  their  minds.  Some 
may  hold  this  opinion  for  superstitious  ;  and,  according  as  they  see  in 
the  consecrated  elements  but   mere  material    species,  the  more  easily 


*  That  it  was  not  in  the  Middle  Age,  as  a  frivolous  ignorance  has  often  asserted, 
that  the  adoration  of  the  Eucharist  first  arose,  numberless  authorities  can  prove. 
For  example,  to  pass  over  the  testimonies  of  the  much  more  ancient  Origan,  we 
read  in  the  Liturgy  of  St.  Chrysostom  (Goar's  Eucholog.  p.  81,)  at  the  elevation  of 
the  Host,  the  following  words:  "  elru.  Trgoo-xvni  o  lipiusj  »*i  o  Stdxavos,  h  Z  i^rtv  tottZ' 
xiyovrt;  f^ua-THiZi  Tgjc  o  fleas  iKaa-^nTl  fj^u  t^  a/usifiTa>\Z.  Kai  o  Aaoj  ofAoiasi  TatvTSf  ftir 

TRANSLATION. 

*'  Then  the  priest  and  the  deacon  worship,  each  in  the  place  where  he  stands,  say- 
ing  in  secret  three  times  :  '  O  God  !  be  propitious  to  me  a  sinner.'  And  the  people 
in  like  manner  all  worship  with  reverence." 

t  Concil.  Trident.  Sess.  xxi.  Can.  i-iv.  Sess.  xxii.  Decret.  sup.  concess.  calicis. 


« 
BETWEEN  CATHOLICS  AND  PROTESTANTS.  323 

Will  such  an  opinion  occur  to  their  minds.  But  the  Cathohc  who,  even 
in  this  formality,  proves  that  it  is  not  with  him  a  mere  matter  of  form 
when  he  abstains  from  the  consecrated  chalice,  and  who,  taught  by  ex« 
amples  in  Scripture^  or,  at  any  rate,  by  the  authority  of  the  primitive 
Church,  thinks  himself  justified  in  so  abstaining,  without  becoming 
alienated  from  the  spirit  of  Jesus  Christ,  or  losing  any  portion  of  his 
Eucharistic  blessings  ;^-the  Catholic,  we  say,  rejoices  that,  though  in 
his  Church  there  may  be  men  of  a  perhaps  exaggerated  scrupulosity, 
yet  none  are  found  so  carnal-minded  as  to  desire  to  drink  in  the  com* 
munion  not  the  holy  blood,  but  the  mere  wine,  and  often,  on  that  ac- 
count, protest,  among  other  things,  against  what  they  call  a  mutilation 
of  the  ordinance  of  Christ.  We  regret  the  more  to  be  obliged  to  call 
the  attention  of  our  separated  brethren  to  this  abuse  in  their  Church,  as 
we  must  add,  that  the  number  of  those  in  their  communion  is  not  less 
considerable,  who  forego  the  partaking  of  the  sacred  blood,  not  from 
any  spiritual  dread  of  desecrating  it  by  spilling,  but  from  a  mere  sen* 
sual  feeling  of  disgust  at  the  uncleanliness  of  those  with  whom  they 
are  to  drink  out  of  the  same  cup.  When  even  the  Zuinghans  complain 
of  this  mutilation,-— 'they  who  have  taken  away  the  body  with  the  blood 
of  Christ,  and  left  in  room  of  them  mere  bread  and  mere  wine,— it  is 
difficult  not  to  think  of  that  passage  in  Holy  AYrit,  wherein  the  Re- 
deemer reproaches  the  Pharisees,  that  they  strain  at  gnats,  but  swallow 
camels  However,  we  should  rejoice,  if  it  were  left  free  to  each  one  to 
drink  or  not  of  the  consecrated  chalice  ;  and  this  permission  would  be 
granted,  if  wuth  the  same  love  and  concord  an  universal  desire  were 
expressed  for  the  use  of  the  cup,  as,  from  the  twelfth  century,  the  con* 
trary  wish  has  been  enounced. 


5  xxxv.-^Doctrine  of  the  Lutherans,  Zwmglians,  and  Calvinists,  on  the   Eucharist, 

The  Reformation  had  run  its  course  but  for  a  few  years,  when 
there  arose  among  its  partisans,  in  relation  to  the  holy  Eucharist,  very 
important  points  of  difference.  Luther  taught  a  real  and  substantial 
presence  of  the  body  and  blood  of  Christ  in  the  holy  communion,  with* 
out,  however,  adhering  to  the  doctrine  of  transubstantiation,  which  he 
rejected,  not  on  exegetical  grounds,  but  on  account  of  an  expression  ac- 
cidentally thrown  out  by  Pierre  d'Ailly.*  But  we  have  already  observed 


*  Even  the  tenth  article  of  the  Augsburg  Confession  teaches :  "  De  coena 
Domini  decent,  quod  corpus  et  sanguis  Christi  vere  adsint  et  distribuantuf 
vescentibus  in  coena.  Domini,  et  improbant  secus  docentes."  The  words  "  sub 
specie  panis  et   vini,"   were  originally  inserted,  but,  as  early  as  the  year  1531, 


824  EXPOSITION  OF  DOCTRINAL  DIFFERENCEw 

that  Carlstadt,  a  colleague  of  Luther's  inWittcmberg,  drew  from  iUos'C 
very  opinions  which  Luther  and  Melancthon  had  put  forth,  upon  the 
nature  of  the  sacraments,  conclusions  which,  according  to  the  princi- 
ples of  those  Reformers,  could  not  be  easily  invalidated.  The  exegetic 
proofs,  on  the  other  hand,  which  Carlstadt  adduced  in  support  of  his 
views,  were  most  feeble,  nay,  perfectly  contemptible:  but  what  he  was 
unable  to  accomplish,  Zwingle  and  CE<;olampadius,  who  hastened  to  his 
assistance,  attempted  with  much  dexterity  to  effect.  If  the  first  Swiss 
Reformers  in  more  than  one  respect  evinced  a  shallowness  without  ex- 
ample, this  was  here  more  pre-eminently  the  case.  They  saw  in  the 
holy  Eucharist  a  mere  remembrance  of  Christ,  of  his  sufferings  and  his 
death  ;  at  least,  whatever  traces  of  a  deeper  signification  they  might 
yet  find  in  this  mystery,  were  so  feeble  as  to  be  rarely  discerned  by  any 
one.*  Moreover,  Zwingle  and  fficolampadius  variously  interpreted  the 
well-known  classical  passage  in  Matthew,  though  they  agreed  rn  the 
result.  The  former  maintained  that  eo-rt  (is)  was  the  same  as  "  sig- 
nifies :"  the  latter  took  e<r7i  in  its  proper  sense,  but  asserted  that  eSf*,ct 
(body)  was  put  metaphorically  for  "sign  of  my  body.'^  Luther  had 
then  indeed  already  rejected  the  doctrine  of  transubstantiation  ;  but  he 
still  continued,  with  his  accustomed  coarseness  and  violence,  yet  witb 
great  acuteness  and  nxtst  brilliant  success,  to  defend  against  Zwinglius 
the  real  presence  of  Christ  in  the  Eucharist.     For,  whenever  the  doc- 


Melancthon  suppressed  them.  See  Salig's  complete  History  of  the  Augsburg 
Confession  (in  German,)  vol.  iii.  c.  1,  p.  171,  In  the  copy  of  the  Confes- 
sion presented  to  the  Emperor  Charles  V,  in  the  year  1530,  the  tenth  article 
ran  thus  :  "  Touchmg  the  Lord's  supper,  it  is  taught,  that  the  true  body  and  blood  of 
Christ  are,  under  the  form  of  bread  and  wine,  truly  present,  given,  distributed,  and 
taken  in  the  Eucharist.     On  which  account  the  contrary  doctrine  is  rejected." 

*  "  Huldrichi  Zwinglii  Op.  t.  ii.  In  the  essay  (Illusfrissimis  Germaniae  Princip.  in 
Conciliis  Aug.  Congreg.  p.  546,  b.),  he  givesan  explanation  not  unworthy  a  Ration- 
alist of  our  time,  how  it  came  to  pass  that  Christians  said,  Christ  is  present  in  the 
fiucharist :  ''  Quo  factum  est,  ut  veteres  dixerint  corpus  Christi  vere  esse  in  coena, ; 
idautem  duplici  nomme,  cum  propter  istam,  quae  jam  dicta  est,  ccrtam  fidei  contem'- 
plationem,  quae  Christum  ipsum  in  cruce  propter  nos  dcficientcm  niliil  minus  prae- 
scntem  videt,  quam  Stephanus  camalibus  oculis  ad  dexteram  Patris  regnantem  vide- 
fet.  Et  adseverare  audeo,  hanc  Stephano  revelationera  et  exhibitionem  sensibiliter 
essie  factam;  ut  nobis  exemplo  essct,  fidelibus,  cum  pro  se  paterentur,  eo  semper  modo 
fore,  non  aensibiliter,  sod  contemplatione  et  solatio  fidei."  F.  549  :  "Cum  pater- 
familias  peregre  profecturus  nobilissimum  annulum  suum,  in  quo  imago  sua  expressa 
est,  conjugi  matrifamiliae  his  verbis  tradit :  En  me  tibi  maritum,  qucm  absentem 
teneas,  et  quo  te  oblectes.  Jam  ille  paterfamilias  Domini  nostri  Jesu  Christi 
typum  gerit.  Is  enim  abiens  ecclesiee  conjugi  suse  imaginem  suam  in  coenEe  Sacra- 
mento reliquit.'* 


8ETWEEN  CATHOLICS  AND  PROTESTANTS.  325 

trinal  truth  is  in  any  degree  on  his  side,  he  is  always  an  incomparable 
disputant ;  and  what  he  put  forth  on  this  subject  in  his  controversial 
writings  is  still  well  deserving  of  attention- 

Between  the  Saxon  and  the  Helvetic  opinions,  Capito  and  the  pliant 
Bucer  attempted  to  steer  an  untenable  middle  course,  without  being  able 
to  reduce  their  ideas  to  clear,  simple  forms  of  expression.*  More  suc- 
cessful was  Calvin  in  holding  such  a  middle  course  :  and  his  acutoness 
would  not  have  failed  finding  the  most  fitting  expression  for  his  ideas, 
had  he  not  purposely  preferred  a  certain  obscurity.  He  taught  that  the 
body  of  Christ  is  truly  present  in  the  Lord's  Supper,  and  that  the  be- 
liever partook  of  it.  But  he  only  meant  that,  simultaneously  with  the 
bodily  participation  of  the  material  elements,  which  in  every  respect 
remained  what  they  were,  and  merely  signified  the  body  and  blood  of 
Christ,  a  power,  emanating  from  the  body  of  Christ,  which  is  now  in 
heaven  only,  is  communicated  to  the  spirit. f  He  had  the  pleasure  of 
seeing  his  opinion  adopted  in  the  "  Agreement  of  Zurich"  by  the  Swiss 
Reformed  ;  and  the  later  Calvinistic  formularies  of  faith  in  like  manner 
all  adhere  to  it.ij: 


*  Confess.  Tetrapolitan, «.  xviii.  p.  352.     "Singular!  studio  banc  Christi  in  suos 
bonitatcm  semper  dcproedicant,  qud,  is  non  minus  hodie,  quam  in  novissima  ilia,  coena,, 
«mnibus  qui  inter  illius  discipulos  ex  animo  nomen  dederunt,  cum  banc  coenam,  ut 
ipse,  instituit,  repetunt,  verum  suum  corpes  verumque  suum  sanguinem  verfe  eden- 
■dum  et  bibendum,  in  cibum  potumqne  animarum,  quo  Hlse  in  ffiternam  vitam  alan- 
tur,  dare  per  sacramenta  digiiatur  ut  jam  ipse  in  illis,  et  illi  in  ipso  vivant  et  pcrma- 
neant,  in  die  novissima  in  novam  et  Immortalem  vitam  per  ipsuin  resuscitandi,"  etc. 
But  as  even  Zwinglius  made  use  of  tbe  expression,  "  Christ  is  ti  nly  present  in  the 
Lord's  Supper,"  and  the  cities  of  Upper  Germany  were  in  close  connexion  with  him, 
no  one  confided  in  this  declaration  of  the  formulary.     Compare  Salig's  complete  his- 
tory  of  the  Augsburg  Confession  (in  German,)  vol.  ii.   c    1'2.  p.  400  :  "  The  praise," 
says  he,  "  cannot  be  refused  to  the  Confession  of  the  four  cities,  that  on  many  points 
it  has  a  good  and  Christian  bearing  ;  but  in  the  article  of  the  Lord's  Supper,  it  was 
very  ambiguously  worded,  so  that  it  might  be  interpreted  in  favour  of  Zwingle's,  as 
well  as  of  Luther's  doctrine  .......  Hence  must  the  aforesaid  article  of  this  Confession 

be  understood  and  explained  from  the  previously  cited  correspondence  between  Bucer 
and  Melancthon." 

t  Calvin.  Instit.  lib.  iv.  e.  17,  fol.  502;  Consens.  Tig.  Calvin,  opp.  torn.  viii. 
p.  648, 

t  Confess.  Helvet.  u.  art.  xx  xxii.  p.  99,  et  seq.  "Ccenam  vero  mystieam."  it  is 
said  (art.  xxii.,)  "  suis  vere  ad  hoc  ofFert,  ut  magis  magisque  in  illis  vivat,  et  illi  in 
ipso :  non  quod  pani  et  vino  corpus  Domini  et  sanguis  vel  naturaliter  uniantur,  sed 
quod  panis  et  vinum  ex  institutione  Domini  symbola  sunt,  quibus  ab  ipso  Domino,  per 
ecclesiae  ministerium,  vera  corporis  et  sanguinis  ejus  communicatio,  non  in  periturum 
vcntris  cibum,  sed  in  aeternsB  vitfB  alimoniam,  exhibeatur.  Hoc  sacro  cibo  ideo  stepe 
atimur,  quoniam  hujus  monitu  in  crucifixi  mortem  sanguincmquc  fidei  oculis  intuen. 


336  EXPOSITION  OF  DOCTRINAL  DIFFERENCES 

We  must  however  examine  this  subject  more  nearly.  The  disputes 
prevaihng  between  the  Wittcmbcrg  and  Helvetic  Reformers  could,  for 
many  reasons,  be  viewed  only  with  the  greatest  pain  by  the  advocates 
and  friends  of  the  ecclesiastical  revolution.  Independently  of  the  fact, 
that,  from  the  existence  of  such  disputes,  the  Catholics  not  unsuccess- 
fully drew  conclusions  against  important  principles  of  the  Reformers, 
these  controversies  prevented  the  union  of  all  the  protestant  Churches 
in  one  common  struggle  against  their  adversaries, — a  struggle  which 
threatened  ever  more  and  more  to  terminate  in  a  bloody  civil  war  ;  and 
of  what  importance  in  the  latter  case  must  not  concord  prove  !  Most 
critical  was  the  situation  of  the  Sacramentarians — ^such  was  the  name 
given  by  Luther  to  disciples  of  Zwingle,  Carlstadt  and  others  ;  for  their 
party  was  confined  to  only  four  cities  within  the  whole  compass  of  the 
German  empire ;  and  therefore,  abandoned  to  themselves  alone,  they 
could  make  no  vigorous  resistance.  Hence,  at  the  celebrated  diet  of 
Augsburg,  in  the  year  1530,  they  exerted  every  imaginable  effort,  and, 
under  the  guidance  of  Bucer,  employed  every  subterfuge  of  equivoca- 
tion, in  order  to  be  received  into  the  association  of  the  German  Protes- 
tants. But  all  their  endeavours  failed,  especially  through  the  German 
honesty  of  Luther,  who  expressed  himself  in  the  harshest  strain  against 
their  evasions.     Even  in  the  religious  peace  of  Nuremberg,   it  was 


tes,  ac  salutein  nostram  non  sine  coelestis  vitae  gustu  et  vero  vitas  aeternae  sensu  medi- 
tantes,  hoc  spirituali,  vivifico  intimoque  pabulo  ineffabili  cum  suavitate  reficimur,  ae 
kienarrabili  verbi  Isrtitia,  propter  inventam  vitam  cxultamus,  totiquc  ac  viribus  omnino 
nostris  omnibus  in  gratiarum  actionem,  tarn  pro  admirando  Christi  erga  nos  bcneficio 
eft'undimur,"  etc.  This  form  belongs  properl)'  to  the  category  of  tiie  Tetrapohtana. 
Confess.  Gall.  art.  xxxvi.  p.  123 :  "  Affirmamus  sanctam  coenam  Domini,  alteram  vi- 
delicet sacramcntum,  esse  nobis  testimonium  nostras  cum  Domino  nostro  Jcsu  Christo 
unitionis,  quoniam  non  est  duntaxat  mortuus  scmel  et  cxcitatus  a  mortuis  pro  nobis, 
sed  etiam  vere  nos  pascit  et  nutrit  carnc  sua  ct  sanguine,  ut,  unum  cum  ipso  facti, 
vitam  cum  ipso  communem  habeamus.  Qaamvis  enim  nunc  sit  in  ccelis,  ibidem 
etiam  mansurua,  donee  vcniat  mundum  judicaturus;  eredimus  tamen  eum  arcana  et 
incomprchcnsibili  spiritus  sui  virtute  nos  nutrire  et  vivificare  sui  corporis  ct  sanguinis 
substantia,  per  fidcm  apprchensS,.  Dicimus  autcm  hoc  spiritualiter  fieri,  non  ut  effica- 
ciae  et  veritatis  loco  imaginationem  aut  cogitationem  supponamus,  sed  potius,  quo- 
niam  hoc  mysterium  nostra;  cum  Christo  coalitionis  tarn  sublime  est,  nt  omnes  nos- 
tros  scnsus  totumque  adeo  ordincm  naturae  supcret :  denique  quoniam  cum  sit  divi- 
num  ac  coeleste,  non  nisi  fide  percipi  et  apprehendi  potest."  Confess.  Anglic,  art. 
xxxviii.  p.  137 :  "  Coena  domini  non  est  tantum  signum  mutuae  benevolcntise  Chris- 
tianorum  inter  scse,  verum  potius  est  sacramentum  nostras  per  mortem  Christi  re- 
dcmptionis.  Atque  adeo  rite,  dignc,  et  eum  fide  sumentibus  panis,  quern  frangimus, 
est  communicatio  corporis  Christi :  similiter  poculum  benedietionis  est  comraunicatio 
sanguinis  Christi." 


'      BETWEEN  CATHOLICS  AND  PROTESTANTS.  327 

only  to  the  adherents  of  the  Augsburg  Confession  that  final  quiet  was 
granted. 

If  the  middle  opinion  respecting  the  Eucharist,  framed  under  these 
circumstances,  was  originally  far  more  the  result  of  political  embarrass- 
ment, than  the  fruit  of  a  sincere  conviction  obtained  by  earnest  inves- 
tigation, it  now  began  to  make  its  way,  and  include  an  ever  greater 
number  of  Lutherans  among  its  supporters.  Even  Melancthon,  who 
was  not  entirely  a  stranger  to  it,  had  the  complaisance  to  make,  in  the 
later  editions  of  the  Augsburg  Confession  (that  appeared  subsequent  to 
the  year  1540,)  some  important  changes  in  its  favour;  just  as  if  his 
having  composed  this  public  formulary  of  faith  gave  him  the  right  to 
dispose  of  it  according  to  his  good  pleasure  !*  As  the  advocates  of 
this  new  opinion  employed  without  hesitation  the  expression,  that  Christ 
is  really  present  in  the  Eucharist,  and  his  body  and  blood  given  to  be- 
lievers for  participation,  and  as  the  altered  edition  of  the  Augsburg 
Confession  favoured  a  certain  indefiniteness  of  meaning,  it  was  unhes- 
itatingly asserted  after  Luther's  death,  that  the  opinion  of  the  innova- 
tors was,  even  according  to  the  principles  of  the  Saxon  Reformation, 
perfectly  orthodox.  If  John  a  Lasko,  who  was  so  ill-treated  by  the 
English,  Danish,  and  German  Protestants,  deserves  to  be  forgiven 
for  having,  contrary  to  all  the  laws  of  historical  interpretation,  affixed 
his  own  meaning  to  the  original  formulary  delivered  to  the  emperor, 
because,  by  this  expedient,  he  thought  to  insure  his  temporal  safety  ; 
the  two-faced  conduct  of  Melancthon,  on  the  other  hand,  will  remain 
an  eternal  stigma  on  his  memory  ;  and  all  the  apologies  attempted  in 
his  behalf  can  proceed  on  no  other  principle  than  that  his  pretended 
good  intention  sanctified  the  means  employed.  With  the  most  touch- 
ing confidence  did  the  remotest  communities  apply  to  him,  to  learn  with 
certainty  from  his  own  lips  the  true  Lutheran  doctrine  ;  and  yet  he 
could  bring  himself  to  meet  that  confidence  with  crafty  and  evasive  re- 
plies, that  were  perfectly  inconsistent  one  with  the  other.  A  few  months 
only  before  his  death,  when  he  had  nothing  more   to  fear  for  his  own 


*  The  following  is  the  difference  between  the  unchanged  and  the  changed  Augs. 
burg  Confession  ;  but  what  we  shall  have  occasion  to  relate  subsequently  will  best 
illustrate  this  difference.  The  unchanged  edition  :  "  De  coena  Domini  docent,  quod 
corpus  et  sanguis  Christi  vere  adsint  et  distribuantur  vescentibus  in  coena  Domini, 
et  improbant  secus  docentes."  It  is  to  be  observed,  that  even  here  the  "  sub  specie 
panis  et  vini ''  is  already  wanting,  but  which,  as  Salig  says,  was  no  change  in  realibus. 
(Vol.  iii.  c.  i.  p.  477.)  The  changed  edition:  "  De  coena  Domini  docent,  quod  cum 
pane  et  vino  vere  exliibeantur  corpus  et  sanguis  Christi,  vescentibus  in  coena.  Do- 
mini." 


328  EXPOSITION  OF  DOCTRINAL  DIFFERENCES 

personal  safety,  he  declared  himself  decidedly  for  Calvin's  view.  Tliis 
hypocrisy  of  Mclancthon  was  imitated  by  his  disciples,  the  professors 
of  theology  in  Wittemberg,  as  well  as  many  others  ;  and  we  might  call 
the  fate  which,  on  discovery  of  their  undoubtedly  shameful  deccjjtion, 
they  met  with  at  the  hands  of  the  elector  of  Saxony,  a  merited  chas- 
tisement, had  it  not  been  in  some  respects  too  severe. 

It  was  now  the  object  of  the  Lutherans  not  only  to  assert  against  the 
Crypto-Calvinists  the  original  doctrine  of  their  Church,  but  to  express 
it  in  the  most  definite  forms.  This  occurred  in  the  following  manner : 
Calvin  having  spoken  indeed  of  a  true  partaking  of  the  body  of  Christ, 
but  acknowledging  only  a  certain  spiritual  reception  of  it,  which,  at 
the  same  moment  when  the  bread  is  taken  in  by  the  mouth,  is  by  means 
of  faith  enjoyed  by  the  soul,  and  having,  accordingly,  connected  only 
by  time  the  spiritual  food  with  the  participation  of  the  material  ele- 
ments, the  orthodox  Lutherans  decreed  in  the  "  Formulary  of  Con- 
cord," that  the  body  of  Christ  is  administered  in,  with,  and  under  the 
bread.  Further,  it  is  well  known  that,  according  to  Calvin's  theory,  it 
is  only  the  justified  who  are  in  a  communion  of  life  and  faith  with 
Christ, — in  other  words,  the  elect  only  that  can  receive  the  body  of  the 
Lord,  while  the  unbeliever  receives  only  bread  and  wine.  Against  this 
theory  the  "  Formulary  of  Concord"  teaches,  that  the  unworthy  com- 
municant also  receives  the  body  of  the  Lord,  yet  to  his  own  judgment. 
Lastly,  an  argument  was  answered,  which  the  Calvinistshad  constantly 
alleged  as  one  in  itself  of  great  weight.  Against  the  bodily  presence 
of  Christ  in  the  sacrament  of  the  altar,  they  observed  that  the  doctrine 
which  inculcated  that,  from  the  moment  of  his  ascension  up  to  heaven, 
Christ  sat  at  the  right  hand  of  God,  was  incompatible  with  the  one,  ac- 
cording to  which  he  was  at  the  same  time  present  on  earth  in  the  Eu- 
charist. In  conformity  with  this,  Beza,  at  the  religious  colloquy  of 
Poissy,  which  the  Lutheran  theologians,  in  the  course  of  their  disputes 
on  the  sacrament,  often  adverted  to,  had  declared  that  Christ  was  as  far 
removed  from  the  Eucharist  as  heaven  from  earth.  In  answer  to  this 
objection,  Luther  and  his  disciples  had  long  asserted  that  Christ,  even 
according  to  his  humanity,  was  everywhere  present  (ubiquitas  corporis 
ChriMi.)  This  strange  opinion,  which  the  inhabitants  of  Wurtemberg, 
in  defiance  of  those  of  the  Palatinate,  had,  at  the  instigation  of  the 
Reformer  Brentius,  already  admitted  into  their  confession  of  faith,  was 
now  consecrated  by  the  "  Formulary  of  Concord,"  and  raised  to  a  for- 
mal  article  of  faith.  The  objection  of  the  Calvinists  was  met  by  ob- 
serving  that,  in  reference  to  God,  there  could  be  no  question  of  a  right 
or  left  side,  since  he  was  everywhere  present ;  and  that,  in  the  same 
way,  Christ,  even   according  to   his  humanity,   was  in   every  place. 


BETWEEN  CATHOLICS  AND  PROTESTANTS.  329 

With  this  was  closely  connected  the  much-handled  doctrine  of  the 
communicatio  idiomalum,  which  had  long  been  a  subject  of  strife  :  for 
the  Calvinists  brought  the  charge  of  Monophysitism  against  the  Lu- 
therans, and  were  by  the  latter  in  turn  accused  of  the  heresy  of  Nes- 
torius.* 


»  Solid.  Declar.  pp.  659,  691,  724. 


CHAPTER    V. 

DIFFERENCES    IN   RESPECT    TO    THE    DOCTRINE    ON  THE    CHURCH. 


()  xxxvi- — Notion  of  the  Church.     Combination  of  Divine  find  human  elements 
in  her.     Infalhbility  of  the  Church. 

It  has,  undoubtedly,  excited  surprise,  and  it  has  even  been  made  a  mat- 
ter of  reproach  against  us  by  well-meaning  readers,  that  we  have  not, 
prior  to  all  the  subjects  here  discussed,  treated  of  the  article  of  Church 
authority.  For  it  appears  a  matter  of  self-evidence,  that  any  discus- 
sion respecting  the  doctrines  of  a  confession,  should  be  postponed  to 
the  inquiry  into  the  authority  which  that  confession  follows,  and  the 
sources  from  which  it  derives  its  tenets.  In  fact,  this  appears  indeed 
to  be  self-evident,  if  we  merely  look  at  the  matter  from  without ;  and 
such  an  appearance  has  misled  many.  But,  as  we  have  made  it  our 
duty  everywhere  to  trace  the  inward  bond  of  connexion  pervading  all 
the  details  of  the  subject  treated  by  us,  and  forming  them  into  one 
living  connected  whole,  we  saw  ourselves  compelled  to  accord  the  pre- 
cedence to  the  matter  giving  light  before  that  which  receives  it,  and  to 
the  inwardly  determining  principle  before  that  which  is  determined ; 
and  precisely  for  this  reason  we  here  insert  the  article  on  the  Church, 
and  the  authoritative  sources  of  the  different  confessions.  History 
teaches  us,  that  out  of  the  pale  of  the  Church,  from  the  earliest 
Egyptian  Gnostic,  down  to  the  two  general  superintendents  of  Weimar 
and  Gotha,*  Messrs.  Roher,  and  Bretschneider,-j-  Holy  Writ  never  en- 


*  See  Rohr,  Letters  on  Rationahsm,  p.  15.  The  writer,  after  asserting  that  in 
matters  of  faith  and  in  the  adoption  of  religious  doctrines,  reason  alone  decides,  goes 
on  to  say,  "  The  Bible  is,  in  his  estimation,  nothing  more  than  any  other  book.  He 
holds  its  declarations  to  be  valid  only  when  they  are  in  accordance  with  his  own  con. 
victions ;  and  these  declarations  do  not  constitute  the  ground  of  determination,  for 
these  depend  on  their  own  rational  proofs,  but  serve  merely  as  an  illustration,  that 
others  also,  wise  men  of  antiquity,  have  so  thought  and  believed." 

t  See  Bretschncider's  "  St.  Simonianism  and  Christianity,  or  Critical  Exposition 
of  the  St.  Simonian  rehgion,  its  relation  to  the  Christian  Church,  and  of  the  state  of 
Christianity  in  our  times."  Leipzig,  183'^.  As  the  result  of  the  progress  of  intelli- 
gence  in  theological  matters,  in  modem  times,  we  are  told  by  this  author,  "  Not  only 


BETWEEJS  CATHOLICS  AND  PROTESTANTS.  331 

joyed  the  authority,  which  it  must  lay  claim  to  among  Christians,  of 
determining  by  its  purport  their  modes  of  thinking.  On  the  contrary, 
they  were  always  preconceived  opinions — opinions  derived  from  sources 
extraneous  to  Christianity,  that  were  made  the  standard  for  estimating 
-the  authority  of  Scripture,  the  extent  of  that  authority,  and  the  mode 
of  its  use,  although  this  might  not  always  be  so  openly  and  candidly 
confessed,  as  in  the  case  of  the  two  above-mentioned  rationalists.  Se- 
veral of  the  smaller  religious  sects, — the  Anabaptists,  the  Quakers, 
the  Swedenborgians,  and  others, — are  in  modern  times  irrefragable 
vouchers  for  the  truth  of  what  is  here  asserted.  As  regards  Luther,  he 
by  no  means  first  abandoned  the  faith  in  the  Catholic  doctrine  of  the 
Church,  and  of  the  relation  of  the  same  to  Holy  Writ,  and  then  changed 
what  he  found  reprehensible  in  the  dogmas  of  the  Church.  Still  less 
did  he  make  use  of  the  principles,  according  to  which  he  formed  his 
theory  of  the  Church,  to  deduce  from  them  his  other  doctrines.  On 
the  contrary,  the  very  reverse  took  place  in  both  respects.  In  regard 
to  the  first  assertion,  it  is  well  known  that  the  earliest  attacks  of  Luther 
were  by  no  means  directed  against  the  principle  of  the  Catliolic  Church 
and  her  authority ;  nay,  he  declared  himself  at  the  outset  ready  to  submit 
his  peculiar  doctrines  to  the  judgment  of  the  Church,  and  he  had  to 
endure  a  grievous  struggle  with  his  conscience,  whereof  he  himself  has 
given  us  a  most  interesting  description,  until  he  at  length  obtained  a 
melancholy  victory,  and  until  the  troubled  spirit  departed  from  him. 
Had  the  Catholic  Church  agreed  to  recognize  his  doctrine,  he  in  his 
turn  would  ever  have  acknowledged  her  authority.  And  assuredly,  as 
far  as  he  was  concerned,  he  would  have  found  no  difficulty  in  ing 
two  things  so  contradictory,  as  his  dogma,  and  ike  Catholic  Church ; 
and,  as  he  had  often  succeeded  in  coupling,  as  a  peaceful  pair,  two 
things  inwardly  opposed  to  each  other,  so  he  would  have  made  the  at- 
tempt here.  But,  with  sound  perception,  the  organs  of  the  Church  ob- 
served, that  deleterious  matter  was  infused  by  him  into  ecclesiastical 
life.  Summoned  now,  either  to  renounce  as  erroneous  his  peculiar  doc- 
trine of  Justification,  together  with  the  propositions  determining  the 
same  or  determined  by  it,  or  no  longer  to  flatter  himself  with  the  title 


is  the  interpretation  of  Scripture  to  be  abandoned  to  science,  but  even  the  contents 
of  Scripture  discovered  by  such  interpretation  are  to  be  estimated  according  to  the 
sciences."  This  assertion,  more  closely  analyzed,  would  signify  that  the  sum  total 
of  all  the  truths,  which  the  sciences  in  general,  metaphysical  as  well  as  empirical, 
had  brought  forth,  or  might  yet  bring  forth,  as  common  property,  are  the  standard 
for  estimating  the  contents  of  the  Bible.  What  then  is  the  Deity  in  the  opinion  o 
Mr.  Rretschneider  ?     And  what  will  he  be  yet  ? 


332  EXPOSITION  OF  DOCTRINAL  DIFFERENCES 

of  a  son  of  the  Church,  he  felt  necessitated,  as  he  was  the  parent  of 
a  new  doctrine,  to  become  the  father  of  a  new  Church.  Hence,  it 
appeared  to  him  more  honourable  to  execute  what  his  own  spirit  sug- 
gested— rather  to  command  as  a  father,  than  to  obey  as  a  son.  He 
now  laid  the  foundations  for  another  Church  to  be  erected  by  himself; 
— whether  on  a  rock,  or  in  the  sand,  the  sequel  will  show. 

Yet  that  Luther  had  formed  a  peculiar  theory  of  Justification,  before 
he  entertained  the  clear  idea  of  founding  a  new  Church,  is  only  a 
subordinate  motive  for  our  setting  forth  the  exposition  of  doctrine,  be- 
fore the  explanation  of  the  article  on  the  Church.  For  it  not  rarely 
happens,  that  what  is  merely  an  effect,  is  already  clearly  recognized, 
while  its  cause,  though  long  busy  in  the  back-ground  of  human  con- 
sciousness, exhibits  itself  only  later  in  its  full  light,  and  with  entire 
clearness.  Accordingly,  it  is  perhaps  possible,  that  Luther's  other 
tenets  may  stand  in  relation  of  internal  dependence  on  his  view  of  the 
Church,  although  he  may  have  been  clearly  conscious  of  his  doctrine 
of  Justification  by  faith  alone,  prior  to  his  doctrine  on  the  Church,  and 
consequently  may  have  given  utterance  to  the  former  tenet,  previously 
to  the  latter.  The  principal  point  is,  consequently,  which  of  the  two 
furnishes  a  scientific  explanation  of  the  other  ?  We  must  thus  adhere 
to  the  latter  of  the  two  above-stated  propositions.  In  the  course  of  our 
inquiries  it  will  be  made  manifest,  that  Luther's,  as  well  as  Calvin's 
and  Zwingle's  general  moral  views,  especially  their  conception  of  the 
relation  of  the  believer  to  Christ,  entirely  pervade  their  theory  of  the 
Church  and  of  Scripture,  and  constitute  the  foundation  of  the  same. 
As,  moreover,  we  consider  the  Catholic  doctrines  only  in  their  opposi- 
tion to  the  peculiar  tenets  of  Protestantism,  and  the  latter  must  accord- 
ingly determine  what  Catholic  doctrines  are  to  be  here  discussed,  so 
they  must  also  regulate  the  mode  of  the  discussion.  As  thus  the 
Catholic  doctrines  are  in  a  purely  passive  relation,  and  the  Protestant, 
if  we  are  to  pursue  a  scientific  course,  assign  ihe  present  place  to  the 
article  on  the  Church  ;  so  our  method,  quite  independently  of  the  rea- 
sons assigned  in  the  first  section,  is  in  every  way  justified. 

By  the  Church  on  earth,  Catholics  understand  the  visible  community 
of  believers,  founded  by  Christ,  in  which,  by  means  of  an  enduring 
apostleship,  established  by  him,  and  appointed  to  conduct  all  nations,  in 
the  course  of  ages,  back  to  God,  the  works  wrought  by  him  during 
his  earthly  life,  for  the  redemption  and  sanctification  of  mankind, 
are,  under  the  guidance  of  his  spirit,  continued  to  the  end  of  the 
world. 

Thus,  to  a  visible  society  of  men,  is  this  great,  important,  and  mys- 
terious work  entrusted.     The  ultimate  reason  of  the  visibility  of  the 


SETWEteN  CATHOLICS  AND  PROTESTANTS,  33^ 

Church  is  to  be  found  in  the  incarnation  of  the  Divine  Word.     Had 
that  Word  descended  into  the  hearts  of  men,  without  taking  the  form 
of  a  servant,  and  accordingly  without  appearing  in  a  corporeal  shape, 
then  only  an  internal,  invisible  ChQrch  would   have  been  established* 
But  since  the  Word  became  Jiesh,  it  expressed  itself  in  an  outward,  per-* 
ceptible,  and  human  manner  ;  it  spoke  as  man  to  man,   and  suffered, 
and  worked  after  the  fashion  of  men,  in  order  to  win  them  to  the  king.< 
dom  of  God  ;  so  that  the  means  selected  for  the  attainment  of  this  ob- 
ject,  fully   corresponded   to  the  general   method   of  instruction   and 
education   determined  by  the    nature  and  the   wants  of  man.     This 
decided  the  nature  of  those  means,  whereby  the  Son  of  God,  even  after* 
He  had  withdrawn  himself  from  the  eyes  of  the  worlds  wished  still  to 
work  in  the  world,  and  for  the  world.     The  Deity  having  manifested 
its  action  in  Christ  according  to  an  ordinary  human  fashion,  the  form 
also  in  which  His  work  was  to  be  continued,  was  thereby  traced  out. 
The   preaching  of  his  doctrine   needed  now  a  visible,  human  medium^ 
and  must  be  entrusted  to  visible  envoys,  teaching  and  instructing  after 
the  wonted  method  ;  men  must  speak  to  men,  and  hold  intercourse  with 
them,  in  order  to  convey  to  them  the  word  of  God.     And  as  in  the 
world  nothing  can  attain  to  greatness  but  in  society  ;  so  Christ  estab- 
lished a  community  ;  and  his  divine  word,  his  living  will,  and  the  love 
emanating  from  him,  exerted  an  internal,  binding  power  upon  his  fol* 
lowers  ;  so  that  an  inclination  implanted  by  him  in  the  hearts  of  be- 
lievers,  cofresponded  to  his   outward   institution.     And  thus  a  living 
well-connected,  visible  association  of  the  faithful  sprang  up,  whereof  it 
might  be  said, — there  they  are,  there  is  his  Church,  his   institution, 
wherein  he  continueth  to  live,   his  spirit  continueth  to  work,  and  the 
word  uttered  by  him   eternally  resounds.     Thus,   the   visible   Churchy 
from  the  point  of  view  here  taken,  is  the  Son  of  God  himself,  everlast- 
ingly manifesting   himself  among  men   in  a  human  form,  perpetually 
renovated,  and   eternally  young^-the   permanent  incarnation  of  the 
same,   as   in   Holy   Writ,   even  the  faithful  are   called  "  the  body  of 
Christ."    Hence  it  is  evident  that  the  Church,  though  composed  of  men, 
is  yet  not  purely  human.     Nay,  as  in  Christ,  the  divinity  and  the  hu- 
manity are  to  be  clearly  distinguished,  though  both  are  bound  in  unity  ; 
BO  is  he  in  undivided  entireness  perpetuated  in  the  Church.  The  Church, 
his  permanent  manifestation,  is  at  once  divine  and   human — she  is  the 
union  of  both.    He  it  is  who,  concealed  under  earthly  and  human  forms, 
works  in  the  Church  :  and  this  is  wherefore  she  has  a  divine  and  a  hu- 
man  part  in  an  undivided  mode,  so  that  the  divine  cannot  be  separated 
from  the  human,  nor  the  human  from  the  divine.     Hence  these  two 
parts  change  their   predicates.     If  the  divine — the  living   Christ  and 


384  EXPOSITION  OF  DOCTRINAL  DIFFERENCES 

his  spirit — constitute  undoubtedly  that  which  is  infalhble,  and  eternally 
inerrable  in  the  Church  ;  so  also  the  human  is  infallible  and  inerrable 
in  the  same  way,  because  the  divine  without  the  human  has  no  existence 
for  us  :  yet  the  human  is  not  inerrable  in  itself,  but  only  as  the  organ, 
and  as  the  manifestation  of  the  divine.  Hence,  Wo  are  enabled  to  con- 
ceive, liow  so  great,  important  and  mysterious  a  charge  could  have  even 
entrusted  to  men. 

In  and  through  the  Church  the  redemption,  announced  by  Christ, 
hath  obtained,  through  the  medium  of  his  spirit,  a  reality  ;  for  in  her  his 
truths  are  believed  and  his  institutions  are  observed,  and  thereby  have 
become  living.  Accordingly,  we  can  say  of  the  Church,  that  she  ig 
the  Christian  rehgion  in  its  objective  form — its  living  exposition.  Since 
the  word  of  Christ  (taken  in  its  widest  signification)  found,  together 
with  his  spirit,  its  way  into  a  circle  of  men,  and  was  received  by  them, 
it  has  taken  shape,  put  on  flesh  and  blood  ;  and  this  shape  is  the  Church, 
which  accordingly  is  regarded  by  Catholics  as  the  essential  form  of  the 
Christian  Religion  itself.  As  the  Redeemer  by  his  word  and  his  spirit 
founded  a  community,  wherein  his  word  should  ever  be  living,  he  in- 
trusted the  same  to  this  society,  that  it  might  be  preserved  and  propa- 
gated. He  deposited  it  in  the  Church,  that  it  might  spring  out  of  her 
ever  the  same,  and  yet  eternally  new,  and  young  in  energj^' ;  that  it 
might  grow  up,  and  spread  on  all  sides.  His  word  can  never  more  be 
separated  from  the  Church,  nor  the  Church  from  his  word.  The  more 
minute  explanation,  how  in  the  communitj^  established  by  Christ,  this 
word  is  maintained  and  propagated,  and  each  individual  Christian  can 
attain  to  the  undoubted  true  possession  of  Christian  doctrine,  is  accord- 
ingly the  first  and  most  important  matter,  to  which  we  m.ust  direct  at- 
tention. But  as  the  Church  is  connected  with  the  apostleship  estab* 
lished  by  Christ,  and  can  by  this  only  maintain  itself;  so  this,  in  the 
second  place,  must  come  under  consideration.  But  it  is  necessary  to 
premise  a  closer  examination  of  the  leading  propositions,  on  which  all 
others  turn — a  more  detailed  exposition  of  the  ultimate  reasons  for  that 
high  reverence  which  Catholics  pay  to  this  Church. 


§  XXXVII. — More  detailed  exposition  of  the  Catholic  view  of  the  Church. 

When  the  time  appointed  by  Christ  for  the  sending  down  of  the 
Spirit  was  come,  he  communicated  himself  to  the  apostles  and  the  other 
disciples,  when  gathered  together  in  one  place,  and  all  of"  one  accord  " 
(o;M,«6fiK.«^ov,)  they  were  longing  for  his  coming.  It  was  not  while  one 
here,  the  other  there,  abode  in  some  hidden  place ;  nay,  they  were  ex* 


BETWEEN  CATHOLICS  AND  PROTESTANTS.  336 

pressly  commanded  (Acts,  i.  4)  to  wait  for  him,  while  assembled  in 
Jerusalem.  At  last  the  Holy  Spirit,  that  had  been  promised,  appeared  : 
he  took  an  outward  shape-^the  form  of  fiery  tongues— an  image  of  his 
power  that  cleansed  hearts  from  all  wickedness,  and  thereby  united 
them  in  love.  He  wished  not  to  come  inwardly,  as  if  he  designed  to 
uphold  an  invisible  community  ;  but  in  the  same  way  as  the  Word  was 
become  Jlesh,  so  he  came  in  a  manner  obvious  to  the  senses,  and  amid 
violent  sensible  commotions,  like  to  "  a  rushing  mighty  wind."  If  indi- 
viduals were  filled  with  power  from  above  in  such  a  way,  that,  only  in 
as  far  as  they  constituted  an  tmity,  could  they  become  participators  of 
the  same ;  and  if  the  hallowing  of  the  spirit  took  place  under  sensible 
forms  ;  so,  according  to  the  ordinance  of  the  Lord  for  all  times,  the 
union  of  the  interior  man  with  Christ  could  take  effect  only  under  out- 
•ward  conditions,  and  in  communion  with  his  disciples.  Under  outward 
conditions  :  for  independently  of  outward  instruction,  what  are  the  sa* 
oraments  but  visible  signs  and  testimonies  of  the  invisible  gifts  con- 
nected with  them  ?  In  communion  :  for  no  one  by  the  act  of  baptism 
sanctifies  himself ;  each  one  is,  on  the  contrarj^,  referred  to  those  who 
already  belong  to  the  community.  Nor  is  any  one  but  momentarily 
introduced  into  fellowship  with  the  members  of  the  Church — to  remain 
only  until,  as  one  might  imagine,  the  holy  action  should  be  consummate 
ed  ;  for  the  fellowship  is  formed  in  order  to  be  permanent,  and  the 
communion  begun,  in  order  to  be  continued  to  the  end  of  life.  Baptism 
is  the  introduction  into  the  Church — the  reception  into  the  community 
of  the  faithful,  and  involves  the  duty,  as  well  as  the  right,  of  sharing  for 
ever  in  her  joys  and  her  sorrows.  Moreover,  the  administration  of  the 
sacraments,  as  well  as  the  preaching  of  the  word,  was  intrusted  by  the 
Lord  to  the  Apostolic  College  and  to  those  commissioned  by  it ;  so  that 
all  believers,  by  means  of  this  Apostolic  College,  are  linked  to  the  com- 
munity, and  in  a  living  manner  connected  with  it.  The  fellowship 
with  Christ  is  accordingly  the  fellowship  with  his  community — the  in- 
ternal union  with  him  a  communion  with  his  Church.  Both  are  in- 
separable,  and  Christ  is  in  the  Church,  and  the  Church  in  him.  (Eph, 
V.  29-33.) 

On  this  account,  the  Church,  in  the  Catholic  point  of  view,  can  as 
little  fail  in  the  pure  preservation  of  the  word,  as  in  any  other  part  of 
her  task  : — she  is  infallible.  As  the  individual  worshipper  of  Christ  is 
incorporated  into  the  Church  by  indissoluble  bonds,  and  is  by  the  same 
conducted  unto  the  Saviour,  and  abideth  in  him  only  in  so  far  as  he 
abideth  in  the  Church,  his  faith  and  his  conduct  are  determined  by  the 
latter.  He  must  bestow  his  whole  confidence  upon  her  ;  and  she  must 
therefore  merit  the  same.    Giving  himself  up  to  her  guidance,  he  ought 


836  EXPOSITION  OF  DOCTRINAL  DIFFERENCES 

in  consequence  to  be  secured  against  delusion :  she  must  be  inerrable 
To  no  individual,  [considered  as  such,  doth  infallibility  belong ;  for  the 
Catholic,  as  is  clear  from  the  preceding  observations,  regards  the  indi- 
vidual only  as  a  member  of  the  whole  ; — as  living  and  breathing  in  the 
Church.  When  his  feelings,  thoughts,  and  will,  are  conformable  to  her 
spirit,  then  only  can  the  individual  attain  to  inerrability.  Were  the 
Church  to  conceive  the  relation  of  the  individual  to  the  whole  in  an 
opposite  sense,  and  consider  him  as  personally  infallible,  then  she  would 
destroy  the  very  notion  of  community  ;  for  communion  can  only  be 
conceived  as  necessary,  when  the  true  faith  and  pure  and  solid  Chris- 
tian life  cannot  be  conceived  in  individuahzation. 

Hence,  it  is  with  the  profoundest  love,  reverence,  and  devotion,  that 
the  Catholic  embraces  the  Church.  The  very  thought  of  resisting  her, 
of  setting  himself  up  in  opposition  to  her  will,  is  one  against  which  his 
inmost  feelings  revolt,  to  which  his  whole  nature  is  abhorrent  :  and  to 
bring  about  a  schism — ^to  destroy  unity— is  a  crime,  before  whose  hein- 
ousness  his  bosom  trembles,  and  from  which  his  soul  recoils.  On  the 
other  hand,  the  idea  of  community,  in  the  first  place,  satisfies  his  feel- 
ings and  his  imagination,  and,  in  the  second  place,  is  equally  agreeable 
to  his  reason  ;  while,  in  the  third  place,  the  living  appropriation  of  this 
idea  by  his  will,  appears  to  him  to  concur  with  the  highest  religious 
and  ethical  duty  of  humanity.  Let  us  now  consider  the  first  of  these 
reasons.  No  more  beautiful  object  presents  itself  to  the  imagination  of 
the  Catholic-^none  more  agreeably  captivates  his  feelings,  than  the 
image  of  the  harmonious  inter- workings  of  countless  spirits,  who,  though 
scattered  over  the  whole  globe,  endowed  with  freedom,  and  possessing 
the  power  to  strike  off  into  every  deviation  to  the  right  or  to  the  left  ; 
yet,  preserving  still  their  various  peculiarities,  constitute  one  great 
brotherhood  for  the  advancement  of  each  other's  spiritual  existence, — > 
representing  one  idea,  that  of  the  reconciliation  of  men  with  God,  who 
on  that  account  have  been  reconciled  with  one  another,  and  are  become 
one  body.  (Eph.  iv.  11-16.)  If  the  state  be  such  a  wonderful  work 
of  art,  that  we  account  it,  if  not  a  pardonable,  yet  a  conceivable  act, 
for  the  ancients  to  have  made  it  an  object  of  divine  worship,  and  almost 
everywhere  considered  the  duties  of  the  citizen  as  the  most  important ; 
— if  the  state  be  something  so  sacred  and  venerable,  that  the  thought  of 
the  criminal,  who  lays  on  it  a  destroying  and  desecrating  hand,  fills 
us  with  detestation  ; — what  a  subject  of  admiration  must  the  Church 
be,  which,  with  the  tenderest  bonds,  unites  such  an  infinite  variety  ; 
and  this  unimpeded  by  every  obstacle,  by  rivers  and  mountains,  deserts 
and  seas,  by  languages,  national  manners,  customs,  and  peculiarities 
of  every  kind,  whose  stubborn,  unyielding  nature  defies  the  power  of 


BETWEEN  CATHOLICS  AND  PROTESTANTS.  337 

the  mightiest  conquerors  ?  Her  peace,  which  cometh  down  from  Hea- 
ven, strikes  deeper  roots  into  the  human  breast,  than  the  spirit  of  earth- 
ly  contention.  Out  of  all  nations,  often  so  deeply  divided  by  political 
interests  and  temporal  considerations,  the  Church  builds  up  the  house 
of  God,  in  which  all  join  in  one  hymn  of  praise  ;  as,  in  the  temple  of 
the  harmless  village,  all  petty  foes  and  adversaries  gather  round  the 
one  sanctuary  with  one  mind.  And  as  often  here,  on  a  small  scale,  the 
peace  of  God  will  bring  about  earthly  psace,  so  there,  on  a  larger  scale, 
the  same  result  will  frequently  ensue.  But  who  can  deem  it  a  matter 
of  astonishmsnt,  that  Catholics  should  be  tilled  with  joy  and  hope,  and, 
enraptured  at  the  view  of  the  beautiful  construction  of  their  Church, 
should  contemplate  with  delight,  that  grand  corporation  which  they 
form,  since  the  philosophers  of  art  declare,  that  the  beautiful  is  only 
truth  manifested,  and  embodied  ?  Christ,  the  eternal  truth,  hath  built 
the  Church:  in  the  communion  of  the  faithful,  truth  transformed  by 
his  spirit  into  love,  is  become  living  among  men  :  bow  could  then  the 
Church  fail  in  the  highest  degree  of  beauty  ?  Hence,  we  can  compre- 
hend that  indescribable  joy,  which  hath  ever  filled  the  Church,  when 
existing  contests  have  baen  allayed,  and  schisms  have  been  termi- 
nated. In  the  primitive  ages,  we  may  adduce  the  reunion  of  the  Nova- 
tian  communities  with  the  Catholic  Church,  so  movingly  described  by 
Dionysius  of  Alexandria,  and  Cyprian  of  Carthage ;  the  termination 
of  the  Meletian  schism,  and  the  rest.  From  a  later  period,  we  may 
cite  the  event  of  the  reunion  of  the  Western  and  Eastern  Churches, 
which  occured  at  the  Council  of  Florence.  Pope  Eugenius  IV.  ex- 
presses what  feelings  then  overflowed  all  hearts,  when  he  says,  "  Re- 
joice ye  heavens,  and  exult,  0  earth  :  the  wall  of  .separation  is  pulled 
down,  which  divided  the  Eastern  and  the  Western  Churches ;  peace 
and  concord  have  returned  ;  for  Christ,  the  corner-stone,  who,  out  of 
two,  hath  made  one,  unites  v/ith  the  strongest  bands  of  love  both  walls, 
and  holds  them  together  in  the  covenant  of  eternal  unity  ;  and  so 
after  long  and  melancholy  evils,  after  the  dense,  cloudy  darkness  of  a 
protracted  schism,  the  light  of  long-desired  union  beams  once  more 
upon  all.  Let  our  mother,  the  Church,  rejoice,  to  whom  it  hath  been 
granted  to  see  her  hitherto  contending  sons  return  to  unity  and  peace  ; 
let  her,  who,  during  their  division,  shed  such  bitter  tears,  now  thank 
Almighty  God  for  their  beautiful  concord.  All  believers  over  the  face 
of  the  earth,  all  who  are  called  after  Christ,  may  now  conoratulate 
thiir  mother,  the  Catholic  Church,  and  rejoice  with  her,"  &c.* 


*  Hard.  Acta.  Con.  torn.  ix.  fol.  985.     Eugenius  spoke  in  the  same  strain,  when 
he  informed  the  Chri.stian  princes  and  universities  of  the  reconciliation  in  question,  fol. 
22 


338  EXPOSITION  OF  DOCTRINAL  DIFFERENCES 

II.  Yet  it  is  not  merely  the  imagination  and  the  feelings  of  the  Ca^ 
tholic  which  are  contented  by  his   idea  of  the  Church,  but  his  reason 
also  is  thereby  satisfied, — and,  indeed,  because  the  idea  which  he  has 
conceived  of  the  Church,  alone  corresponds  to  the  notion  of  the  Chris- 
tian Church,  and  to  the  end  of  revelation.     It  corresponds,  in  the  first 
place,  to  the  notion  of  the  Christian  Church,  as  is  clear  from  what  fol- 
lows.    Truth  we  cannot  conceive  other   than  as  one,  and  the  same 
holds  good  of  Christian  truth.     The   Son  of  God,  our  Redeemer,  is  a 
distinct  being  :  he  is  what  he  is,  and  none  other,  eternally  like  unto 
himself,  constantly  one  and  the  same.     Not  in  vain  do  the  Holy  Scrip- 
tures connect  all  with  his  person :  the  more  they  do  this,  the  more  im- 
portant is  it  to  conceive  him  exactly  as  he  really  was.     Certain  it  is 
that  every  error,  in  relation  to  his  person,  exercises   a  more  or  less 
injurious  influence  on  the  piety  and  virtue  of  its  possessors  ;  whereas  a 
right  knowledge  of  his  person  forms  the  surest  and  most  solid  basis  of 
a  holy  and  Viappy  life.     In  like  manner  will  the  pure  appropriation  of 
his  work,  by,  and  in  our  souls,  produce  the  richest,  most  substantial,  and 
fairest  fruits  ;  while  any  falsification  of  that  work,  in  any  one  respect, 
is  sure  to  be  attended  with  injurious  consequences  to  practical  life. 
As  Christ,  therefore,  is  one,  and  his  work  is  one  in  itself,  as  accordingly 
there  is  but  one  truth,  and   truth  only   maketh  free,  so  he  can  have 
willed  but  one  Church ;  for  the  Church  rests  on  the  basis  of  belief  in 
him,  and  hath  eternally  to  announce  him  and  his  work.     On  the  other 
hand,  the  human  mind  is  every  where  the  same,  and  always,  and  in  all 
places,   created  for  truth  and  the  one  truth.     Its   essential  spiritual 
wants,  amid  all  the  changing  relations  of  time  and  place,  amid  all  the 
distinctions  of  culture  and  education,  remain  eternally  the  same :  we 
are  all  sinners,  and  stand  in  need  of  grace  ;  and  the  faith  which  one 
has  embraced  in  the  filial  simplicity  of  his  hcqrt,  another  cannot  out- 
grow, though  he  be  gifted  with  the  subtlest  intellect,  and  possess  all  the 
accumulated  wisdom  which  the  genius  of  man,  in  every  zone,  and  in 
every  period  of  his  history,  may  have  produced.     Thus,  the  oneness  of 
the  human  spirit,  as  well  as  the  oneness  of  truth,  which  is  the  food  of 
spirits,  justifies,  in  the  view  of  the  reflecting  Catholic,  the  notion  of  the 
one  visible  Church. 

But  secondly,  the  end  of  revelation  requires  a  Church,  as  the  Catho^ 
lie  conceives  it ;  that  is,  a  Church  one,  and  necessarily  visible.  The 
manifestation  of  the  eternal  Word  in  the  flesh,  had  the  acknowledged 


1000.  At  the  same  time,  the  Armenians  and  Jacobins,  as  the  documents  style 
them,  meanuig  the  Jacobites  and  Copts,  renounced  thcit  errors  and  united  with  the 
Latins,  fol.  1015-1025, 


\JETWEEN  CATHOLICS  AND  PROtESTANTS.  B39 

'?n(l  to  enab'e  man  (who  by  his  own  resources  was  capable  neither  of 
-obtaining,  with  full  assurance,  a  true  knowledge  of  God  and  of  his  own 
nature,  nor  of  masterinoj  that  knowledge  even  with  the  aid  of  old  sur- 
viving  traditions,)  to  enable  man,  we  say,  to  penetrate  with  undoubting 
certainty  into  religious  truths.  For  those  truths,  as  we  stated  above, 
will  then  only  give  a  vigorous  and  lasting  impulse  to  the  will  in  an  up- 
ward direction,  when  they  have  first  taken  strong  hold  of  the  reason, 
whence  they  can  exert  their  effects.  The  words  of  Archimedes,  <J'«5  /«•«« 
T^ov  o-rZ,  are  here  applicable,  and  in  an  especial  degree.  The  divine 
truth,  in  one  word,  must  be  embodied  in  Christ  Jesus,  and  thereby  be 
bodied  forth  in  an  outward  and  living  phenomenon,  and  accordingly 
become  a  deciding  authority,  in  order  to  seize  deeply  on  the  whole 
man,  and  to  put  an  end  to  pagan  scepticism,-^that  sinful  uncertainty 
of  the  mind,  Avhich  stands  on  as  low  a  grade  as  ignorance.* 

But  this  object  of  the  divine  revelation  in  Christ  Jesus,  would,  ac- 
cording to  the  conviction  of  Catholics,  either  have  wholly  failed,  or  in 
any  case  have  Ijeen  very  imperfectly  attained,  if  this  bodying  forth  of 
•the  divine  truth  had  been  only  momentary,  and  the  personal  raanifes- 
•tation  of  the  Word  had  not  had  sufficient  force  to  give  to  its  sounds  the 
highest  degree  of  intensive  movement,  and  to  impart  to  them  the  utmost 
efficacy,  or  in  other  words,  to  breathe  into  them  the  breath  of  life,  and 
-call  into  existence  a  society,  which,  in  its  turn,  should  be  the  living 
■exposition  of  the  truth,  and  remain  unto  all  times  a  derivative,  but  ade- 
•quate  authority ;  that  is,  should  represent  Christ  himself. 

This  sense  Catholics  give  to  the  words  of  the  Lord,  "  As  the  Father 
liath  sent  me,  so  I  send  you  ;"  "  whoso  hearefh  me,  heareth  you ;"  « I 
shall  remain  with  you  all  days,  even  to  the  consummation  of  the 
■world;"  "I  will  send  the  Spirit  of  truth,  who  will  lead  you  into  all 
truth."  Man  is  so  much  a  creatura  of  sense,  that  the  interior  world— 
the  world  of  ideas— must  be  presented  to  him  in  the  form  of  an  image, 
to  enable  him  to  obtain  a  consciousness,  or  to  gain  a  true  and  clear  ap- 
prehension of  it,  and  to  hold  Vy  it  firmly  as  the  truth ;  and,  indeed,  the 
image  must  be  permanen',  that,  being  present  to  every  individual 
through  the  v/hole  course  of  hiinmn  history,  it  may  constantly  renew 
the  prototype.  Henc-^,  the  authority  of  the  Church  is  necessary,  if 
Christ  is  to  be  a  true,  determining  authority  for  us.     Christ  wrought 


*  How  beautiful  sire  those  words  in  the  Preface  for  the  Christmas  mass, — "Vere 
dignura  et  justum  est,  aequain  et  salutare,  nos  tibi  semper  et  ubique  gratias  agere, 
Doraine  Sancte,  Pater  omnipotens,  a3terne  Deus.  Quia  per  iiicarnali  Verhi  iiiyste- 
rium  nova  ■mentis  nostra  oculis  luxtucB  claritatis  infulsit ;  ut  dum  visibiliter  Deum 
-cognescirKUs,  jKr  himc  in  im>isihilium  amoremi'apiamur,''''  &,c.  &o. 


84a  EXPOSITION  OF  DOCTRINAL  DIFFERENCES 

miracles;  nay,  his  whole  life  was  a  miracle,  not  merely  to  establish  the* 
credibility  of  his  words,  but  also  immediately  to  represent  and  symbolize 
the  most  exalted  truths  ;  to  wit,  God's  omnipotence,  wisdom,  love,  and 
justice,  the  immortality  of  man,  and  his  worth  in  the  eyes  of  God.  If 
we  adopt  the  idea  of  an  invisible  Church,  then  neither  the  incarnation 
of  the  Son  of  God,  nor  his  miracles,  nor  in  general  any  outwar<l,  posi- 
tive revelation  can  be  conceived  ;  because  they  compromise  authorita" 
live  proof s,  outward  visible  manifestations  of  eternal  ideas  ;  and,  accord- 
ingly they  arc  by  force  of  an  internal  necessity  there  gradually  reject- 
ed, where  it  is  assumed,  that  Christ  has  founded  a  mere  invisible  Church, 
since  the  members  of  such  a  Church  need  only  invisible  internal 
proofs  to  obtain  certitude.  On  the  other  hand,  the  authority  of  the 
CJiurch  is  the  medium  of  all,  which  in  the  Christian  religion  resteth  on 
authority,  and  is  authority,  that  is  to  say,  the  Christian  religion  itself ; 
60  that  Christ  himself  is  only  in  so  far  an  authority,  as  the  Church  is  an 
autlu/rUy. 

We  can  never  arrive  at  an  external  authority,  like  Christ,  by  purely 
spiritual  means.  The  attempt  would  involve  a  contradiction,  which 
could  only  be  disposed  of  in  one  of  two  ways  ;  either  we  must  renounce 
the  idea,  that  in  Christ  God  manifested  himself  in  history,  to  the  end, 
that  the  conduct  of  mankind  might  be  permanently  determined  by  him, 
or  we  must  learn  the  fact  through  a  living,  definite,  and  vouching  fact. 
Thus  authority  must  have  authority  for  its  medium.  As  Christ  wished 
to  be  the  adequate  authority  for  all  ages,  he  created,  by  virtue  of  his 
power,  something  homogeneous  to  it,  and  consequently  something  at" 
testing  and  representing  the  same,  eternally  destined  to  bring  his  au- 
thority before  all  generations  of  raen.  He  established  a  credible  in-sti^ 
tution,  in  order  to  render  the  true  faith  in  himself  perpetually  possible. 
Immediately  founded  by  him,  its  existence  is  the  de  facto  proof  of  what 
he  really  was ;  and  in  the  same  way  as  in  his  life  he  made,  if  [  may  so 
speak,  the  higher  truths  accessible  to  the  senses,  so  doth  his  Church  ;• 
for  she  hath  sprung  immediately  out  of  th-,  vivid  intuition  of  these  sym- 
bolized  truths.  Thus,  as  Christ,  in  his  life,  represented  under  a  visible 
typical  form  the  higher  order  of  the  world,  so  the  Church  doth  in  like 
manner  ;  since  what  he  designed  in  his  representation,  hath  through 
the  Church  and  in  the  Church  been  realized.  If  the  Church  be  not 
the  authority  representing  Christ,  then  all  again  relapses  into  darkness,^^ 
uncertainty,  doubt,  distraction,  unbelief,  and  superstition  ■,  revelation  he- 
comes  null  and  void,  fails  of  its  real  pi^rpose,  and  must  henceforth  he  even 
called  in  question,  and  finally  denied. 

The  truth  which  the   Catholic  here  expresses,  can  be,  in  another' 
way,  made  evident  by  occurrences  in  every-day  life,  and  by  great  his- 


BETWEEN  CATHOLICS  AND  PROTESTANTS.  341 

torical  facts.  The  power  of  society  in  which  man  lives,  is  so  great,  that 
it  ordinarily  stamps  its  image  on  him,  who  comes  within  its  circle. 
Whether  it  serve  truth,  or  falsehood  ;  whether  it  direct  its  efforts  to- 
wards higher  objects,  or  follow  ignoble  pursuits  ;  invariably  will  it  be 
found  to  fashion  the  character  of  its  members  after  its  own  model. 
Hence,  where  scepticism  has  spread  in  a  community,  and  has  impressed 
jts  image  on  its  bosom,  it  is  a  work  of  injSnite  difficulty  for  the  indi- 
vidual to  rise  superior  to  its  influence.  Faith  on  the  other  hand,  when 
man  sees  it  firmly  established,  like  a  rock,  about  him,  and  the  commu- 
nity, which  presents  a  great  and  lively  image  of  attachment  to  the  Re- 
deemer and  of  happiness  in  him — the  community,  we  say,  whose  im- 
perishable existence  is  faith  in  him,  and  accordingly  himself, — necessa- 
rily seizes  and  fills  up  the  whole  mind  of  the  individual.  Accordingly, 
should  the  religious  man  not  live  in  a  community,  which  hath  the  inde- 
structible consciousness  of  possessing  the  truth,  and  which  hath  the 
strongest  internal  and  external  grounds  for  that  belief,  such  an  indivi- 
dual would  necessarily  become  a  prey  to  the  most  distracting  doubts, 
and  his  faith  would  either  take  no  root,  or  soon  again  wither* 

Let  us  once  more  recur  to  the  miracles  in  the  history  of  the  Chris- 
tian religion,  but  regard  the  subject  from  a  different  point.  A  certain 
view  of  divine  things,  which  hath  once  obtained  full  consistency  among 
any  people,  or  any  number  of  nations,  takes  so  strong  a  held  on  the  in- 
dividual man,  that  without  some  higher  extraneous  interposition,  any 
essential  change  for  the  better,  that  is  to  say,  any  transition  from  false- 
hood to  truth,  is  utterly  impossible.  Had  Christ  not  wrought  miracles  ; 
had  the  labours  of  the  apostles  not  been  accompanied  with  signs  ;  had 
the  Divine  power  to  work  *uch  wonders  not  been  transmitted  to  their 
disciples,  never  would  the  Gospel  have  overcome  the  heathenism  of  the 
Greek  and  Roman  world.  Error  had  usurped  the  rights  which  belong 
to  truth  alone ;  and  man,  who  by  his  very  nature  is  compelled  to  re- 
ceive the  worship  of  the  social  state  in  which  he  has  been  fixed,  as  the 
true  expression,  the  faithful  image  of  religious  truth,  as  it  is  in  itself, 
needed,  of  course,  extraordinary  external  proofs  for  the  new  order  of 
things  ;  and,  indeed  till  such  time  as  this  order  had  been  consolidated 
into  a  vast  social  organism.  These  high  attestations,  in  favour  of 
truth,  appear  most  strikingly  and  most  frequently  in  the  life  of  the  Re- 
deemer himself;  because  the  yet  concentrated  power  of  the  old  world 
was  first  to  be  burst  asunder,  and  those  who  were  destined  to  be  the 
first  fruits  of  the  new  kingdom  of  God,  were  to  be  torn  from  its  magic 
circle.  In  proportion  as  the  boundaries  of  the  Church  were  extended, 
and  the  idea  of  redemption  and  the  power  of  the  cross  were  embodied 
in  a  more  vigorous  social  form,  miracles  declined,  till  at  last  they  had 


342  EXPOSITION  OF  DOCTRINAL  DIFFERENCES 

completely  fulfilled  their  destination,  and  had  caused  the  rcicognition  of 
the  authority  that  was  to  supply  their  place.  In  this  authority,  as  we 
said  above,  they  always  continue  their  attestation,  because  that  autho- 
rity is  their  own  production  •,  and  the  Church  is  conscious  of  owing  hei 
very  existence  to  those  miracles,  and  without  them  cannot  at  all  con- 
ceive herself.  Hence  the  fact  again,  that  together  with  the  authority 
founded  by  these  extraordinary  works  of  God,  faith,  too,  in  these  works 
ever  simultaneously  disappears. 

Hence,^  what  a  whimsical — we  cannot  say  wonderful — race  are  the 
idealists  of  our  time  !  St.  Paul,  who  had  such  a  spiritual,, but  at  the 
same  time  ecclesiastical  conception  of  all  things,  instituted  so  living  a 
relation  between  his  faith  and  the  conviction  of  the  Lord's  resurrection, 
that  he  expressly  declared,  "  If  Christ  be  not  risen  from  the  dead,  then 
is  our  faith  vain."  And  how  was  it  otherwise  possible,  since  in  Chris- 
tianity, which  is  a  divine  and  positive  revelation,  the  abstract  idea  and 
the  historical  fact — the  internal  and  the  external  truth  are  inseparably 
united  1  Our  idealists  and  spiritualists  have  no  need  of  miracles  for  the 
confirmation  of  their  faith !  Yes,  truly,  for  that  faith  is  one  of  their  own 
mailing,  and  not  the  faith  in  Christ ;  and  it  would  be  indeed  singular,  if 
God  were  to  confirm  a  faith  so  fabricated  by  men.  No  less  false  and 
idle  is  that  idealism  which  separates  the  authority  of  the  Church  from 
the  authority  of  Christ.  Even  in  this  point  of  view,  the  reverence 
which  the  Catholic  bears  for  his  Church,  is  fully  justified  by  reason.  As 
from  the  beginning,  the  abstract  idea  and  positive  history,  doctrine  and 
fact,  internal  and  external  truth,  inward  and  outward  testimony  were 
organically  united  ;  so  must  religion  and  Church  be  conjoined,  and  this 
for  the  reason,  that  God  became  man.  Could  Satan  succeed  in  annihi- 
lating the  Christian  Church,  then  the  Christian  religion  would  be  at  the 
same  time  annihilated,  and  Christ  himself  would  be  vanquished  by  him. 

Ill.^hc  third  point  in  which  the  CathoUc  finds  his  view  of  the 
Church  so  commendabl  >,  is,  the  influence  which  it  has  exerted  on  the 
cultivation  and  direction  of  the  will,  on  the  religious  and  moral  ame- 
lioration of  the  whole  man.  We  speak  here  no  longer  of  the  influ- 
ence of  a  clear  and  firm  belief,  of  the  truth  on  the  will — a  firm- 
ness of  belief  which  only  the  recognition  of  an  outward  and 
permanent  teaching  authority  can  produce — (of  this  we  have  al- 
ready spoken) — but  of  a  direction  given  to  the  will  by  a  living  mem- 
bership, with  an  all-embracing,  religious  society.  An  ancient  philoso- 
pher has,  with  reason,  defined  man  to  be  a  social  animal.  However 
little  the  peculiarity  of  man's  nature  is  here  defined  (for  his  peculiar 
kind  of  sociabiHty  is  not  pointed  out,)  yet,  a  deep  trait  of  what  deter- 
mines the  civilization  of  man  by  means  of  man,  is,  in  this  definition^ 


BETWEEN  CATHOLICS  AND  PROTESTANTS.  343 

Mndoubtedly  indicated.  They  are  only  races  which,  groaning  under 
the  destiny  of  some  heavy  curse,  have  sunk  into  the  savage  state,  that 
become  from  the  loss  of  their  civilization  seclusive,  and  with  the  most 
limited  foresight  fall  back  on  their  own  resources,  feel  no  want  of  an 
intercourse  with  other  nations,  or  of  an  exchange  of  ideas,  of  which 
they  possess  nothing  more,  or  of  a  communication  of  the  products  of 
their  industrj^  and  art,  that  have  entircl}'  disappeared.  These  produc- 
tions, which  are  already  in  themselves  symbols  of  the  intellectual  cha- 
racter of  their  authors,  flow  into  foreign  countries,  dressed,  as  it  were, 
in  the  mental  habits  and  characteristics  of  their  home.  Traces  of  the 
spirit  of  all  the  nations  through  which  these  productions  pass  are  im- 
pressed upon  them  in  their  course;  so,  that  they  always  arrive  at  the 
place  of  their  destination,  with  a  wealth  of  a  far  higher  kind,  than  that 
which  they  intrinsically  possess.  From  all  these  currents  of  civiliza- 
tion is  the  savage  withdrawn ;  for,  because  he  is  all-sufBcient  to  him- 
self, is  he  a.savage,  and  because  he  is  a  savage,  he  suffices  for  himself* 
When  the  foreigner  (hostis)  was  synonymous  with  the  enemy  ;  when 
one's  country,  (Iran,)  included  all  that  was  absolutely  good,  and  abroad, 
(Turan,)  all  that  was  absolutely  evil ;  when  the  gods  in  the  east  and  the 
west,  in  the  land  of  the  Colchians,  the  Cretans,  and  the  Egyptians,  re- 
joiced in  the  blood  of  foreigners,  what  a  gloomy,  ferocious  existence 
must  have  circumscribed  nations,  in  this  their  seclusion  and  mutual  in- 
dependence !  For  the  divinity  of  the  natiozi  was  regaled  with  such 
blood,  only  because  the  nation  itself  found  therein  a  horrible  gratifica- 
tion, and  made  its  own  delight  a  standard  for  the  joys  of  its  deity. 
The  maintenance  of  intercourse  and  communion  with  foreigners,  and  ac- 
cordingly, the  voluntary  establishment  of  relation  of  dependence  on  them, 
is  thus  an  absolute  condition  to  the  general  civilization  of  man  ;  so  that 
the  more  this  communion  and  mutual  dependence  is  extended,  that  is 
to  say,  the  more  the  notion  of  what  is  foreign  disappears,  the  more  is 
humanity  exalted.  With  this  general  relation  of  dependence,  the  de- 
pendence of  man  on  the  domestic  relations  of  law  and  government, 
keeps  equal  pace.  The  more  polished  and  civilized  the  members  of  a 
state,  the  more  are  they  bound  together  by  wise  ordinances,  holy  laws, 
venerable  customs   and   manners,  which  wisely  determine  the  mutual 


*  Persius  sa3's,  "  Witli  pepper  and  other  productions  of  the  South,  science  came  to 
the  Romans."  A  sarcasm  undoubtedly,  whereby  he  meant  to  stig^matize  the  luxury 
that  was  at  the  same  time  diffused  ;  sapientia  cum  saporis  mercibus  invecta.  But  in 
this  fact  He  truths  exahed  above  all  satire,  although  as  in  every  thing  great,  much  that 
was  deplorable,  every  kind  of  vice,  dtspotism,  &,c.,  were  intermingled  with  tliis 
blessing. 


344  EXPOSITION   OF  DOCTRINAL  DIFFERENCES 

relations  of  righfs  and  duties  ;  so  that,  in  fact,  with  every  higher  de- 
gree of  internal  freedom,  the  outward  bonds  are  proportionably  strait- 
ened. On  the  other  hand,  the  greater  the  state  of  barbarism,  the  greater 
is  the  external  independence  ;  so  that  the  wildest  savage  is,  in  a  mate- 
rial point  of  view,  the  most  free. 

What  do  these  facts  import,  but  a  wonderful,  mysterious,  inexplica- 
ble, connexion  of  the  individual  man  with  the  human  race ;  so  that 
he  comprehends  himself  better,  the  more  he  seems  to  be  absorbed  in 
his  kind,  and  it  is  only  in  humanity  that  man  is  understood  ?  Yet,  this 
internal  emancipation  by  means  of  outward  restraints,  of  which  we  have 
hitherto  spoken,  is  not  that  which  is  the  most  interior  ;  and  serves 
only  as  a  similitude  or  illustration  of  something  higher.  The  true  eman- 
cipation from  low-mindedness  and  self-seeking,  is  a  problem,  which,  as 
is  avowed,  rehgion  alone  can  solve.  In  the  same  way  as  civilization  is 
determined  by  political  life,  and  by  obedience  to  the  institutions  of  the 
state,  yea,  even  by  the  dependence,  though  naturally  looser,  on  other 
nations ;  so  is  true  religiousness  promoted  by  subjection  to  the  Church: 
For  it  is  an  incontrovertible  maxim  of  experience,  that  the  individual 
who  is  unconnected  with  any  ecclesiastical  community,  has  either  no 
religion,  or  a  very  meagre  and  scanty  one,  or  is  given  up  to  a  distem- 
pered fancy,  and  a  wild  fanaticism  ;  so  that  in  none  of  the  three  cases, 
can  religion  exert  her  blessed  influences.  On  the  other  hand,  the  more 
stable  the  e&clesiastical  community  to  which  we  belong,  the  more  will 
the  true,  interior  qualities  of  man  expand,  and  bloom  forth  in  freedom  ; 
so  that  he  who  will  lead  a  righteous  life  in  the  Catholic  Church,  whereof 
the  very  principle  is  the  real  unity  and  vital  communion  of  all  believers, 
he,  we  say,  will  attain  to  the  highest  degree  of  moral  and  religious  per- 
fection. It  is  no  insane  conception — no  idle  phantom — no  illusion  of  a 
distempered  mind,  which  he  embraces,  and  to  which  he  surrenders  his 
obedience  ;  but  it  is  a  reality,  and  a  holy  reality,  wherein  true  faith, 
and  love  manifesting  itself  in  deeds,  coupled  with  humility  and  self-de- 
nial in  the  strongest  and  most  comprehensive  sense  of  the  words,  are 
nurtured.  The  more  widely  diffused  the  community,  to  which  the 
Catholic  belongs,  the  more  defined  and  the  more  manifold  are  the  rela- 
tions wherein  he  stands,  the  more  multiplied  the  bonds  wherewith  he  is 
encompassed.  But,  as  we  said  above,  those  very  bonds,  which  exhibit 
the  reality  of  the  community,  produce  a  result  the  very  reverse  of  re- 
straint, and  establish  the  internal  freedom  of  man,  or  promote  the  purest 
hvmanify ;  for  this  expression  may  bo  used,  since  God  became  man. 
AVithout  external  bonds,  there  is  no  true  spiritual  association,  so  that 
the  idea  of  a  mere  invisible,  universal  community,  to  which  we  should 
belong,  is  an  idle,  unprofitable  phantom  of  the  imagination  and  of  dis- 


BETWEEN  CATHOLICS   AND  PROTESTANTS.  345 

tempered  feelings,  destitute  of  all  influence  on  mankind.  In  propor- 
tion only  as  a  religious  society  approximates  to  the  Catholic  Church, 
doth  it  exert  a  more  efficacious  influence  on  spiritual  life.  Here,  in- 
deed, we  may  observe,  as  shall  be  afterwards  proved,  that  it  is  only  ac- 
cording to  Catholic  principles,  that  a  Church  can  be  consistently  formed  ; 
and,  where  out  of  her  pale  anything  of  the  kind  exists,  the  truth  of  what 
we  assert  is  confirmed,  to  wit,  that  where  a  ray  of  true  Christian  light 
doth  fall,  it  will  have  the  effect  of  binding  and  uniting,  whereby  all  the 
doctrines  tending  to  schism  and  division  are,  practically  at  least  re- 
futed. 

And  what  the  Catholic,  in  the  way  described,  feels  and  thinks,  wishes 
and  strives  for,  he  finds  clearly  laid  down  in  Holy  Writ.  The  divine 
founder  of  the  Church,  in  the  following  important  words,  enlarges, 
among  other  things,  on  the  oneness  and  visibility  of  the  community, 
into  which  those,  M'ho  were  to  take  his  name,  were  to  be  received  : — 
"  And  not  for  them  only  do  I  pray,  but  for  them  also  who  through  their 
word  shall  believe  in  me,  that  they  all  may  be  one,  as  thou  Father  in  me, 
and  I  in  thee  :  that  they  also  may  be  one  in  us  ;  that  the  world  may 
believe  that  thou  hast  sent  me.  And  the  glory  which  thou  hast  given 
me,  I  have  given  to  them,  that  they  may  be  one,  as  we  also  are  one. 
I  in  them,  and  thou  in  me,  that  they  may  be  made  perfect  in  one  :  and 
the  world  may  know  that  thou  hast  sent  me,  and  hast  loved  them,  as 
thou  hast  also  loved  me."  (John  xvii.  20,  24.)  What  fulness  of 
thoughts  we  find  here !  The  Lord  putteth  up  a  prayer  for  the  gift  of 
unity,  and  the  union  of  all  who  shall  believe  ;  and  for  an  unity,  too, 
which  finds  its  model  only  in  the  relation  existing  between  the  Father 
and  the  Son  of  Man.  "  In  us  shall  they  be  one  :"  that  is  to  say,  the 
unity  of  those  believing  in  me  is  of  so  exalted  a  nature,  that  it  is  only 
by  the  communication  of  a  higher  life,  by  a  divine  principle,  it  can  be 
brought  about  by  the  one  faith,  the  same  hope,  and  love,  which  are  of 
divine  institution.  In  the  same  way  as  the  living  foundation  of  this 
unity  is  divine,  so  shall  it  be  attended  with  divine  eflTects  :  by  this  unity 
the  world  shall  recognize  the  heavenly  mission  of  Christ.  The  unity- 
must  be  a  visible  unity, — obvious  to  the  eyes,  perceptible  by  the  iden- 
tity of  doctrine,  by  the  real  mutual  relations  and  communion  of  all  the 
followers  of  Christ  with  each  other  ;  for  otherwise  the  consequences  ad- 
verted to  could  not  be  deduced  from  it.  Thus  the  true  vital  commu- 
nion of  all  attests  the  dignity  of  Christ,  as  every  work  vouches  for  its 
master.  On  the  other  hand,  in  the  schisms  and  dissensions  among  be- 
lievers,  the  dignity  of  Christ  is  lost  sight  of ;  strangers  are  brought  not 
to  the  faith,  and  even  those  already  believing  are  delivered  up  to  doubt 
and  unbelief. 


346  KXPOSITION  OF  DOCTRINAL  DIFFERENCES 

In  expressions  a  little  altered,  but  still  more  energetic,  the  Saviour 
now  repeats  the  same  prayer,  whose  mighty  theme  are  the  conditions 
of  the  prosperity,  the  growth,  and  the  duration  of  God's  kingdom  upon 
earth.  He  saith  ; — "  The  glory,  which  thou  hast  given  me,  I  have 
given  to  them  :  that  they  may  be  one,  as  we  are  one.  I  in  them,  and 
thou  in  me ;  that  they  may  be  made  perfect  in  one."  Or,  in  other 
words,  he  would  say  : — The  glorious  destination,  the  mission  which  as 
the  Son  of  Man  I  received  from  thee,  for  the  glorification  of  thy  name, 
to  the  end  that  I  might  enter  into  the  inmost  fellowship  with  thee  (I  in 
thee,)  I  have  transferred  to  them  also,  that  I  might  contract  the  most 
living  fellowship  with  them,  in  order  that  they  might  thereby  attain  unto 
perfect  unity.  "  And  that  the  world  may  know  that  thou  hast  sent  me, 
and  hast  loved  them,  as  thou  hast  also  loved  me,"  that  is  to  say,  their 
oneness  in  all  things, — a  oneness  not  to  be  brought  about  by  human 
powers, — oneness  in  believing,  thought  and  will ;  and  every  effort  shall 
be  to  unbelievers  a  sign  that  I  have  worked  according  to  thy  commis- 
sion, and  with  divine  plenipotence;  and  that  the  believers  are  thy 
chosen  people,  to  whom,  out  of  love,  thou  hast  revealed  thyself,  as  out  of 
love  thou  hast  constituted  me  thine  envoy.  So  speaketh  the  Lord  him- 
self. 

Paul  the  apostle  is  admirable,  when,  in  simple  words,  he  expounds 
the  relation  between  the  lavv^  and  grace,  between  the  works  of  the  law, 
and  faith  :  when  he  instructs  us  respecting  the  series  of  divine  revela- 
tions, and  the  education  of  the  human  race  by  God,  and  respecting  the 
laws  which  govern  the  world's  history.  But  his  philosophy,  if  I  may 
be  allowed  so  to  speak,  his  philosophy  on  man's  social  relations  gene- 
rally, and  on  his  ecclesiastical  ones  in  particular,  is,  in  depth,  and  ma- 
jestic simplicity,  inferior  to  none  of  his  other  expositions.  Our  reason 
feels  itself  irresistibly  compelled  to  accede  to  his  judgments,  whether  he 
enlarge  in  general  on  the  infirmity  of  the  individual  man,  and  the  abso- 
lute necessity  of  aiding  it,  by  attachment  to  a  community  ;  or  whether 
he  point  to  the  limited  powers  of  individual  reason,  and  show  how  they 
are  dilated  and  improved,  preserved,  and  rescued  from  destruction  by 
means  of  society  ;  or  whether  he  remind  us  of  the  one  spirit,  that  should 
pervade  all  diversities,  or  of  the  diversities  that  are  permitted  in  the  one 
spirit  ;  or,  lastly,  represent  the  idea,  which  he  spiritually  contemplates, 
under  the  image  of  the  relations  of  the  members  of  the  body.  (1  Cor. 
xii.)  And  how  doth  not  our  bosom  swell,  when  he  calls  the  attention 
of  his  readers  to  the  living  foundation,  out  of  which  the  new  commu- 
nity, that  had  appeared  in  the  world,  and  was  destined  to  unite  all  na- 
tions, had  arisen.  It  is  at  times,  as  if  we  felt  the  infinite  power  stirring 
within  us,  which  gave  existence  to  that  society.     (Eph.  iv.  16.)     In 


■fi. 


BETWEEN  CATHOLICS  AND  PROTESTANTS.  347 

Christ,  national  distinctions,  in  a  religious  point  of  view,  are  obliterat- 
ed (Eph.  xi.  15  ;)  the  enmities  of  people  he  hath  destroyed, — he  is  be- 
come our  peace,  and  "  by  breaking  down  the  middle  wall  of  partition," 
hath  made  one  out  of  two.  All  men,  in  a  like  degree,  have  in  him  access 
to  God  ;  but  as  in  Christ  they  all  become  one,  so  they  are  united  with 
each  other  in  one  body  and  one  spirit.  (Eph.  iv.  4.)  All  invites  to  this 
unity  ;  the  one  Lord,  the  one  baptism,  the  one  faith,  the  one  God  and 
father  of  all.  (Eph.  iv.  5,  6.)  The  oneness  of  faith,  and  of  the  know- 
ledge of  the  Son  of  God,  is  at  once  the  reality,  and  the  supreme  ideal, 
which  should  be  aimed  at  ;  and  without  this  unity,  in  which  the  indivi- 
dual is  strong,  he  is  given  up  to  every  wind  of  doctrine,  and  tt>  the 
craftiness  of  men.     (Eph.  iv.  14.) 

These,  and  similar  passages  are  the  foundations  whereon  the  Catho- 
lic theory  of  the  Church  has  been  constructed.  Hence  flowed  the  in- 
spired eloquence  of  Cyprian  ;  hence  Augustine  drew  his  reflections  on 
the  Church,  which  in  depth  of  feeling  and  vigour  of  thought,  contain  by 
far  the  most  splendid  things  that,  since  the  time  of  the  apostles,  have 
been  written  on  this  subject.  Hence,  too,  in  later  times  came  the 
glow  that  warmed  the  iron  bosoms  of  the  chilly  north,  and  melted  them 
into  a  heat,  whereby  all  the  gold  and  silver  of  our  modern  European 
civilization  were  by  degrees  purified  from  dross. 

To  the  Catholic,  it  appears  the  most  trivial  proceeding,  when  such 
pictures  of  the  Church,  as  we  have  attempted  to  trace,  are  ridiculed 
as  ideal  representations,  which  have  never  had  in  past,  nor  ever  will  have 
in  all  future  times,  a  perfectly  corresponding  reality.  In  fact,  little  is 
told  him  but  what  he  already  knows  ;  to  wit,  that  the  idea  is  not  the  vul- 
gar reality,  and  vice  versa:  but  he  knows  likewise,  that  where  there  is 
no  fundamental  idea  to  any  reality,  there  is  as  little  truth  as  where  no 
reality  corresponds  to  the  idea.  He  feels  convinced  that  if,  in  the  above- 
mentioned  manner,  the  doctrine  of  his  Church  is  to  be  seriously  assailed, 
the  gospel  itself  would  be  open  to  the  same  attacks  ;  for  one  might  say, 
"all  is  indeed  excellent  and  wonderful,  which  is  there  prescribed  touch- 
ing the  pious  sentiments  and  holiness  of  conduct  which  should  distinguish 
Christians  :  but  do  these  sentiments,  and  this  conduct,  really  distinguish 
them  ?  This  is  the  question  at  issue."  Every  thing  must  live  accord- 
ing to  an  ideal,  to  which  the  vulgar  reality  is  not  equal ;  for  how  else 
could  it  be  vulgar  1  The  words  of  the  Lord,  "  Be  ye  perfect,  as  your 
heavenly  Father  is  perfect,"  will  not  therefore  be  vain,  because  no  man 
is  like  to  God.  No,  wo  to  him  who  shall  reject  the  ideal,  because  he 
finds  it  not  perfectly  represented  among  men. 

Even  the  fact  that  at  all  times,  from  our  Lord  and  his  apostles  down- 
wards, in  the  midst  of  whom  a  Judas  was  found,  there  has  been  much 


348  EXPOSITION   OF  DOCTRINAL  DIFFERENCES 

evil  in  the  Church,  nay,  that  the  evil  seemed  at  times  to  exceed  the  good, 
cannot  impair  the  reverence  of  Catholics  for  their  Church.  The  Church* 
as  the  institution  of  Christ,  hath  never  erred,  hath  never  become  wicked, 
and  never  loses  its  energy ;  which  is  constantly  evinced,  though  the 
proof  may  not  always  be  so  obvious  to  the  eye.  To  exhibit  the  king- 
dom  of  God  on  earth,  and  also  to  train  mankind  for  the  same,  she  has 
had  to  deal  with  men  who  were  all  born  sinners,  and  were  taken  from 
a  more  or  less  corrupt  mass.  Thus  she  can  never  work  out  of  the  sphere 
of  evil,  nay,  her  destination  requires  her  to  enter  into  the  verj^  midst  of 
evil,  and  to  put  her  renovating  power  continually  to  the  test.  The  Ca- 
tholic Church,  has,  moreover,  experienced  a  long,  and  often  arduous, 
history ;  she  has  passed  through  periods  of  time  wherein  all  the  ele- 
ments of  life  were  unbound,  and  in  wild  uproar  seemed  arrayed  one 
against  the  other.  The  anterior  civilization,  and  the  social  institutions, 
under  which  Christianity  had  hitherto  flourished,  were  really  destroyed 
by  savage  and  semi-barbarous  hordes ;  and  they  were  not  civilized 
Greeks  and  Romans,  but  wild,  untamed  natures,  who  now  entered  into 
the  Church,  which  henceforth  assumed  quite  another  form.  As  her 
priests  and  bishops  fall  not  from  the  skies  ;  as  she  must  take  them  out 
of  the  description  of  men  that  the  age  can  furnish  ;  she  could  indeed 
for  a  succession  of  centuries  boast  of  no  Clemens  of  Alexandria,  no 
Origen,  no  Cyprian,  no  Basil  and  Gregory  of  Nazianzen,  no  Hilary, 
Jerome  and  Augustine,  who  were  trained  up  in  all  the  art  and  science 
of  ancient  Greece  and  Rome,  before  they  became  priests,  or  anywise 
attached  themselves  to  the  Church.  And  yet  it  is  impossible  to  esti- 
mate the  great  and  splendid  things  which  the  Church  achieved  in  those 
troublesome  times  !  Upon  the  foundation  of  the  same  doctrine,  which 
in  more  flourishing  ages  had  been  developed  into  a  systematic  form, 
universally  received,  the  Church  displayed  her  educating  power.  Nay, 
all  the  fulness  of  energy,  which  Christianity  had  manifested  in  the  first 
centuries,  it  now  again  unfolded,  though  in  quite  another  form ;  for  the 
matter  to  be  wrought  was  totally  different.  Under  such  circumstances, 
there  sprang  up  from  the  twelfth  century  a  variety  of  sects,  born  of 
yesterday,  without  any  historical  ancestry,  consisting  of  a  small  num- 
ber of  elect,  to  whom  was  vouchsafed  the  privilege  of  dreaming  a 
Church,  and  who  ventured  to  urge  against  the  existing  Church,  that 
had  passed  through  so  many  storms  and  revolutions,  the  reproach  that 
she  had  failed  to  fulfil  her  destination  :  and  with  the  learning  which 
they  had  received  from  the  Church,  they  resisted  her  on  account  of  the 
ignorance  to  be  found  within  her.  Had  these  creations  of  fancy  and 
selfishness,  which  they  are  certainly  to  be  considered,  even  if  we  should 
not  deny  the  better  elements  they  contained,  borne  the  burden  of  ages 


BETWEEN  CATHOLICS  AND  PROTESTANTS.  349 

imposed  on  the  Catholic  Church,  they  would  in  the  first  moment  have 
sunk  back  into  the  original  nothingness,  from  which  they  had  emerged. 
Doubtless,  examples  enough  can  be  alleged  of  priests,  bishops,  and  popesj 
who,  in  the  most  unconscionable  and  unjustifiable  manner,  have  failed 
to  discharge  their  duty,  when  it  was  quite  in  their  power  to  bring  about 
a  reform  of  morals  ;  or  who,  by  their  own  scandalous  conduct  and 
lives,  have  extinguished  the  still  glimmering  torch,  which  they  ought 
to  have  kindled.  Hell  hath  swallowed  them  up.  Avowals  of  this 
kind  Catholics  must  not  shrink  from,  and  never  have  shrunk  from  :  it 
would  be  even  idle  to  attempt  to  elude  them,  for  the  Protestants  them- 
selves furnish  an  irrefragable  proof  of  the  state  of  manifold  neglect  into 
which  the  people  had  fallen  during  the  fifteenth  century.  Never  would 
a  system  of  doctrine  like  theirs  have  sprung  up,  still  less  have  obtained 
such  wide  diffusion,  had  individual  teachers  and  priests  been  faithful  to 
the  duties  of  their  calling.  Truly,  the  ignorance  could  not  have  been 
slight,  on  which  a  system  of  faith,  like  that  of  the  Reformers,  was  im- 
posed as  worthy  of  acceptance  ;  and  thus  Protestants  may  learn  to  esti* 
mate  the  magnitude  of  the  evil,  which  then  oppressed  the  Church,  by 
the  magnitude  of  the  errors  into  which  they  themselves  have  fallen* 
This  is  the  point  at  which  Catholics  and  Protestants  will,  in  great  mul- 
titudes, one  day  meet,  and  stretch  a  friendly  hand  one  to  the  other. 
Both,  conscious  of  guilt,  must  exclaim,  '•  V/e  all  have  erred— it  is  the 
Church  only  which  cannot  err  ;  we  all  have  sinned — the  Church  only 
is  spotless  on  earth."  This  open  confession  of  mutual  guilt  will  be  fol- 
lowed by  the  festival  of  reconciliation.  Meanwhile,  we  still  smart  under 
the  inexpressible  pain  of  the  wound  which  was  then  inflicted, — a  pain 
which  can  be  alleviated  only  by  the  consciousness  that  the  wound  has 
become  an  issue,  through  which  all  the  impurities  have  flowed  off,  that 
men  had  introduced  into  the  wide  compass  of  the  dominions  of  the 
Church  ;  for  she  herself  is  ever  pure  and  eternally  undefileda 

In  thus  stating  the  view  which  Catholics  take  of  their  Church,  with* 
out  pretending  to  any  completeness  of  detail,  we  think  we  have  duly 
prepared  our  readers  for  understanding  the  following  section. 


§  XXXVIII. — The  Church  as  teacher  and  instructress.     Tradition.     The  Church 
as  judge  in  matters  of  faith. 

The  main  question,  which  we  have  now  to  answer,  is  this  :  how  doth 
man  attain  to  possession  of  the  true  doctrine  of  Christ  ;  or,  to  express 
ourselves  in  a  more  general,  and  at  once  more  accurate  manner,  how 
doth  man  obtain  a  clear  knowledge  of  the  institute  of  salvation,  proffered 
in  Christ  Jesus  ?     The  Protestant  says,  by  searching  Holy  Writ,  which 


360  EXPOSITION  OF  DOCTRINAL  DIFFERENCES 

is  iufallible  :  the  Catholic,  on  the  other  hand,  replies,  by  the  Church» 
in  which  alone  man  arrives  at  the  true  understanding  of  Holy  Writ, 
In  a  more  minute  exposition  of  his  views,  the  Catholic  continues  : 
doubtless  the  sacred  Scriptures  contain  divine  communications,  and, 
consequently,  the  pure  truth :  whether  they  contain  all  the  truths, 
which,  in  a  religious  and  ecclesiastical  point  of  view  are  necessary,  or 
at  least  very  useful  to  be  known,  is  a  question  w  hich  does  not  yet  come 
under  consideration.  Thus,  the  Scripture  is  God's  unerring  word  :  but 
however  the  predicate  of  inerrability  may  belong  to  it,  wc  ourselves  are 
not  exempt  from  error  ;  nay,  we  only  become  so  when  we  have  unerr- 
ingly received  the  word,  which  is  in  itself  inerrable.  In  this  reception 
of  the  w^ord,  human  activity,  which  is  fallible,  has  necessarily  a  part. 
But,  in  order  that,  in  this  transit  of  the  divine  contents  of  the  Sacred 
Scriptures  into  possession  of  the  human  intellect,  no  gross  illusion  or 
general  misrepresentation  may  occur,  it  is  taught,  that  the  Divine 
Spirit,  to  which  are  intrusted  the  guidance  and  vivification  of  the 
Church,  becomes,  in  its  union  with  the  human  spirit  in  the  Church, 
a  peculiarly  Christian  tact,  a  deep  sure-guiding  feeling,  which,  as  it 
abideth  in  truth,  leads  also  into  all  truth.  By  a  confiding  attachment 
to  the  perpetuated  Apostleship,  by  education  in  the  Church,  by  hearing, 
learning,  and  living  within  her  pale,  by  the  reception  of  the  higher 
principle,  which  renders  her  eternally  fruitful,  a  deep  interior  sense  is 
formed  that  alone  is  fitted  for  the  perception  and  acceptance  of  the 
written  Word,  because  it  entirely  coincides  with  the  sense,  in  which  the 
Sacred  Scriptures  themselves  were  composed.  If,  with  such  a  sense 
acquired  in  the  Church,  the  Sacred  volume  be  perused,  then  its  general 
essential  import  is  conveyed  unaltered  to  the  reader's  mind.  Nayj 
when  instruction  through  the  apostleship,  and  the  ecclesiastical  educa- 
tion in  the  way  described,  takes  place  in  the  individual,  the  Sacred 
Scriptures  are  not  even  necessary  for  our  acquisition  of  their  general 
contents.* 


*  We  can  see  from  Irenaeus,  adv.  Haer.  lib.  iii.  c.  3,  how  ancient  the  above  laid 
down  doctrine  is.  With  the  clearest  conviction  it  was  pointed  out,  in  the  earliest 
controversies  in  the  Church ;  and,  in  fact,  if  Christ  hath  founded  a  Church,  nothing 
can  be  more  strikingly  manifest  than  this  view  of  the  matter.  Irenaeus  says  :  "  Tra- 
ditionem  apostolorum  in  toto  mundo  manifestatam,  in  omni  ecclesia.  adest  perspiccrc 
omnibus,  qui  vera  velint  audire  ;  et  habemus  annumerare  eos,  qui  ab  apostolis  instituti 
sunt  episcopi  in  ecclesiis,  et  successorcs  eorum  usque  ad  nos,  qui  nihil  talc  docuerunt, 
neque  cognoverunt,  quale  deliratur  ab  his.  .  .  .  Tantte  igitur  ostensionis  qumn  sint 
ha'c,  non  oportet  adhuc  qua;rcre  apud  alios  veritatcm,  quam  facile  est  ab  ccclcsiS. 
sumcre  ;  quum  apostoli  quasi  in  dcpositorium  dives  plenissime  in  cam  dctulerint  omnia 
quae  sint  veritatis ;  ut  omnis,  quicunque  velit,  sumat  ex  ea  potum  vitas.  Haec  est  enim 


BETWEEN  CATHOLICS  AND  PROTESTANTS.  351 

This  is  the  ordinary  and  regular  course.  But  errors  and  misunder- 
standings, more  or  less  culpable,  will  never  fail  to  occur  ;  and,  as  in  the 
times  of  the  apostles,  the  word  of  God  was  combated  out  of  the  word 
of  God,  so  this  combat  hath  been  renewed  at  all  times.  What,  under 
such  circumstances,  is  the  course  to  be  pursued  ?  How  is  the  Divine 
Word  to  be  secured  against  the  erroneous  conceptions  that  have  arisen  ? 
The  general  sense  decides  against  particular  opinion— the  judgment 
of  the  Church  against  that  of  the  individual  :  the  Church  inicrprets  the 
Sacred  Scriptures.  The  Church  is  the  body  of  the  Lord  :  it  is,  in  its 
universality.  His  visible  form— His  permanent,  ever-renovated,  human- 
ity— His  eternal  revelation.  He  dwells  in  the  community  ;  all  His 
promises,  all  His  gifts  are  bequeathed  to  the  community — ^but  to  no 
individual,  as  such,  since  the  time  of  the  apostles.  This  general  sense, 
this  ecclesiastical  consciousness  is  tradition,  in  the  subjective  sense  of 
the  word.*     What  then  is  tradition  1    The  peculiar  Christian  sense  ex- 


vitaa  introitus :  omnes  autem  reliqui  fures  sunt  et  latrones,  propter  quod  oportet  devi- 
tare  quidem  illos  :  quae  autem  sunt  ecclesiae  cum  summa  diligentia  diligere,  et  appre- 

hendcre  veritatis  traditionem Quid  autem,  si  neque  apostoii  quidem  scripturas 

reliquissent  nobis,  nonne  oportebat  sequi  ordinem  traditionis,  quam  tradideruut  lis, 
quibus  committebant  ecclesias  ?  Cuiordinationi  assentiunt  multfe  gentes  barbaror-um, 
quorum  qui  in  Christum  credunt,  sine  charts  et  atramento  scriptum  habcntesperSpi- 
ritum  Sanctum  in  cordibus  suis  salutem,  et  veterem  traditionem  diligenter  custodi- 
entes,  in  unum  Deum  credentes.  .  .  .  Hanc  fideni  qui  sme  literis  crediderunt,  quan- 
tum ad  sermonem  nostrum,  barbari  simt,  quantum  ad  sententiam,  et  consuetudinem, 
et  conversationem,  propter  fidem,  perquam  sapientissimi  sunt,  et  placent  Deo,  con- 
versantes  in  omni  justitid,,  et  castitate,  et  sapientia,.  Quibus  si  aliquis  annuntiaverit 
ea,  quae  ab  hereticis  adinventa  simt,  proprio  sermone  eorum  colloquens,  statim,  con* 
cludentes  aures,  longius  fugient,  ne  audire  quidem  sustinentes  blasphemum  alloqui- 
um.  Sic  per  ilJam  veterem  apostolorum  traditionem  ne  in  conceptionem  quidem 
mentis  admittunt,  quodcunque  eorum  ostentiloquium  est." 

*  Euseb.  Hist,  eccles.  lib.  v.  c.  27;  g«Aj(5-wff-T;*5v  <f/i5W)/**;  Commonitor.  Vin- 
cent. Lerins.  c.  2,  ed.  Klupf.  1809,  p. 90.  "  Hoc  forsitan  requirat  aliquis:  cum  sit 
perfectus  scripturarum  canon,  sibique  ad  omnia  satis  superque  sufEciat :  quid  opus  est, 
ut  ei  ecclesiasticcB  intelligenticB  jungatur  auctoritas  ?  Quia  videlicet  scripturam  sa- 
cram,  pro  ips^suS,  altitudine,  nonuno  eodcmque  sensd  vmiversi  accipiunt ;  sedejusdem 
eloquia  aliter  atque  aliter  alius  atque  alius  interpretatur,  ut  pane  quot  homines  sunt,  tot 
illincsententiae  erui  posse  videantur... .Atque  idcircomultumnecesse  est,  propter tantos 
tam  varii  erroris  anfractus,  utpropheticE  et  apostoliciB  interpretationis  linea  secundum 
ecclesiastici  et  catholici  sensus  normam  dirigatur."  These  words  occur  immediately 
after  the  conclusion  of  the  first  chapter,  wherein  he  says,  there  are  two  ways  whereby 
the  Catholic  doctrine  can  be  distinguished  from  the  heretical :  "  Primum  scilicet  di- 
vinae  legis  auctoritate  :  tum  deinde  ecclesiae  Catholicfe  traditione."  By  the  Council 
of  Trent  (Sess.  iii.  c.  2)  tradition  is  called,  "  Universus  ecclesiae  sensus."  Sess.  iv. 
Decret.  de  editione  et  usri  sacronim  librorum  :  "  Ut  nemo  suae  prudentiae  innixus,  in 
rebus  fidei  et  morum  ad  sedificationem  doctrinee  Christiana-  pertinentium,  sacras 


362  EXPOSITION  OF  DOCTIUNAL  DIFFERENCES 

isting  in  the  Church,  and  transmitted  by  ecclesiastical  education  ;  yet 
this  sense  is  not  to  be  conceived  as  detached  from  its  subject-matter — ' 
nay,  it  is  formed  in,  and  by  this  matter,  so  it  may  be  called  a  full  sense. 
Tradition  is  the  living  word,  perpetuated  in  the  hearts  of  believers.  To 
this  sense,  as  the  general  sense,  the  interpretation  of  Holy  Writ  is  en- 
trusted. The  declaration,  which  it  pronounces  on  any  controverted 
subject,  is  the  judgment  of  the  Church  ;  and,  therefore,  the  Church  is 
judge  in  matters  of  faith  (^judex  controversiarum.)  Tradition,  in  the 
objective  sense,  is  the  general  faith  of  the  Church  through  all  ages, 
manifested  by  outward  historical  testimonies ;  in  this  sense,  tradition 
is  usually  termed  the  norma ;  the  standard  of  Scriptural  interpretation 
— the  rule  of  faith. 

Moreover,  the  Divine  Founder  of  our  Church,  when  He  constituted 
the  community  of  believers,  as  His  permanent  organ,  had  recourse  to 
no  other  law  than  that  which  prevails  in  every  department  of  human 
life.  Each  nation  is  endowed  with  a  peculiar  character,  stamped  on 
the  deepest,  most  hidden  parts  of  its  being,  which  distinguishes  it  from 
all  other  nations,  and  manifests  its  peculiarity  in  public  and  domestic 
life,  in  art  and  science,  in  short,  in  every  relation.  It  is,  as  it  were, 
the  tutelary  genius  ;  the  guiding  spirit  transmitted  from  its  progenitors  ; 
the  vivifying  breath  of  the  whole  community  ;  and,  indeed,  the  nations 
anterior  to  Christianity,  personified  this  their  peculiar  character,  re- 
vered it  as  their  national  divinity,  deduced  from  it  their  civil  and  reli- 
gious  laws  and  customs,  and  placed  all  things  under  its  protection. 

In  every  general  act  of  a  people,  the  national  spirit  is  infallibly 
expressed :  and  should  contests,  should  selfish  factions  occur,  the  cle- 
ment destructive  to  the  vital  principle  of  the  whole,  will  most  certainly 
be  detected  in  them,  and  the  commotion,  excited  by  an  alien  spirit, 
either  miscarries,  or  is  expelled,  as  long  as  the  community  preserves  its 
own  self-consciousness,  as  long  as  its  peculiar  genius  yet  lives,  and 
works  within  it.  If,  on  the  other  hand,  things  have  come  to  such  an 
extremity,  that  the  living  bond,  which  connects  the   present  with  the 


Bcripturas  ad  RUos,sensus  contorquens,  contra  eum  sensum,  quem  tcnuit  ct  tenet  sanc- 
ta  mater  ecclcsia,Qujus  est  judicarc  de  vei-o   sensCi  et   interpretatione  scripturarura 

sanctarum." Decret.de  canon.  Script.:  "  Pcrspiciens  hanc  veritatcm  et  dis- 

ciplinam  contineri  in  libris  scriptis  et  sine  scripto  traditionibus,  quae  ipsius  Christi  ore 

ab  apostolis  acceptffi trtiditiones  ipsas,  turn   ad  fidem,   turn  ad  mores  peitinentes, 

tanquam  vel  ore  tcnus  aChristo,  vol  a  Sancto  Spirits  dictatas,  ct  continuS,  succes- 
sione  in  ecclesia,  Catolic^  conservatas,  pari  pictatis  affectft  ac  reverentia,  suscipit  et 
veneratur."  Compare  Melchior.  Cani  loc.  thcol.  (lib.  iii.  c.  3,  p.  179,  seq.  ed.Venet.) 
on  Tradition ;  et.  lib.  iv.  c.  4,  p.  234,  on  tlie  authority  of  the  Church. 


BETWEEN  CATHOLICS  AND   PROTESTANTS.  353 

^jpast,  is  dissevered ;  that  no  concurrent  national  effort  can  be  called 
forth  ;  that  all  falls  into  a  state  of  confusion  ;  that  struggle  and  oppo- 
sition totally  efface  the  common  characteristics  of  the  community,  or 
reveal  them  only  in  the  opposition,  which  is  boasted  of  as  life  ;  then 
there  is  no  doubt  that  such  a  people  is  near  its  downfall,  that  its  peculiar 
plastic  principle  is  already  paralyzed,  and  its  Divinity  has  ceased  to 
live.—*'  Pan  is  dead,"  did  seamen  hear  resounded  from  every  quarter, 
at  the  period  of  the  birth  of  Christ. 

To  confine  our  attention,  more  particularly,  to  religious  communiw 
ties,  we  need  only  look  to  the  Chinese,  and  the  Parsi,  or  to  the  Moham- 
medans, and  we  shall  be  astonished  to  observe  how  consistently, 
throughout  the  course  of  their  history,  the  principles,  established  at  the 
outset,  were  applied  to  details,  how  consistently  the  latter  were  con- 
ceived and  modelled  by  the  standard  of  the  former.  Let  us  investigate 
the  Hellenic  Heathenism  also,  and  the  most  perfect  agreement  between 
the  various  religious  phenomena  that  have  risen  up  in  succession,  and 
the  primitive  fundamental  view  cannot  escape  observation.  Lastly, 
let  us  contemplate  the  religious  sect  founded  by  Luther  himself.  The 
developed  doctrines  of  his  Church,  consigned  as  they  are  in  the  sym- 
bolical books,  retain,  on  the  whole,  so  much  of  his  spirit,  that  on  the 
first  view,  they  must  be  recognized  by  the  observer  as  genuine  produc- 
tions of  Luther.  With  a  sure  vital  instinct,  the  opinions  of  the  Ma- 
jorists,  the  Synergists  and  others,  were  rejected  as  deadly  ;  and,  indeed 
(from  Luther's  point  of  view,)  as  untrue,  by  that  community  whose  soul, 
whose  living  principle  he  was  ;  and  the  Church,  which  the  Reformer 
of  Wittenberg  established,  proved  herself  the  unerring  interpretess  of 
his  word. 

Let  us  now,  for  a  moment,  suppose  the  case,  that  the  progenitors  of 
nations,  and  the  founders  of  the  above-mentioned  religions,  had  been 
real  envoys  from  above ;  then  must  we  consider  the  movement,  that 
emanated  from  them,  as  divine,  yet  as  one  which,  by  its  transmission 
to  those  attracted  by  its  fundamental  principle,  had  become  human: 
and  the  later  collective  actions,  whereof  we  said,  that  they  had  retained 
the  spirit  of  the  founder,  would  then  be  at  once  divine  and  human  acts 
and  deeds.  They  would  be  divine,  because  they  only  Avorked  out  what 
was  originally  given,  and  applied  it  to  occurring  relations  and  circum- 
stances ;  human,  because  this  development  was  carried  on  through  the 
agency  of  men  :  lastly,  an  unerring  standard  of  thought  and  action  for 
all  those  who  follow  such  a  founder ;  for  the  breath  of  life,  which  pro- 
ceeded from  him,  guides,  like  a  natural  impulse,  the  movements  of  the 
^vhole  community.  According  to  this  tj'pe  hath  the  i:ifallibility  of  the 
Church  also,  in  its  interpretation  of  the  Divine  Word,  been  formed,  and 
23 


354  EXPOSITION  OF  DOCTRINAL  DIFFERENCES 

by  this  standard  we  arc  to  judge  it.  All  the  developments  of  its  dog-^ 
inas  and  its  morality,  which  can  he  considered  as  resulting  from  formal 
acts  of  the  whole  hody,  are  to  be  revered  as  the  sentences  of  Christ 
himself,  and  in  these  his  spirit  ever  recurs.  Here,  indeed,  subsists  be- 
tween the  Church  and  the  above-named  religious  communities  the 
great  difierence,  which  must  ever  be  maintained  between  Jesus  Christ 
and  mere  men.  The  institutions  of  the  latter,  even  after  the  most  con- 
sistent expansion  of  their  vital  principles,  advance  to  an  inevitable  end } 
and  their  productions,  however  much  they  may  have  worked,  according 
to  their  original  spirit,  possess  no  greater  value  than  that  spirit  itself, 
and  both,  in  an  equal  degree,  sink  by  degrees  into  nothing. 


§  xxxix. — The  Church  as  interpreter  of  Holy  Writ,  and  the  doctrine  on  Tradition 

continued. 

On  these  subjects,  Scripture  and  tradition,  and  the  relation  of  the 
Church  to  both,  we  must  now  enter  into  fuller  and  clearer  explanations. 

Undoubtedly,  on  this  most  important  matter,  the  records  of  ecclesi- 
astical history  will  serve  to  throv/  the  clearest  light.  If  we  except  some 
Jewish  parties,  which  did  not  so  much  spring  out  of  Christianity,  as 
wish  to  encumber  it,  in  its  infancy,  with  Judaeo-national  observances, 
the  earliest  sect  were  the  Gnostics.  Their  doctrines  on  the  eternal  co- 
existence of  an  evil  matter  with  God — on  the  creation  and  government 
of  the  world,  by  an  inferior  spirit,  the  Demiurgos — their  principle  of 
Docetism  and  the  rest,  are  too  wsU  known  to  be  detailed  here.  How- 
ever decidedly,  in  the  opinion,  perhaps,  of  all  who  now  profess  Chris- 
tianity, these  doctrines  are  adverse  to  its  nature ;  did  the  Gnostics,  oa 
that  account,  suffer  themselves  to  be  convinced  out  of  Scripture,  of  the 
perversity  of  then-  views  ?  So  far  from  it,  they  preferred  to  reject  the 
Old  Testament,  and  to  declare  the  Gospels  to  be  falsifiad  !*  There  are 
certainly  (ew  who  have  studied  the  Gnostic  errors,  that  are  not  saizsd 
with  the  deepest  astonishment,  how  their  partisans  could  possibly  deem 
their  whimsical  opinions,  the  fantastic  forms  of  their  demonology,  &c. 


*  Even  Tertullian,  in  his  work  (de  Praescript.  c  xvii.)  against  heretics,  lays  down 
some  remarkable  observations,  which  the  experience  even  of  the  second  century  had 
furnished  him.  "  Ista  hasrcsis  non  recipit  quasdam  scripturas  :  et  si  quas  recipit,  non 
recipit  integras,  adjcclionibus  ct  detractiunibus  ad  dispositionem  instituti  sui  inter- 
vertit,  et  si  aliquatenus  integras  prsestat,  nihiloniinus  diversas  expositiones  commcn- 
tata  convertit.  .  •  ■  Quid  promovebis,  cxercitatissime  scripturarum,  quum  si  quid 
defenderis,  negetur  ;  ex  diverso,  si  quid  negaveris,  defcndatur  ?  Et  lu  quidem  nihil 
perdes  nisi  vocem  in  contentione :  nihil  consequeris,  nisi  bilein  do  blasplieraatione." 


BETWEEN  CATHOLICS  AND  PROTESTANTS.  355 

to  be  Christian  apostolic  doctrines ;  and  many  among  us  perhaps  be- 
lieve, that  we  coulJ  in  a  single  hour  confute  thousands  of  thsm  by  the 
Bible,  and  bring  them  back  to  pure  Christianity.  So  confident  did  they 
feel  in  their  superiority,  that  they  were  even  disposed  to  accuse  their 
then  opponents  of  a  want  of  dexterity,  because  they  did  not  succeed. 

But,  when  once  a  peculiar  system  of  moral  life  hath  been  called  into 
existence,  should  it  even  be  composed  of  the  most  Corrupt  elements,  no 
ordinary  force  of  external  proofs,  no  conclusions  of  ratiocination,  no 
eloquence,  are  able  to  destroy  it :  its  roots  lie  mostly  too  deep  to  be  per- 
vious to  mortal  eye  :  it  can  only  perish  of  itself,  become  gradually  ex- 
hausted, spend  its  rage,  and  disappear.  But,  as  long  as  it  flourishes,  all 
around  is  converted  into  a  demonstration  in  its  favour :  the  earth  speaks 
for  it,  and  the  Heavens  are  its  warranty.  Meanwhile,  a  new  age,  with 
another  spirit  and  other  elements  of  life,  springs  up  ;  this,  without  any 
points  of  internal  contact  with  the  past,  is  often  at  a  loss  to  comprehend 
it,  and  demands  with  astonishment  how  its  existence  had  been  possible. 
But  should  Divine  Grace,  which  can  alone  enkindle  the  opposite  true 
life,  succeed  in  delivering  one  individual  from  such  errors,  then  he  ex- 
presses the  incomprehensible  and  inconceivable  nature  of  his  former 
state,  by  saying,  that  he  had  been,  as  it  were,  enchanted,  and  that  some- 
thing,  like  scales,  has  fallen  from  his  eyes ! 

As  the  impossibility  was  now  manifest  of  convincing  the  Gnostics  of 
the  truth  out  of  Holy  Writ,  must  the  Catholic  Church  declare,  that  the 
questions  whether  God  created  the  world,  whether  Christ  were  a  true 
man,  should  remain  in  abeyance,  till  these  doctrines  were  made  evident 
to  them  by  the  testimony  of  Scripture  ?  By  no  means.  They  were 
directed  to  tradition — to  the  living  world  ;  they  were  told  that,  if  even 
a  doubt  could  arise  as  to  the  doctrine  of  Scripture,  the  announcement 
of  the  word  perpetuated  in  the  Church,  since  her  first  establishment, 
and  the  common  faith  of  believers,  decided  the  question  clearly  enouo-h  ; 
and  that  to  this  decision,  all  who  wish  to  attach  themselves  to  Christ, 
and  choose  him  for  the  Shepherd  of  their  souls,  ought  not  to  refuse  obe- 
dience. 

The  teachers  of  the  Church,  indeed,  by  no  means  omitted  to  employ 
Scripture  for  the  refutation  of  the  Gnostics,  and  to  appeal  to  its  testi- 
mony in  detailed  expositions.  But  herein,  one  learned  investio-ation  was 
but  opposed  to  another  :  man  stood  against  man,  and  the  Bible  on  both 
sides.*     By  adherence  to  Scripture,  the  individual  Christian  could  un- 


*  This  fact  misled  Dr.  Liicke,  in  his  writing,  "  On  the  authority  of  Scripture,  and 
its  relation  to  the  rule  of  faith  in  the  Protestant  and  the  ancient  Church  ;  three  theo- 
logical  epistles  to  Dr.  Delbruck,   from   Dr.  Sack,  Dr.  Nitzch,  and  Dr.  Liicke  ;"  pp. 


S'ie  EXPOSITION  OF  DOCTRINAL  DIFFERENCES 

doiibtcdlv  convince  himself,  that  the  Gnostics  were  involved  in  grievous 
errors.  Of  this  he  was  subjectively  certain  :  but  as  the  adversary  had 
the  like  subjective  conviction,  that  the  true  Christian  view  of  the  world 
was  to  be  found  on  his  side,  the  objectivity  of  Christianity  would  have 
necessarily  disappeared,  if,  besides  the  Bible,  there  had  not  been  a  rule 
of  faith,  to  wit,  universal  Tradition.*  Without  this  rule,  it  would  ever 
be  impossible  to  determine  with  positiveness,  safety,  and  general  obli- 
gation, the  peculiar  doctrines  of  Christianity-  The  individual,  at  best, 
could  only  hazard  the  assertion,  this  is  my  view,  my  interpretation  of 
Scripture  ;  or,  in  other  words,  without  tradition  there  would  be  no  doc- 
trine of  the  Church,  and  no  Church,  but  individual  Christians  only  ;  no 
certainty  and  security,  but  only  doubt  and  probability. 

Scarcely  had  the  struggle  of  the  Catholic  Church  with  Gnosticism 
reached  its  highest  point,  when,  in  the  most  decided  contrast  with  the 
latter,  the  one  class  of  Unitarians  arose  ;  for  these,  and  not,  as  Nean- 
der  thinks,  the  Montanists,  form  the  contrary  extreme  to  the  Gnostics. 
If  the  Gnostics  saw  in  Christianity  nothing  hut  what  was  divine,  and  in 
Christ  recognized  merely  the  divine  reason,  so  that  they  attributed  to 
the  Redeemer  only  an  apparent  body,  represented  him  as  merely  put- 
ting on  an  illusive  form  of  man,  but  not  taking  the  real  nature  of  man, 
and  regarded  moreover  the  visible  world  as  thoroughly  evil ;  these  Uni- 
tarians  on  the  other  hand,  discovered  in  the  Saviour  a  mere  man,  en- 
hghtened  by  Heaven ;  and  consistently  with  this  doctrine,  denied  the 
descent  of  the  Divine  Spirit  upon  the  apostles  and  the  Church,  and  the 
high  supernatural  aids  of  grace  ;  which  they  the  less  needed,  as  they 
acknowledged  the  existence  of  no  deeply  implanted  corruption  in  human 
nature.     Did  the  former  look  upon  the  Gospel  as  a  plastic  impulse,  a 


125,  141,  142, 145,  Not  only  Irenseus,  Hippolytus,  Novatian,  Origen,  and  others, 
prove  the  Calhohc  dogmas  out  of  the  Bible  also,  but  in  all  ages,  down  to  the  present 
day,  Catholics  adduce  the  scriptural  proof. 

*  TertuUian,  in  the  work  first  cited,  c.  18,  makes  the  following  luminous  observa- 
tions,  drawn  fresh  from  life :  "  Si  quis  est,  cujus  causa  in  congressum  dcscendis 
scripturarum,  ut  eum  dubitantem  confirmes,  ad  veritatem,  an  magis  ad  hsereses  di- 
verget  ?  Hoc  ipso  motus,  quod  te  videat  nihil  promovisse,  aequo  gradu  negandi  et 
defcndcndi  advcrsa  parte,  statu  certe  pari,  altercatione  incertior  discedet,  nescieus 
quam  hceresim  judicet."  .  .  .  .  C.  19  :  "  Ergo  non  ad  scriptm-as  provocandum  est : 
nee  in  his  constituendum  ccrtomen,  in  quibus  aut  nidla  aut  inccrta  victoria  est,  aut 
par  incertae.  Nam  etsi  non  ita  evaderet  collatio  scripturarum,  ut  utrumque  partem 
parem  sisteret,  ordo  rcrum  desiderabat,  prius  proponi,  quod  nunc  solum  disputandum 
est :  quibus  competat  fides  ipsa  ?  Cujus  sint  scripturse  ?  A  quo,  et  per  quos,  et 
quando,  et  quibus  sit  tradita  diseiplina,  qua  fiunl  Christian!  /  Ubi  enim  apparuerit 
esse  veritatem  et  diseiplina?  et  fidci  Christianse,  illic  crit  Veritas  scripturarum  et  expo- 
sitioniun  et  omnium  traditionum  Christianarum." 


'**      M. 


BETWEEN  CATHOLICS  AND  PROTESTANTS.  357 

divine  germ  of  life,  a  celestial  energy  ;  so  the  latter  regarded  it  as  a  lavv 
of  formation,  a  dead  rule,  an  abstract  notion,  a  pure  ethical  system,  by 
application  whereof  the  defects  to  bo  found  in  our  otherwise  excellent 
moral  nature,  may  be  totally  eradicated.  The  Unitarians  of  this  class 
(after  falsifying  Holy  Writ),  appealed  to  the  same,  and  by  the  rejection 
of  tradition,  relied  exclusively  on  its  authority.*  What  course,  under 
these  circumstances,  was  the  Church  to  be  advised  ?  Was  she  to  de- 
clare that  every  one  was  provisionally  to  follow  his  own  views,  until 
results,  satisfactory  to  each  individual,  could  be  more  surely  obtained 
from  the  study  of  Holy  Writ  ?  Most  undoubtedl}^,  if  the  Church  had 
been  a  mere  historico-antiquarian  association  ;  if  she  had  had  no  con- 
ception of  herself,  of  her  foundation,  of  her  essence,  and  of  her  task, 
and  no  sense  of  the  power  of  faith.  But,  as  she  enjoyed  the  possession 
of  these,  she  acted  otherwise,  and  from  her  conduct  clearly  resound  the 
words  :  "eternally  certain  is  the  doctrine  of  the  Redeemer  to  his  disci- 
ples— the  written  word  is  one  with  the  living — that  which  is  inscribed 
on  paper  and  parchment,  with  that  which  is  engraven  on  hearts  by  the 
power  of  the  Holy  Spirit  ;  and  the  doubts,  which  may  arise  out  of  the 
former,  are  dispelled  by  the  latter."  The  faith  existing  in  the  Church, 
from  the  beginning  throughout  all  ages,  is  the  infallible  standard  to  de- 
termine the  true  sense  of  Scripture  ;  and  accordingl)^  it  is  certain,  be- 
yond the  shadow  of  doubt,  that  the  Redeemer  is  God,  and  hath  filled 
us  even  with  divine  power.  In  fact,  he  who  grounds  his  faith  on  Scrip- 
ture only,  that  is,  on  the  result  of  his  exegetical  studies,  has  no  faith, 
can  have  none,  and  understands  not  its  very  nature.  Must  he  not  be 
always  ready  to  receive  better  information  ;  must  he  not  admit  the  pos- 
sibility, that  by  mature  study  of  Scripture,  another  result  may  be  ob- 
tained, than  that  which  has  already  been  arrived  at?  The  thought  of 
this  very  possibility  precludes  the  establishment  of  any  decided,  perfect- 
ly undoubting,  and  unshaken  faith,  which,  after  all,  is  alone  deserving 
of  the  name.  He  who  says,  "  this  is  my  faith,"  hath  no  faith.  Faith, 
unity  of  faith,  universality  of  faith,  are  one  and  the  same  ;  they  are  but 
different  expressions  of  the  same  notion.  He  who,  if  even  he  should 
not  believe  the  truth,  yet  believes  truly,  believes  at  the  same  time  that 
he  holds  fast  the  doctrine  of  Christ,  that  he  shares  the  faith  with  the 
Apostles,  and  with  the  Church  founded  by  the  Redeemer,  that  there  is 
but  one  faith  in  all  ages,  and  one  only  true  one.  This  faith  is  alone 
rational,  and  alone  worthy  of  man  ;  every  other  should  be  called  a  mere 
opinion,  and,  in  a  practical  point  of  view,  is  an  utter  impotency. 


*  Euseb.  Hist.  Eccl.  lib.  v.  c.  27. 


35S  EXPOSITION  OF  DOCTRINAL  DIFFERENCES 

Ages  passed  by,  and  with  thcni  the  ancient  sects:  new  times  arose,^ 
bringing  along  with  them  new  schisms  in  the  Church.  The  formal  prin- 
ciples oi'all  these  productions  of  egotism  were  the  same  ;  all  asserted 
that  Holy  Writ,  abstracted  from  Tradition  and  from  the  Church,  is  at 
once  the  sole  source  of  religious  truth,  and  the  sole  standard  of  its 
knowledge  for  the  individual.  This  formal  principle,  common  to  all 
parties,  separated  from  the  Church ;  to  the  Gnostic  of  the  second 
century,  and  the  Albigensian  and  Vaudois  of  the  twelfth,  to  the  Sabel- 
lian  of  the  third,  the  Arian  of  the  fourth,  and  the  Nestorian  of  the 
fifth  century — this  principle,  we  say,  led  to  the  most  contradictory 
belief.  What  indeed  can  be  more  opposite  to  each  other,  than  Gnosti- 
cism and  Pelagianism,  than  Sabellianism  and  Arianism  ?*  The  very 
circumstance,  indeed,  that  one  and  the  same  formal  principle  can  be 
applied  to  every  possible  mode  of  belief ;  or  rather  that  this  belief,  how- 
ever contradictory  it  may  be  in  itself,  can  still  make  use  of  that  formal 
principle,  should  alone  convince  every  one,  that  grievous  errors  must 
here  lie  concealed,  and  that  between  the  individual  and  the  Bible  a 
mediating  principle  is  wanting. 

What  is  indeed  more  striking  than  the  fact,  that  every  later  religious 
sect  doth  not  deny  that  the  Catholic  Church,  in  respect  to  the  parties 
that  had  previously  seceded  from  her,  has  in  substance  right  on  her 


*  With  respect  to  the  Arians,  compare  Athanasius  de  Synodo,  §  13-14,  40,  43,  47  ; 
Basil  dc  Spiritd  Sancto,  c.  10.  "  Id  quod  impugnatur  fides  est,  isque  scopus  est  com- 
munis omnibus  advcrsariis  et  Sana;  doctrinsB  inimicls,  utsoliditatem  fidei  in  Christura 
concutiant,  apostolicam  traditioncm  solo  asqualem  abolendo.  Ea  propter,  sicut  solent, 
qui  bonae  fidei  debitores  sunt,  probationes  e  Scripturft.  clamore  exigunt.  Patrum  tes- 
timonium, quod  scriptum  non  est,  velut  nullius  momenti  rejicientes."  Compare  c. 
27,  Augustin.  lib.  i.  contra  Maximin  :  "  Si  quid  de  divinis  protuleris,"  says  the  Arian  ; 
"  quod  commune  est  cum  omnibus,  necesse  est  ut  audiamus.  Has  vero  voces,  quae 
extra  scripturam  sunt,  nullo  casCi  k  nobis  suscipiuntur.  Pra;tcrca  quum  ipse  Domi. 
nus  moneat  nos,  et  dicat :  sine  causS,  colunt  me,  docentes  mandata  et  praecepta  ho- 
minum."  In  August,  de  Nat.  et  grat-  c.  39,  Pelagius  thus  expresses  himself:  "Cre. 
damus  igitur  quod  legimus,  et  quod  non  legimus,  ncfas  credamus  adstruere."  Eu- 
tyches,  act  I.  Concil.  Chalced.  in  Hard.  Act.  Concil.  torn.  ii.  p.  186:  '^"Erot/uoy  "^ag 
et-jTcv  mat  i<pa<riii  tcli;  iKd-ia-ivi  tZv  ayiuv  TntTifcev ^  tZv  t(  iv  N/xa/51  ku)  iv  'E^ia-to  t»v  cvvoJ'uV 
TT^tiir^fAivcev,  ^wri^id-ut,  Kxi  uTroypd^iiv  Tcii;  if/xuviictt;  uutZv  o/uioKoytr  ilSiTrov  TvyotTt 
7ra^  oajtZv  tv  tkti  -hi^ttri  i)  S'l^u-'^i.-KSri^^  «  eT/ajrAavJiS'b,   touto  (j.mi  SinfiaKxeiv,  juy.J'i  it^n-ct. 

A."  "  He  said  that  he  was  ready  to  receive  the  decrees  of  the  holy  fathers  assctn- 
bled  in  the  Councils  of  Nice  and  Ephesus,  and  he  promises  to  subscribe  to  their  de- 
finitions.  But,  if  in  their  declarations  any  thing  by  chance  should  be  found  either 
unsound  or  false,  he  says  that  he  will  neither  reject  nor  approve  of  it ;  but  search  the 
Scripture  alone,  as  being  more  solid  than  all  the  decrees  of  the  fathers." 


BETWEEN  CATHOLICS  AND  PROTESTANTS.  359 

sida,  and  even  recognizes  in  these  cases  her  dogmatic  decisions  ;  while 
on  the  other  hand,  it  disputes  her  formal  principles  ?  Would  this 
ecclesiastical  doctrine,  so  formed  and  so  approved  of,  have  been  pos- 
sible, without  the  peculiar  view  the  Church  entertained  of  herself? 
Doth  not  the  one  determine  the  other  ?  With  joy  the  Arian  recognizes 
what  has  been  decided  by  the  Church  against  the  Gnostics  ;  but  he 
does  not  keep  in  view  the  manner  in  which  she  proceeded  against 
them  ;  and  he  will  not  consider  that  those  dogmas  on  which  he  agrees 
with  the  Church,  she  would  not  have  saved  and  handed  down  to  his 
time,  had  she  acted  according  to  those  formal  principles  which  he 
requires  of  her,  and  on  which  he  stands.  The  Pelagian  and  the  Nes- 
torian,  embrace  also,  with  the  most  undoubting  faith,  the  decisions  of 
the  Church  against  the  Arians.  But  as  soon  as  the  turn  comes  to 
either,  he  becomes  as  it  were  stupified,  and  is  inconsiderate  enough  to 
desire  the  matter  of  Christian  doctrine  without  the  appropriate  ecclesi- 
astical form — without  that  form,  consequently,  by  the  very  neglect 
whereof  those  parties,  to  \vhich  he  is  most  heartily  opposed,  have  fallen 
on  the  adoption  of  their  articles  of  belief.  It  was  the  same  with  Luther 
and  Calvin.  The  pure  Christian  dogmas,  in  opposition  to  the  errors 
of  the  Gnostics,  Paulicians,  Arians,  Pelagians,  Nestorians,  Menophysites 
and  others,  they  received  with  the  most  praiseworthy  firmness  and 
fervency  of  faith.  But,  when  they  took  a  fancy  to  deliver  their  theses 
on  the  relations  between  faith  and  works,  between  free-will  and  grace, 
or  however  else  they  may  be  called,  they  trod  (as  to  form)  quite  in  the 
footsteps  of  those  whom  they  execrated,  and  when  they  were  able  to 
obtain  possession  of  their  persons,  even  burned  them.* 


*  The  observation  of  Chemnitius  (in  Exam.  Cone.  Trident.  P.  i.  p.  118,  and  still 
more  further  on,)  is  very  remarkable.  He  says,  Irenseus  and  TertuUian,  who  ap- 
pealed to  tradition,  wished  only  to  show  that  tradition  agreed  with  Scriptm^e.  "  Non 
video,  si  Integra  disputatio  considcretur,  quomodo  aliainde  possit  erui  scntcntia,  quam 
quod  ostendat  conscnsum  traditionis  apostolicne  cum  Scriptura,,  ita  ut  eadem  sit  doc- 
trina  quam  Scripturo  tradit.  ct  quam  primitiva  ecclcsia  ex  apostolorum  traditione  ac. 
ceperat.  P.  221  :  Et  omnia  sunt  sacris  Scripturisconsona,  quae  noset  reeipimuset  profi- 
temur."  Hence,  he  draws  the  conclusion,  that  testimonies  for  tradition  from  the  se- 
cond, third  and  fourth  centuries,  could  not  be  turned  against  the  Protestants,  because 
they  receive  all  which  was  then  decided  through  tradition  against  the  heretics.  But 
Chemnitius  did  not  place  himself  in  the  right  point  of  view.  He  ought  to  have  con- 
sidered, that  if  in  the  matter  under  discussion,  Catholics  appeal  to  TertuUian  and 
others,  the  question  is  not  respecting  any  particular  doctrine,  but  about  the  very  prin- 
'Ciple  of  tradition.  Chemnitius,  indeed,  for  the  most  part  agrees  with  Cathohcs  in 
their  doctrinal  decisions  against  the  Gnostics;  but,  as  regards  tradition,  in  a  foirnal 
point  of  view,  he  stands  quite  on  the  side  of  the  latter.     He  must  have  learned  from 


360  EXPOSITION  OF  DOCTRINAL  DIFFERENCES 

This  accordingly  is  the  doctrine  of  Cathohcs.  Thou  wilt  obtain  tire 
knowledge  full  and  entire  of  the  Christian  religion,  only  in  connection, 
with  its  essential  form,  which  is  the  Church.  Look  at  the  Scripture 
in  an  ecclesiastical  spirit,  and  it  will  present  thee  an  image  perfectly 
resembling  the  Church.  Contemplate  Christ  in,  and  with  his  creation 
— the  Church  ;  the  only  adequate  authority  ;  the  only  authority  repre- 
senting Him,  and  thou  wilt  then  stamp  His  image  on  thy  soul.  Should 
it,  however,  be  stated,  in  ridicule  of  this  principle,  that  it  were  the 
same  as  to  say — '*  Look  at  the  Bible  through  the  spectacles  of  the 
Church,"  be  not  disturbed,  for  it  is  better  for  thee  to  contemplate  the 
star  by  the  aid  of  a  glass,  than  to  let  it  escape  thy  dull  organ  of  vision, 
and  be  lost  in  mist  and  darkness.  Spectacles,  besides,  thou  must 
always  use,  but  only  beware  lest  thou  get  them  constructed  by  the  first 
casual  glass-grinder,  and  fixed  upon  thy  nose. 


§  XL. — Formal  distinction  between  Scriptural  and  Ecclesiastical  Doctrine. 

If  we  have  hitherto  shown  that,  conformably  to  the  principles  of 
Catholics,  the  doctrine  of  Scripture  is  one  and  the  same  with  the  doc- 
trine of  the  Church,  since  the  Church  hath  to  interpret  the  Scripture, 
and  in  this  interpretation  cannot  err  ;  so  this  unity  applies  to  the  sub- 
stance only,  and  not  to  the  form.  In  respect  to  the  latter,  a  diversity 
is  found  inherent  in  the  very  essence  and  object  of  the  Church  ;  so 
that,  indeed,  if  the  divine  truth  must  be  preserved  and  propagated  by- 
human  organs,  the  diversity  we  speak  of  could  not  possibly  be  avoided, 
as  will  appear  from  the  following  observations.  The  conduct  of  the 
Redeemer,  in  the  announcement  of  His  Word,  was  corresponded  to  by 
that  of  the  apostles,  and  the  Word  became  immediately  in  them  faith 
— a  human  possession — and  after  his  ascension,  existed  for  the  world  in 
no  other  form  than  in  this  faith  of  the  Lord's  disciples,  whose  kernel  in 
Peter  he  therefore  called  the  rock,  whereon  his  Church  was,  in  such  a 
way,  to  be  built,  that  the  powers  of  hell  should  never  prevail  against  it. 
But,  after  the  Divine  Word  had  become  human  faith,  it  must  be  subject 
to  all  mere  human  destinies.     It  must  be   constantly  received  by  all 


the  writings  of  IrenEUs  and  TertuUian,  that  the  most  simple  and  fundamental  doc- 
trines of  Christianity  couUl  not  even  be  established  by  Scripture.  Then  he  proceeds 
farther  (p.    128.)     "Veteres  damnaverunt   Samosatenum  et  dcinde  Arium.     Judex 

erat  verbum  Dei,  id  est,  testimonia  ex  Evangelio quce  convincunt  non  calumniose 

judicantem."  Certainly,  and  the  judges  of  doctrine  at  the  Council  of  Nice  were 
j'ncapable  of  convincing,  out  of  Holy  Writ,  the  Arians  of  their  error,  precisely  be- 
cause these  were  the  "  ealumniose  judicantcsJ' 


BETWEEN  CATHOLICS  AND  PROTESTANTS.  361 

the  energies  of  the  human  mind,  and  imbibed  by  the  same.  The  pre- 
servation and  communication  of  the  Word  were,  in  like  manner,  at- 
tached to  a  human  method.  Even  with  the  evangehsts,  who  only- 
wished  to  recount  what  Christ  had  spoken,  wrought,  and  suffered,  the 
Divine  Word  appears  subject  to  the  law  here  described ;  a  law  which 
manifests  itself  in  the  choice  and  arrangement  of  the  matter,  as  well  as 
in  the  special  plan,  which  each  proposed  to  himself,  and  in  the  general 
conception  and  execution  of  his  task. 

But,  the  Divine  Word  became  still  more  subject  to  this  law,  when 
the  apostles  were  fulfilling  their  mission — executing  the  divine  charge, 
which  they  had  received  ;  for,  various  questions  of  dispute  arose,  the 
settlement  whereof  could  not  be  avoided,  and  on  that  account  claimed 
human  reflection,  and  required  the  formation  of  notions,  judgments, 
and  conclusions — things  which  were  not  possible  to  be  effected,  without 
tasking  the  reason  and  the  understanding.  The  application  of  the 
energies  of  the  human  mind  to  the  subject-matter,  received  from  the 
Lord,  necessarily  caused  the  Divine  Word,  on  one  hand,  to  be  analyzed, 
and,  on  the  other  hand,  to  be  reduced  to  certain  leading  points  ;  and  the 
multiplicity  of  objects  to  be  contemplated  in  their  mutual  bearings,  and 
resolved  into  a  higher  unity,  whereby  the  human  mind  obtained,  on 
these  matters,  greater  clearness  and  definiteness  of  conception.  For, 
every  thing,  that  the  human  mind  hath  received  from  an  external 
source,  and  which  is  destined  to  become  its  property,  wherein  it  must 
find  itself  perfectly  at  home,  must  first  be  reproduced  by  the  human 
mind  itself.  The  original  doctrine,  as  the  human  mind  had  variously 
elaborated  it,  exhibited  itself  in  a  much  altered  form  ;  it  remained  the 
original,  and  yet  did  not ;  it  was  the  same  in  the  substance,  and  yet 
differed  as  to  form.  In  this  process  of  the  development  of  the  Divine 
Word,  during  the  apostolic  age,  we  may  exalt  as  high,  and  extend  as 
wide  as  we  please  the  divine  guidance,  given  to  the  disciples  of  Christ ; 
yet  certainly,  without  human  co-operation,  without  the  peculiar  activity 
of  man,  it  did  not  advance  of  itself.  As  in  the  good  work  of  the 
Christian,  free-will  and  grace  pervade  each  other,  and  one  and  the 
same  undivided  deed  is  at  once  divine  and  human,  so  we  find  this  to 
be  the  case  here. 

The  same  could  not  fail  to  hold  good,  even  after  the  death  of  the 
apostles,  even  after  the  Gospels  and  the  Epistles  were  written  ;  and 
whatever  else  we  include  in  the  canon  of  the  New  Testament,  were 
already  in  the  hands  of  the  faithful.  When,  in  the  manner  described, 
the  Church  explains  and  secures  the  original  doctrine  of  faith  against 
misrepresentations,  the  apostolic  expression  is  necessarily  changed  for 
another,  which  is  the  most  fitted  alike  clearly  to  set  forth  and  reject 


362  EXPOSITION  OF  DOCTRINAL  DIFFERENCES 

the  particular  error  of  the  time.  As  little  as  the  apostles  themselves,  in 
the  course  of  their  polemics,  could  retain  the  form,  wherein  the  Saviour 
expounded  his  divine  doctrine;  so  little  was  the  Church  enabled  to 
adhere  to  the  same.  If  the  evangelical  doctrine  be  assailed  by  a  de- 
finite theological  system,  and  a  terminology  peculiar  to  itself;  the  false 
notions  cannot  by  any  means  be  repelled  in  a  clear,  distinct,  evident, 
and  intelligible  manner,  unless  the  Church  have  regard  to  the  form  of 
the  error,  and  exhibit  its  thesis  in  a  shape,  qualified  by  the  garb,  wherein 
the  adverse  doctrine  is  invested,  and  thus  render  itself  intelligible  to 
all  contemporaries.  The  origin  of  the  Nicene  formula,  furnishes  the 
best  solution  to  this  question.  This  form  is  in  itself  the  human,  the 
temporal,  the  perishable  element,  and  might  be  exchanged  for  a  hun- 
dred others.  Accordingly,  tradition  often  hands  down  to  later  genera- 
tions, the  original  deposit  in  another  form,  because  that  deposit  hath 
been  entrusted  to  the  care  of  men,  whose  conduct  must  be  guided  by 
the  circumstances  wherein  they  are  placed. 

Lastly,  in  the  same  manner  as  in  the  Apostolic  writings,  the  truths 
of  salvation  are  laid  open  with  greater  clearness,  and  in  all  their  mutual 
organic  connexion  ;  so,  in  the  doctrine  of  the  Church,  the  doctrine  of 
Scripture  is  ever  progressively  unfolded  to  our  view.  Dull,  therefore, 
as  it  is,  to  find  any  other  than  a  mere  formal  distinction,  between  the 
doctrine  of  Christ  and  that  of  his  apostles ;  no  less  senseless  is  it,  to 
discover  any  other  difference,  between  the  primitive  and  the  later  tra- 
dition of  the  Church.  The  blame  of  this  formal  difference  arises  from 
overlooking  the  fact,  that  Christ  was  a  God-Man,  and  wished  to  con- 
tinue working  in  a  manner,  conformable  to  his  two-fold  nature. 

Moreover,  the  deeper  insight  of  the  human  mind  into  the  divine 
revelations  in  Christ,  seems  determined  by  the  struggles  of  error  against 
Christian  truth.  It  is  to  the  unenlightened  zeal  of  the  Jewish  Chris- 
tians for  the  law,  we  owe  the  expositions  of  Paul  touching  faith  and 
the  power  of  the  Gospel  :  and  to  the  schisms  in  Corinth  we  are  indebted 
for  his  explanation  of  principles,  in  respect  to  the  Church.  The  Gnostic 
and  Manichean  errors,  led  to  a  clearer  insight  into  the  character  of 
evil,  destitute  of,  and  opposed  to,  all  existence  as  it  i>,  as  well  as  to  a 
maturer  knowledge  of  the  value  of  God's  original  creation,  (nature  and 
freedom,)  and  its  relation  to  the  new  creation  in  Christ  Jesus.  Out 
of  the  Pelagian  contest  arose  a  fuller  and  more  conscious  recognition 
of  human  infirmity,  in  the  sphere  of  true  virtue;  and  so  have  matters 
gone  on  down  to  our  days.  It  would  be  ridiculous,  on  the  part  of 
Catholics,  to  deny  as  a  foolish  boast  of  Protestants  (should  the  latter 
be  inclined  to  claim  any  merit  in  the  case,)  that  the  former  had  gained 
much  from  the  controversy  with  them.     By  the  fall  of  the  Protestants, 


BETWEEN  CATHOLICS  AND  PROTESTANTS.  363 

the  Catholics  necessarily  rose  ;  and  from  the  obscurity,  which  over 
clouded  the  minds  of  the  reformers,  a  new  light  was  cast  upon  the 
truth  ;  and  such  indeed  had  ever  been  the  case  in  all  earlier  schisms  in 
the  Church.  Assuredly,  in  Christian  knowledge  we  stand  one  degree 
higher  than  the  period  prior  to  the  reformation  ;  and  all  the  dogmas 
that  were  called  in  question,  received  such  an  elucidation  and  con- 
firmation, that  it  would  require  no  very  diligent  or  long-continued 
comparison  between  the  modern  theological  works,  and  those  written 
prior  to  the  Council  of  Trent,  to  see  the  important  difference  which,  in 
this  respect,  exists  between  the  two  epochs. 

The  fact  that  the  deeper  consciousness  of  Christian  truth  (in  itself 
eternally  one  and  unchangeable,)  is  the  result  of  contest  and  struggle, 
and  consequently  matter  of  history,  is  of  too  much  importance  not  to 
detain  our  attention  for  some  moments.  It  explains  the  necessity  of  a 
living,  visible  authority  which,  in  every  dispute,  can,  with  certainty, 
discern  the  truth,  and  separate  it  from  error.  Otherwise,  we  should 
have  only  the  variable — the  disputed — and  at  last  Nichilism  itself. 
Hence  it  happens  (and  this  we  may  venture  to  premise)  that  where 
Holy  Writ,  without  tradition  and  the  authority  of  the  Church,  is  de- 
clared  to  be  the  sole  source  and  rule  for  the  knowledge  of  Gospel 
truth,  all  more  precise  explanations  and  developments  of  Christian 
dogmas  are  willingly  left  in  utter  ignorance,  nay,  are  even  absolutely 
rejected.  Guided  by  this  principle,  men  can  find  no  rational  object  to 
connect  with  the  history  of  believing  intelligence  in  the  Christian 
Church,  and  must  necessarily  evince  hostility  towards  every  thing  of 
this  tendency,  which  hath  occurred  in  the  Church.  Or,  when  they 
lose  all  confidence  and  all  hope  of  freeing  themselves  from  the  turmoil 
of  opinions,  and  of  seeing  a  bright,  steady  light  arise  out  of  the  dark 
chaos,  they  cast,  in  their  despair,  upon  the  Bible  the  whole  mass  of 
opinions,  that  ages  have  thrown  up  ;  and  of  that  which  is,  boldly  assert 
it  could  not  have  been  otherwise,  consequently  exists  of  necessity,  and 
is  inherent  in  the  very  essence  of  Christianity.  They  do  not  see  that, 
with  that  complaisance  to  acknowledge  every  variety  of  opinion,  which, 
in  the  course  of  time,  may  have  gradually  been  founded  on  Scripture, 
a  destructive  principle,  for  the  solution  of  all  the  enigmas  of  Christian 
history,  is  laid  down  : — to  wit,  the  principle  that  its  object  is  to  show, 
that  the  Scripture,  as  it  includes  every  sense,  hath  consequently  none. 
But  all  charges  against  the  Catholic  Church  are  reduced  to  this,  that 
she  has  been  so  absurd,  as  to  suppose  the  Scriptures  to  contain  one 
sense,  and  consequently  only  one,  and  that  definite!  whereof  the  faith- 
ful, in  the  course  of  history,  must  ever  obtain  a  clearer  and  more  in- 
tuitive knowledge  ;  while,    on  the  other   hand,   the  refutation  of  the 


364  EXPOSITION  OF  DOCTRINAL  DIFFERENCE^ 

above-mentioned  prejudice,  which  manifested  itself  soon  after  the  origin 
of  the  Church,  hath  been,  in  the  succession  of  ages,  the  pecuUar  task 
of  Christian  science. 


§  XLI. — Tradition  in  a  more  limited  sense.     The  Canon  of  the  Scriptures. 

From  that  notion  of  tradition,  which  we  have  hitherto  expounded, 
another  is  to  be  distinguished,  although  both  are  intimately  united  with 
each  other.  Tradition  we  have  hitherto  described  as  the  consciousness 
of  the  Church,  as  the  living  word  of  faith,  according  to  which  the 
Scriptures  are  to  be  interpreted,  and  to  be  understood.  The  doctrine 
of  tradition  contains,  in  this  sense,  nothing  else  than  the  doctrine  of 
Scripture ;  both,  as  to  their  contents,  are  one  and  the  same.  But, 
moreover,  it  is  asserted  by  the  Catholic  Church,  that  many  things  have 
been  delivered  to  her  by  the  apostles,  which  Holy  Writ  either  doth  not 
at  all  comprise,  or,  at  most,  but  alludes  to.  This  assertion  of  the  Church 
is  of  the  greatest  moment,  and  partially,  indeed,  includes  the  founda- 
tions of  the  whole  system.*  Among  these  oral  traditions  must  be 
included  the  doctrine  of  the  canonicity,  and  the  inspiration  of  the  Sacred 
Scriptures  ;  for,  in  no  part  of  the  Bible  do  we  find  the  books  belonging 
to  it  designated  ;  and  were  such  a  catalogue  contained  in  it,  its  au- 
thority must  first  be  made  matter  of  inquir)\  In  like  manner,  the 
testimony  as  to  the  inspiration  of  the  biblical  writings  is  obtained  only 
through  the  Church.  It  is  from  this  point  we  first  discern,  in  all  its 
magnitude,  the  vast  importance  of  the  doctrine  of  Church  authority, 
and  can  form  a  notion  of  the  infinite  multitude  of  things,  involved  in 
that  doctrine.  He  can  scarcely  be  a  sincere  Christian,  who  will  not 
attribute  to  a  special  protection  of  Divine  Providence,  the  preservation 
of  the  works  of  those  apostles,  and  of  such  of  their  disciples,  who  have 
made  a  contribution  to  the  biblical  canon.  But,  in  taking  into  con- 
sideration this  special  protection,  he  cannot  set  aside  the  Catholic 
Church,  and  must,  even  in  despite  of  deliberate  repugnance,  admit  that 
it  was  that  Church,  which  the  Saviour  employed  as  a  medium  for  pre- 
serving to  all  ages  the  writings,  that  had  been  penned  under  his  pecu- 
liar assistance.     Every  learned  theologian  is  aware,  that  the  Gnostics 

*  On  that  passage  from  the  Council  of  Trent,  cited  above  (Sess.  iv.  c.  2,)  "  Hanc 
veritatem  et  disciplinam  contincri  in  libris  scriptis  et  sine  scripto  tradltionibus,''  Pal- 
lavicini  remarks  as  follows  :  "  Duo  per  illam  sanctionem  intendit  synodus,  alterum, 
palam  facere,  fidei  Catholicae  fundamenta  non  modo  esse  divinas  literas,  quod  rccen- 
tes  haeretici  pertinacitcr  contcndcbant ;  sed  non  minus  etiam  traditiones,  a  quibus 
deniquc  dependet,  quidquid  ccrti  obtinemus  de  legitima  ipsaruin  scripturarum  aucto- 
ritate." — Lib.  vi.  c.  viii.  n.  7. 


BETWEEN  CATHOLICS  AND  PROTESTANTS.  365 

as  well  as  one  class  of  anti-Trinitarians,  in  the  second  and  third 
centuries,  rejected  sometimes  this  or  that  gospel,  sometimes  the  Acts 
of  the  Apostles,  and  sometimes  the  apostolic  epistles  ;  nay,  even  brought 
forward  spurious  gospels  and  acts  of  the  apostles,  and  mutilated,  in  the 
most  criminal  manner,  the  genuine  apostolic  works,  which  they  re- 
tained. And  yet  no  one  can  refuse  to  acknowledge,  that  the  visible 
Church,  which  these  heretics  assailed,  in  the  same  manner  as  is  usual 
with  Protestants, — the  Church  that  the  former,  like  the  latter,  con- 
tinually denounced  as  the  corruptress  of  pure  doctrine,  as  exerting  a 
tyranny  over  minds,  as  wicked  beyond  conception — that  this  Church, 
we  say,  was  selected  and  deemed  worthy  by  Almighty  God,  to  preserve 
the  most  precious  jewel  of  Christians  !  What  conclusions  may  not 
hence  be  immediately  deduced  !  On  Luther  himself,  as  we  shall  have 
occasion  later  to  see,  this  fact  made  a  deep  impression  ;  and  he  brought 
it  forward  at  times,  in  a  train  of  ideas,  that  can  scarcely  be  reconciled 
with  the  position  which,  in  other  respects,  he  had  taken  up  against  the 
Catholic  Church. 

Moreover,  in  reference  to  the  canon  of  the  sacred  writings,  some 
difference  exists  between  Catholics  and  Protestants.  Originally,  in- 
deed, it  seemed  probable  as  if  in  this  department  very  important  dif- 
ferences would  have  arisen  ;  as  if  the  melancholy  spectacle  of  the  first 
ages  would  have  been  renewed,  in  which,  according  to  the  suggestions 
of  caprice,  or  the  interest  of  mere  individual  opinions,  sometimes  one, 
sometimes  another  portion  of  the  Bible  was  rejected.  It  is  generally 
known  (and  indeed  in  Berthold's  and  De  Wette's  Introductions  to  the 
Sacred  Books,  the  reader  may  in  part  see  the  passages  on  this  matter 
cited  from  Luther,)  that  the  Reformer  called  the  Epistle  of  St.  James  an 
epistle  of  straw,  and  was  not  disposed  to  acknowledge  it  as  an  apostolic 
production  :  judged  not  more  favourably  of  the  Revelations  of  St.  John, 
and  was  wont  to  say  of  the  first  three  Gospels,  that  in  them  the  Gospel 
was  not  to  be  found  ;  whereas  the  Gospel  of  St.  John,  the  Acts  of  the 
Apostles,  and  the  Epistles  of  St.  Paul,  he  exalted  in  peculiar  strains 
of  eulogy.  In  this  matter,  the  opposition  between  St.  James's  doctrine, 
on  the  relation  between  faith  and  works,  and  Luther's  exposition  of  the 
same  subject,  exerted  an  undeniable  influence.  Luther  preferred  the 
rejection  of  this  valuable  portion  of  Holy  Writ,  to  the  amendment  of 
his  own  opinions,  and  chose  rather  to  question  the  genuineness  of  a 
canonical  Scripture,  than  to  doubt  the  truth  of  his  own  theory.  As- 
suredly, if  in  the  otherwise  obscure  apocalypse,  there  had  not  been 
found  passages  of  extreme  clearness,  like  the  following :  "  Happy  are 
they  who  sleep  in  the  Lord,  for  their  works  follow  them ;"  Luther 
would  have  found  less   to  offend  him  in  this  book.     The  remarkable 


366  EXPOSITION  OF  DOCTRINAL   DIFFERENCES 

expression,  "  that  in  the  Gospels  the  Gospel  is  not  contained,"  may  b€ 
explained  from  what  has  been  said  above,  respecting  the  signification, 
which  the  old  Lutherans  attached  to  the  word  Gospel.  Luther's  pre- 
judices, however,  were  not  able  to  obscure  the  sounder  sense  of  his 
followers  ;  and  so  it  came  to  pass,  that  they,  as  well  as  the  Calvinists, 
admitted  with  the  Catholic  Church,  the  entire  books  of  the  New  Testa- 
ment to  be  canonical.  But,  in  regard  to  the  Old  Testament,  doctrinal 
prejudices  prevailed;  and  those  Scriptures,  which  the  Catholics  call  the 
deutero-canonical,*  were  gradually  expunged  from  the  Canon,  yet  more 
decidedly  on  the  part  of  the  Calvinists,  than  of  the  Lutherans.  Among 
the  modern  Protestants,  Clausen,  at  least,  has  not  denied,  that  in  this 
matter  regard  was  paid  to  other  considerations,  than  those  of  a  merely 
historical  and  critical  kind. 

§  xLii. —  On  the  relation  of  the  Ecclesiastical  Interpretation  of  Holy  Writ  to  the 
learned  and  scientific  exegesis.     Patristic  authority  and  free  investigation. 

As  the  notion  of  doctrinal  tradition,f  and  of  the  ecclesiastical  inter- 
pretation of  Holy  Writ,  has  been  now  fully  unfolded,  it  is  necessary,  in 
order  to  obviate  some  singular  misconceptions,  to  state,  in  a  few  words, 
the  relation  between  the  learned  exegesis  as  applied  to  the  sacred  writ- 
ings, and  that  interpretation  which  emanates  from  the  Church.  The 
interpretation  of  the  Church  does  not  descend  to  the  details,  which 


*  In  the  decree  of  the  Council  of  Trent  on  the  canonical  Scriptures,  Sess.  iv.  the 
following  is  the  catalogue  of  the  Old  Testament  Scriptures :  "  Sunt  infrascripti : 
Tcstamenti  veteris,  quinque  Moysis,  id  est,  Genesis,  Exodus,  Leviticus,  Numeri, 
Deuteronomluni  :  Josue,  Judicum,  Ruth,  quatuor  Reguni,  duo  Paralipomenon,  Esdra 
primus  etsecundus,  qui  dicitur  Nehemias,  Tobias,  Judith,  Hester,  Job,  Psalterium 
Davidicum  centum  quinquaginta  psalmorum,  Parabolas,  Ecclesiastcs,  Canticum  Can. 
ticorum,  Sapientia,  Ecclesiasticus,  Isaias,  Hieremias  cum  Baruch,  Ezechiel,  Daniel, 
duodLcim  Prophetae  minores,  id  est,  Osea,  Joel,  Amos,  Abdias,  Jonas,  Micheas, 
Naum,  Abacuc,  Sophonias,  Aggseus,  Zacharias,  Malachias,  duo  Machabaeorum 
primus  et  secundus." 

The  French  Protestant  confession  of  faith,  called  the  Galilean  Confession,  1.  c.  p. 
Ill,  gives  the  following  canon  of  the  writings  of  the  Old  Testament:  "Quinque 
libri  Maysis,  nompe  ....  Josue,  Judices,  Ruth,  Samuclis  1.  2,  Regum  1.  2,  Chroni- 
con,  sive  Paralipomenon  1.  2,  Esdree  lib.  i,  Nehemias,  Ester,  Job,  Psalmi,  Prover- 
bia,  Ecclesiastcs,  Canticum  Canticorum,  Esaias,  Jeremias  cum  Lament.,  Ezechiel, 
Daniel,  Minores  Prophetse  12  nempe."  There  are  here  wanting  Tobias,  Judith, 
Baruch,  Sapientia,  Ecclesiasticus,  MachabEeorum  primus  et  secundus. 


N.  B.  The  Scriptural  canon  of  the  Anglican  Church  is  the  same  with  that  of  the 
French  Protestants  as  here  given. — Trans. 

t  We  do  not  speak  here  of  disciplinary,  liturgical,  and  other  kinds  of  tradition. 


BETWEEN  CATHOLICS  AND  PROTESTANTS.  367 

must  claim  the  attention  of  the  scientific  exegetist.  Thus,  for  example, 
it  does  not  hold  it  for  a  duty,  nor  include  it  in  the  compass  of  its  rights, 
to  determine  when,  by  whom,  and  for  what  object  the  Book  of  Job  was 
written  ;  or  what  particular  mducement  engaged  St.  John  to  publish 
his  gospel,  or  the  Apostle  Paul  to  address  an  epistle  to  the  Romans  ; 
in  what  order  of  time  the  epistles  of  this  messenger  of  the  Lord  followed 
each  other,  &c.  &c.  As  little  doth  the  Church  explain  particular  words 
and  verses,  their  bearings  one  to  the  other,  or  the  connexion  existing 
between  larger  portions  of  a  sacred  book.  Antiquities,  in  the  widest 
sense  of  the  word,  fall  not  within  the  domain  of  her  interpretation ;  in 
short,  that  interpretation  extends  only  to  doctrines  of  faith  and  morals. 
Thus  much  as  to  the  extent  of  her  interpretation. 

But  now  as  to  the  nature  and  mode  of  the  Church's  interpretation ; 
this  is  not  conducted  according  to  the  rules  and  well-known  aids  of  an 
historical  and  grammatical  exegesis,  whereby  the  individual  seeks  to 
obtain  scientific  insight  into  the  sense  of  Holy  Writ.     On  the  contrary,  ' 
the  doctrinal  contents  of  Scripture  she  designates  in  the  general  spirit 
of  Scripture.     Hence,   the  earliest  oecumenical  councils  did  not  even 
adduce  any  particular  scriptural  texts,  in  support  of  their  dogmatic  de- 
crees ;  and  Catholic  theologians  teach  with  general  concurrence,  and 
quite  in  the  spirit  of  the  Church,  that  even  a  Scriptural  proof  in  favour 
of  a  decree  held  to  be  infallible,  is  not  itself  infallible,  but  only  the  dog- 
ma as  defined.     The  deepest  reason  for  this  conduct  of  the  Cnuich, 
lies  in  the  indisputable  truth,  that  she  was  not  founded  by  Holy  Writ, 
but  already  existed  before  its  several  parts  appeared.     The  certainty 
which  she  has  of  the  truth  of  her  own  doctrines,  is  an  immediate  one, 
for  she  received  her  dogmas  from  the  lips  of  Christ  and  the  apostles  ; 
and  by  the  power  of  tlie  Divine  Spirit,   they  are  indelibly  stamped  on 
her  consciousness,   or  as  Irenaeus  expresses  it,  on  her  heart.     It  the 
Church  were  to  endeavour,  by  learned  investigation,  to  seek  her  doc- 
trines, she  would  fall  into  the  most  absurd  inconsistency,  and  annihilate 
her  very  self.     For,  as  it  would  be  the  Church  that  should  institute  the 
inquiry,  her  existence  would   be  presu4)posed  ;  and  yet,  as  she  would 
have  lirst  to  tind  out  her  own  being,   the  thing,  whereby  and  wherein 
she  absolutely  consists,  namely.  Divine  Truth,  her  non-existence  must 
at  the  same  time  be  presupposed  !     She  would  have  to  go  in  search  of 
herself,  and  this  a  madman  only  could  do :  she  would  be  like  the  man, 
that  would  examine  the  papers  written  by  himself,  in  order  to  discover 
whether  he  really  existed  !     The  essential  matter  of  Holy  Writ,  is  eter- 
nally present  in  the  Cliurch,  because  it  is  her  heart's-blood — her  breath 
■ — her  soul — her  all.     She  exists  only  by  Christ,  and  yet  she  must  have 
to  find  him  out !     Whoever  seriously  reflects   on   the  signification  of 


368  EXPOSITION  OF  DOCTRINAL  DIFFERENCES 

those  words  of  Christ,  "  I  am  with  ye  even  to  the  consummation  of  the 
world/'  will  be  able  to  conceive  at  least  the  view,  which  the  Catholic 
Church  takes  of  herself. 

What  wc  have  said  involves  the  limits  prescribed  to  the  freedom  of 
the  Catholic  scholar,  in  the  interpretation  of  Holy  Writ.  It  is  evident, 
of  course,  that  we  speak  not  here  of  that  general  freedom  possessed  by 
every  man,  at  the  peril  of  his  own  soul,  like  the  Jew  and  the  Heathen, 
to  hold  the  Bible  as  the  work  of  impostors  or  dupes,  as  a  medley  of 
truth  and  error,  wisdom  and  folly.  This  freedom  the  Catholic  pos- 
sesses, like  the  Protestant ;  but  we  speak  of  that  freedom  only  which 
the  Catholic  enjoys,  when  he  v.ill  not  renounce  his  character  as  Catho- 
lic :  for  were  he  to  entertain  the  above-mentioned  view  of  the  Sacred 
Scriptures,  he  would  thereby  renounce  all  connexion  with  our  Church. 
As  a  Catholic,  he  is  freely  convinced,  that  the  Church  is  a  divine  insti- 
tution, upheld  by  supernal  aid,  "which  leads  her  into  all  truth;"  that, 
consequently,  no  doctrine  rejected  by  her  is  contained  in  Scripture ; 
that  with  the  latter,  on  the  contrary,  her  dogmas  perfectly  coincide, 
though  many  particulars  may  not  be  verbally  set  forth  in  Holy  Writ. 
Accordingly  he  has  the  conviction,  that  the  Scripture,  for  example,  doth 
not  teach  that  Christ  is  a  mere  man  ;  nay,  he  is  certain,  that  it  repre- 
sents him  also  as  God.  Inasmuch  as  he  professes  this  belief,  he  is  not 
free  to  profess  the  contrary,  for  he  would  contradict  himself;  in  the 
same  way  as  a  man,  who  has  resolved  to  remain  chaste,  cannot  be  un- 
chaste, without  violating  his  resolution.  To  this  restriction,  which 
every  one  most  probably  will  consider  rational,  the  Catholic  Church 
subjects  her  members,  and  consequently,  also,  the  learned  exegetists  of 
Scripture.  A  Church  which  would  authorize  any  one  to  find  what  he 
pleased  in  Scripture,  and  without  any  foundation  to  declare  it  as  unec- 
clesiastical,  such  a  Church  would  thereby  declare,  that  it  believed  in 
nothing,  and  wa^  devoid  of  all  doctrines  ;  for  the  mere  possession  of  the 
Bible,  no  more  constitutes  a  Church,  than  the  possession  of  the  faculty 
of  reason  renders  any  one  really  rational.  Such  a  Church  would  in 
fact,  as  a  moral  entity,  exhibit  the  contradiction  just  adverted  to,  which 
a  physical  being  could  not  be  guilty  of.  The  individual  cannot  at  one 
and  the  same  time  believe,  and  not  believe,  a  particular  point  of  doc- 
trine. But  if  a  Church,  which  consists  of  a  union  of  many  individuals, 
permitted  every  member,  as  such,  to  receive  or  to  reject  at  his  pleasure, 
any  article  of  faith,  it  would  fall  into  this  very  contradiction,  and  would 
be  a  monster  of  unbelief,  indifferent  to  the  most  opposite  doctrines, 
which  we  might,  indeed,  on  our  behalf,  honour  with  the  finest  epithets, 
but  certainly  not  denominate  a  Church.  The  Church  must  train  up 
souls  for  the  kingdom  of  God,  which  is  founded  on  definite  facts  and 


■^Et'WEEN  CATHOLICS  AND  PROTESTANTS.  369 

HrUths,  that  are  eternally  unchangeable :  and  so  a  Church,  that  knows 
no  such  immutable  dogmas,  is  like  to  a  teacher,  that  knows  not  what 
%e  should  teach.  The  Church  has  to  stamp  the  image  of  Christ  on 
^umarnty  ;  but  Christ  is  not  sometimes  this,  and  sometimes  that,  but 
eternally  the  same.  She  has  to  breathe  into  the  hearts  of  men  the 
word  of  God,  that  came  down  from  heaven  :  but  this  word  is  no  vao-ue, 
empty  sound,  whereof  we  can  make  what  we  will. 

That,  accordingly,  the  principles  of  the  Catholic  Church  agree  with 
'the  idea  of  a  positive  Church,  and  the  claim  is  but  natural,  which  she 
exacts  of  her  members,  to  recognize  in  the  Bible,  vv  hen  they  make  it 
'the  subject  of  a  learned  exegesis,  those  doctrines  of  faith  and  morality, 
which  they  themselves  acknowledge  to  be  biblical,  we  trust  we  have 
now  made  sufficiently  evident.  In  other  respects,  no  one  belonging  to 
the  Catholic  Church  professes  aught  else,  than  her  doctrines  of  faith 
and  morality.  For,  in  this  respect  only,  she  expresses  the  sense  of 
Holy  Writ,  and  indeed  only  in  a  general  way ;  so  that  the  learned  ex- 
positor, by  the  laws  of  his  religious  community,  is  bound  to  nothing 
more ;  and  a  wide  field  is  ever  open  to  him,  whereon  he  may  exert  his 
talents,  his  hermeneutical  skill,  his  philological  and  archasological  learn- 
ing, and  employ  tnem  usefully  for  the  advancement  of  science. 

But,  if  we  should  be  reminded  of  the  decree  of  the  Council  of  Trent, 
\vhich  directs  the  Catholic  to  interpret  the  Scripture,  according  to  the 
unanimous  testimony  of  the  holy  fathers,*  how  can  we  escape  the  re- 
proach, that  an  absolutely  sacred  exegesis  hath  existed  for  centuries^, 
and  that  consequently  all  idea  of  progress  in  the  understanding  of  the 
Bible  must  be  given  up  ?  Before  we  lay  down  the  Catholic  view  of 
this  subject,  it  may  be  proper  to  state,  with  the  utmost  succinctness, 
the  relation  of  patristic  authority  to  learned  investigation.  Wlioever 
takes  the  pains  to  study  the  writings  of  the  holy  fathers,  may  without 
much  penetration  discover,  that  while  agreeing  perfectly  on  all  ecclesi- 
astical  dogmas,  they  yet  expatiate  most  variously  on  the  doctrines  of 
Christian  faith  and  morality.  The  mode  and  form,  wherein  they  appro- 
priate the  one  Gospel  to  themselves,  demonstrate  its  truth  to  others, 
develope  it  in  their  own  interior,  and  philosophize  and  speculate  upon 
its  doctrines,  most  strikingly  evince  the  individuality  of  each  writer. 
One  manifests  a  deeper,  the  other  a  clearer  and  acuter  view  of  his  sub- 
ject ;  one  turns  this,  the  other  that  talent  to  profit.  While  now  all 
Catholics  gladly  profess  the  same  dogmas  with  the  fathers  of  the 
Church,  the  individual  opinions,  the  mere  human  views  of  the  latter, 

*  Cone.  Trid.  Sess.  iv,  decret.  de  edit,  et  usd  sacror.  libror.     "  Ut  nemo  ....  con:. 
*;ra  unanimen  consensum  Fatrum  ipsam  Scripturam  sacram  interpretari  audeat." 
34 


370  EXPOSITION  OF  DOCTRINAL  DIFFERENCES 

possess  in  their  estimation  no  further  value,  but  as  they  present  resi" 
sonable  grounds  for  acceptance,  or  as  any  pccuHar  affinity  of  mind  may 
exist  between  one  father  of  the  Church,  and  a  Catholic  of  a  subsequent 
age.  These  principles,  at  all  periods  of  the  Church,  were  openly  pro- 
fessed, and  brought  into  practice.  Never  did  any  father,  not  even  the 
most  revered,  succeed  in  imposing  his  own  peculiar  opinions  on  the 
Church  ;  as  of  this  fact,  St.  Augustine  furnishes  a  remarkable  proof* 
What  writer  ever  acquired  greater  authority  than  he  ?  Yet,  his  theory 
respecting  original  sin  and  grace,  never  became  the  doctrine  of  the 
Church  ;  and  herein  precisely  he  showed  himself  a  good  Cathohc,  that 
he  gave  us  the  permission  to  examine  his  private  opinions,*  and  to  re- 


*  Aoofustin.  contra  Faustum  Manich.  lib.  ii,  c.  5.  "Id  genus  literarum,  quce  non 
prcecipiendi  auctoriiate,  sed  proficiendi  exercitatione  scribuntur  a  nobis,  non  cum 
credcndi  necessitate  ;  sed  cum  judicandi  libertale  legendum  est  ;  cui  tamen  ne  inter- 
cluderetur  locus  et  adiinerelur  postens  ad  qua;stioncs  difficiies  tractandas,  atque  ver- 
sandas,  Lingua  ac  siili  saluberrimus  laljor,  distineta  tst  a  postcrioribus  libris  excel- 
lentia  canonicae  auctoritatis  V  et  N.  Ttstamenti  quse  apostolorum  confirnriata  tcm- 
poribus,  per  succcssiones  episcoporum  et  prnpagationes  ccclesiarum  tanquam  in  sede 
qu^dam  sublimiter  conslituta  est,  cui  serviat  omnia  fidelis  et  pius  intellectus.  Ibi  si 
quid  velut  absurdum  novcrit,  non  licet  dicere,  auctor  hujus  libri  non  tenuit  veritatem  : 
sed,  aut  codex  mendosus  est,  aut  Lntcrpies  enavit,  aut  tu  non  intelligis.  In  opuscu- 
lis  autcm  postcriorum,  quae  Iibris  innumerabilibus  contincntur.  sed  nullo  modo  illi 
sacratissimse  canonicarum  scripturarum  excellentiae  coaequnntur,  etiain  in  qiiibus- 
cunque  coram  invcnitur  eadcra  Veritas,  longe  tamen  est  imparauctoritas,  Itaque  in 
eis,  si  qua  forte  propterea  dissonare  putantur  a  vero,  quia  non  ut  dicta  sunt  mtelligun- 
tur;  tamen  liberum  ibi  habct  lector  auditorve  judicium,  quo  vel  approbet,  quod  pla. 
cuerit,  vel  improbat  quod  offenderit.  Et  ideo  cunctaejusmodi,  nisi  vcl  certa  ratione, 
vel  ex  ilia  canonica  aucloritate  defendantur,  ut  demonstrctur  sive  omaino  ila  esse, 
sive  fieri  potuisse,  quod  ibi  disputatum  est,  vel  narralum  :  si  cui  displicucrit,  aut  ere- 
dere  noluerit,  non  reprchcndiiur.  In  ilia  vero  canonica  cminentia  ss.  literarum, 
etiamsi  unus  propheta,  suu  apostolus,  aut  evangelista,  aliquid  in  suis  literis  posuisse 
ipsa  canonis  con firmatione  declaratur,  non  licet  dubitarc  quod  verum  sit:  alioquin 
nulla  erit  pagina,  qua  humaiiiB  imperiliiE  regatur  infirmitas,  si  librorum  salubcrrinia 
aactoritas  aut  conlemla  penitus  aboletur,  aut  interminata  confundilur."  Thomas 
Aquin.  Sum.  tot.  theulog.  P.  i.  q.  1,  art.  8,  edit.  Caj.  Lugd.  1580,  p.  10.  "  Auctori. 
tatibus  canonica;  scripiura;  ulitur  ("sacra  doctrina)  propria  ex  necessitate  argumen- 
tando  :  aucloritatibus  autcm  aliorum  doctorum  ecclesiae  quasi  arguendo  ex  propriis, 
sed  probabiliter.  Innililur  enim  fides  nostra  revelation!  apostolis  et  prophelis  factae, 
qui  canonicos  libros  scripserc,  non  autcm  rcveiationi,siqua  tuit  aliis  ducturibus  facta." 
Unde  dicit  Augustiiius  in  tpistula  ad  Hicronjmum  (xix  :)  "  Solis  enim  scripturarum 
libris,  qui  canonici  appellantar,  didici  hunc  honorem  deferre,  ut  nullum  auctorcm 
eorum  in  scribendo  errasse  aliqui<l  firmissime  credam.  Alios  autem  ita  lego,  ut 
quantalibet  sanctitate  doctnnaque  prajpoUeant,  non  ideo  vero  putcm,  quod  ipsi  ila 
senscrunt  vel  scnpserunt " 

Catholics  distinguish  very  well  between  the  testimony  of  the  father  of  the  Church, 
as  to  the  uoiversiii  beUef  of  his  time,  and  his  own  philosophy  or  theological  specula- 


BETWEEN  CATHOLICS  AND  PROTESTANTS.  371 

tain  only  what  was  sound.  Moreover,  the  expression,  "  doctrine  of  the 
fathers,"  is  frequently  synonymous  with  tradition  :  in  this  sense  they 
are  considered  as  representatives  of  the  faith  of  antiquity — as  channels 
and  witnesses  of  transmitted  doctrine ;  but  by  no  means  so  when,  upon 
a  thousand  subjects,  they  lay  before  us  their  own  peculiar  views  and 
speculations.  From  this  point  of  view,  where  they  do  not  speak,  hut 
through  them  the  belief  of  the  universal  Church  is  made  Icnown.  they  pos- 
sess, undoubtedly,  a  decisive  authority  : — an  authority,  however,  which 
belongs  not  to  their  persons,  but  to  the  tradition  whereby  they  themselves 
were  regulated,  and  which  they  only  reflect.  In  this  respect,  we  must 
needs  agree  with  them,  because  one  doctrine  of  faith  hath  subsisted,  and 
must  subsist,  through  the  whole  history  of  the  Church.  We  will  not 
and  cannot  believe  otherwise,  than  as  our  fathers  have  believed  ;  but 
as  to  their  pecuUarities  of  opinion,  wo  may  adopt  them  or  not,  as  we 
please.  Besides,  the  truth,  which  we  possess  in  common  with  them, 
has,  as  we  have  already  elsewhere  had  occasion  to  observe,  by  means 
of  the  splendid  intellects,  which  devoted  their  undivided  energy  to  its 
defence,  bsen  often  more  deeply  investigated,  or  contemplated  in  all  its 
bearings,  and  viewed  in  a  more  general  connexion  ;  so  that  Chrisiian 
science  makes  continual  progress,  and  the  mysteries  of  God  are  ever 
more  clearly  unfolded.  For,  this  subjective  insight  into  the  doctrines  of 
salvation,  eternally  immutable  in  themselves,  the  fathers  of  the  Cliurch 
have  by  no  means  laid  down  the  standard,  nor  prescribed  any  pau&e  in 
the  progress  of  inquiry.* 


tlons.  In  the  latter  respect,  the  views  of  the  fathers  are  considered  by  us  as  mere 
views,  and  if  all  were  to  concur  in  the  samy  view,  that  concurrence  would  never  con. 
stitute  a  dogma.  Melchior  Canus  (loc.  theol.  lib  vii.  c  3,  p.  4'2^)  observes  :  "  Sane- 
torum  auctoritas,  sive  paucorum,  sive  plurium,  cum  ad  eas  facultates  afFertur,  quee 
nalurali  lamine  contincntur,  certa  argumenta  non  supped. tat ;  sed  tantum  pollet, 
quantum  ratio  natur,E  consL'Dtanca  persuasciit."  P.  43"J,  he  continues;  "Omnium 
ctiam  sanctorum  auctoritas  in  eo  genere  qusesdonum,  quas  ad  fit  em  diximiis  minime 
pertiiiere,  fidem  quidem  probabilem  facit .  ccrtam  non  facit."  Canus  here  means, 
as  is  clear  from  the  development  of  his  proposition,  inquiries  which  have  reference  to 
doctrines  of  faith.  At  page  43  ),  he  subjoins  :  "  Auctores  canuniri,  ut  superni,  ccb. 
testes,  divini  purpetuam  stabiiemque  constantiam  servant,  reliqui  vero  scriptores 
sancti  inferiores  et  humani  sunt,  dt-ficiuntque  interdum  ac  moustrum  quandoque 
pariunt,  prater  convenientcm  ordlnem  institutumque  naturae.'' 

*  St.  Vincant  Lerinensls  expresses  himself  on  this  subject  with  incomparable  beau- 
ty and  truth.  "  Esto  spiritualis  tabernaculi  Beseleel  (Exod  xxxi.  2)  pretiosas  divini 
dogmatis  gemmas  exsculpe,  fidelitcr  coapta,  adoma  sapientir,  adjice  splciidoreni, 
gratiam,  venustatem.  Iritelligctur,  te  exponente,  illustrius,  quod  ante  obscurius  ere. 
dcbatur.  Per  te  poste-itas  mtelloctum  gratuletur,  quid  ante  vetustas  non  intellec 
turn  venerabatur.     Eadem  tamen,  que  didicisti,  doce  :  ut,  cu.ii  dicas  nove,  non 


37-2  EXPOSITION  OF  DOCTRINAL  DIFFERENCES 

The  same  principle  holds  good,  with  regard  to  thoir  interpretation  of 
Scripture.  Except  in  the  explanation  of  a  very  few  classical  passages, 
we  know  not  where  we  shall  meet  with  a  general  uniformity  of  Scrip- 
tural interpretation  among  the  fathers,  further  than  that  all  deduce  from 
the  sacred  writings,  the  same  doctrines  of  faith  and  morality,  yet  each 
in  his  own  peculiar  manner ;  so  that  some  remain  for  all  times  distin- 
guished models  of  Scriptural  exposition,  others  rise  not  above  medio- 
crity, while  others  again  are,  merely  by  their  good  intentions  and  theif 
love  for  the  Saviour,  entitled  to  veneration.  As  in  this  manner,  among 
the  fathers  themselves,  one  is  superior  to  the  other,  and  by  his  exege- 
tical  tact,  by  the  acuteness  and  delicacy  of  his  perceptions,  by  an  intel- 
lectual affinity  with  the  writer  expounded,  by  the  extent  of  the  philo- 
logical and  historical  knowledge  brought  to  the  task  of  interpretation? 
holds  a  higher  place  ;  so  this  may  and  will  be  the  case  in  all  ages.  The 
same  dogmas,  the  same  morality,  all  like  the  fathers,  will  find  in  Holy 
Writ ;  yet  in  another  way  :  we  will  bring  forward  the  same  things,  but 
often  not  in  the  same  manner.  More  extensive  philological  acquire- 
ments, and  the  more  abundant  aids  of  every  kind,  which  modern  times 
furnish,  enable  us,  without  in  the  least  degree  deviating  from  the  unani- 
mous interpretation  of  the  fathers,  to  explain  many  things  in  a  better" 


,  djcas  nova."  c.  xxviii. :  "  Sed  forsitan  dicit  aliquis :  nullusne  ergo  in  ecclesi^Christi 
profectus  ?  Habeatur  plane  et  maximus.  Nam  quia  il!e  est  tam  invidus  hominibus, 
tam  exosus  Deo,  qui  illud  prohibere  conetur  ?  Sed  ita  tamen,  ut  vere  profectus  sit 
illefidei,  non  permuiatio.  Siquidem  ad  profectwn  pertinet,  ut  in  semet  ipsa  una^ 
quaquc  res  aniplificetur,  ad  pcrmutationem  vcro,  ut  aliquid  ex  alio  in  aliud  transver- 
tatur.  Crescat  igitur  oportct,  ct  multuni  vchementcrque  proficiat  tam  singulornm, 
qnam  omnium,  tam  unius  hominis,  quam  totius  ecclesisB  petatum  ac  sseculorum  gra- 
dibus  intcUigentia,  scientia,  sapientia ;  sed  in  suo  duntaxat  genere,  in  eodum  scilicet 
dogmate,  eodem  sensd,  ea,dcmque  sententiS.."  c  xxix. :  "  Imitetur  aniniarum  reli- 
gio  rationcra  corporum  ;  qua;  licet  annorum  processti  numcros  suos  evolvant,  et  ex- 
plicent,  eadcm  tamcn,  quae  erant,  permanent.  Multum  interest  inter  pueritias 
florem  et  scnectutis  maturitatem  ;  sed  iidem  tamen  ipsi  fiunt  senes,  quifuerant 
adolc»centes  ;  ut  quamvis  unius  cjusdem  hominis  status  babitusque  mutetur,  una  ta- 
men nihilominua,  eademquc  natura,  una  eademque  persona  sit,"  etc.  Commonito- 
rium,  ed.  Kliipfel.Vienn.  1809,  c.  xxvii.  p.  199  :  "  This  explanation  of  St.  Vincent 
was  occasioned  by  ili<3  Manicheans,  who,  as  we  gather  from  St.  Augustine's  works, 
De  utilitate  credendi,  De  vera  religione,  Contra  Faustuvi,  &c.,  brought  up  the  old 
Gnostic  charge  against  Catholics,  that  they  were  under  a  religious  tyranny,  that 
among  them  was  found  no  independent  inquiry  into  doctrine,  and  no  progress  in 
knowledge.  How  desirable  it  were,  that  we  could  everywhere  find  such  clear  no- 
tions of  the  progressive  development  of  Christian  dogmas,  as  are  here  advanced  by 
Vincentius  !  Now  we  think  we  have  m-tdc  a  progress  in  Christian  knowledge,  when 
we  deny  Christ  to  be  what  he  declared  himself  to  be  I" 


BETWEEN  CATHOLICS  AND  PROTESTANTS.  373 

and  more  solid  manner  than  they  did.*     The  better  Catholic  cxcgists 
since  the  reformation,  from  Tliomas  de  Vio,  Contareni,  Sadoletus,  Ma- 


*  Cardinal  Cajetan,  in  the  Preface  to  his  Exposition  of  Genesis,  says  :  "  Non  alli- 
gavit  Deus  cxpositioncm  scripturarura  sacrarum  priscorum  doctorum  sensibus ;  sed 
Scriptura3  ipsi  integr.'E,  sub  Culholicic  ecclcsi.e  censurS. ;  alioquiri  spcs  nobis  ct  postoris 
tolleretnr  e.xponcndi  scripturam  sacrani,  nisi  transferendo,  ut  aiunt,  de  libro  in  quiii- 
temum."  The  meaniiigr  of  the  cardinal  is,  that,  by  a  general  interpretation  of  Holy 
Writ  no  tenet  can  be  elicited  contrary  to  Catholic  doctrine,  to  the  sense  of  the  Church, 
to  the  faith  unanimously  attested  by  the  fathers  ;  although  in  details  the  interpretation 
may  differ  from  that  of  the  fathers.  When,  for  example,  it  is  said  of  God,  He  har- 
dened the  heart  of  Pharaoh,  He  will  raise  up  false  prophets,  He  hated  Esau  and  loved 
Jacob  before  they  were  bom;  so  no  Catholic  excgist,  like  Calvin  an'l  Bcza,  would 
thence  infer,  that  the  Bible  represents  God  as  the  author  of  evil,  and  would  say  the 
Deity  creates  a  portion  of  mankind  for  sin,  in  order  to  be  afterwards  able  to  damn 
them  ;  for  such  a  monstrous  assertion  would  be  contrary  to  the  universal  testimony 
of  the  fathers;  that  is  to  say,  to  the  constant  doctrine  of  the  Church.  On  the  other 
hand,  the  Catholic  interpreter  may,  in  his  peculiar  mode  of  explaining  those  passages 
by  the  biblical  phraseology,  differ,  if  there  be  adequate  grounds,  from  all  the  fathers 
put  together.  Melchior  Canus  was  not  quite  satisfied  with  the  above-mentioned  prin- 
ciple, because  he  deduced  from  it  those  fanciful  opinions,  which  are  not  unfrequently 
met  with  in  Cajetan's  exegetical  writings ;  for  what  Canus,  in  the  work  already  cited, 
says,  p.  437,  is  perfectly  true  :  "  Illud  breviter  dici  potest,  Cajetanum  summis  ecclesias 

aedlficatoribus  parem  esse  potuisse,   nisi ingenii  duxteritate  confisus  literas 

demum  sacras  suo  arbitratu  exposuissct,  felicissime  quidem  fere,  sed  inpaucis  quibus- 
dam  locis  acutius  sane  multo,  quam  felicius." 

Pallavaeini,  on  the  other  hand  (in  his  Hist.  Concil.  Trident,  lib.  vi.  c.  18,  n.  2,  p. 
221,)  takes  Cajetan  under  his  protection,  and  shows  that  he  has  not  acted  contrary 
to  the  Council  of  Trent ;  that  rather  Melchior  Canus  required  from  every  writer 
among  the  Dominicans,  an  exclusive  adoption  of  the  maxims  of  that  Order,  to 
which  he  himself  belonged-  "  Equidem  in  pnmis  affirmo,"  says  Pallavicini,  "  Caje- 
tanum, quamvis  a  suis  (Cajetan  was  also  a  Dominican)  in  hoc  dicto  licentice  notft. 
reprehensum,  nunquam  protulissc  sensa  Tridentino  decreto  in  hac  parte  adversuntia. 
Secundo,  concilium  neque  praescripsissc,  neque  coartasse  novis  legibus  rationem  intel- 
ligendi  Dei  verbum  ;  sed  declarasse  illicituni  et  hcEreticuni  quad  suapte  natura  erat 
hujusmodi,  et  prout  semper  habitura  ac  declaratum  fuerat  a  patribus,  a  pontifieibus,  a 

conciliis Prohibct  quidem  concilium,  ne  sacris  literis  aptetur  interprctatio  re- 

pugnans  SS.  patrum  sententiae,  idque  in  rebus  turn  fidei,  tum  morum ;  et  Cajetanus, 
utut  rem  Canus  intelligat,  de  his  minime  loquitur,  neque  unquam  declarat,  fas  esse 
adversus  communes  SS.  patrum  sententias  obviam  ire,  sed  fas  esse  depromcre  scrip- 
turee  expositiouem  prorsus  novain,  et  ab  omnibus  eorum  expositionibus  diversam. 
Etenim  quemadinodum  ipsi  disereparunt  inter  se  in  illius  explicatione  sentcntia;, 
adeoquc  singulte  eorum  explanationes  per  se  ipsas  dubit  itioni  subjacent,  ita,  quan- 
tum conj.cio,  visum  est  Cajetano,  posse  cunctas  simul  dubitationi  subjacerc  et  quam- 
dam  aliam  esse  veram,  qus  ipsis  baud  in  mentem  venerit.*'  Canus  himself,  how- 
ever, says  p.  4.57  :  "Spes  inquiunt,  nobis  et  posteris  tollitur,  exponendi  sacras  literas 
nisi  transferendo  de  libro  in  quinternum.  Minime  vcro  gentium.  Nam,  ut  illud 
praetcrcam,  quod  in  sacris  bibliis  loci  sunt  multi,  atque  adeo  libri  integri,  in  quibusin- 
terprelam  diligentiam  ecclesia  desidcrat,   in  quibusque  proinde  juniores  possent  et 


374  EXPOSITION  OF  DOCTRINAL  DIFFERENCES 

sius,  Malclonado,  Juslinian,  Eslius,  Cornelius  a  Lapide,  down  to  our  own 
days,  furnish  a  proof  of  what  is  here  asserted  ;  and  the  Biblical  re- 
searches of  several  critics,  such  as  Richard  Simon,  Hug,  Jahn,  Feilmo- 
scr,  and  others,  will  certainly  not  show,  that  the  earlier  theologians  have 
left  nothing  to  the  later  ones,  but  to  edit  their  works  anew.  Accord- 
ingly, wherein  consists  the  impropriety  that  we  should  still  revere  in  the 
Holy  Scriptures,  the  same  miracles  of  divine  wisdom  and  compassion, 
which  our  fathers  revered  fourteen  and  eighteen  hundred  years  ago  ? 
Doth  the  impropriety  lie  in  the  short-sightedness  of  our  understanding, 
which  is  unable  to  discover,  that  such  simple  writings  as  the  Sacred 
Books,  should  not  have  been  understood  as  to  their  essential  import  in 
the  times  wherein  they  were  published,  and  in  the  communities  to  which 
they  were  addressed  ?  Must  we  thus  look  for  this  impropriety,  in  our 
inability  to  conceive  how  an  age,  which  was  nearest  to  the  composition 
of  the  Bible,  should  have  been  the  furthest  removed  from  the  true  un- 
derstanding thereof?  Or,  doth  it  consist  in  our  regarding  the  opinion 
as  singular,  that  the  Christian  Church  had  not  penetrated  into  the  sense 
of  her  own  sacred  records  at  a  time,  when  she  exerted  a  truly  renova- 
ting influence  over  the  world,  when  she  conquered  Judaism,  destroyed 
Heathenism,  and  overcame  all  the  powers  of  darkness  ?  Or,  that  we 
should  not  be  able  to  convince  ourselves,  that  the  night  is  dispersed  by 
darkness,  and  illubions  by  error  ?  Or,  doth  the  impropriety  consist  in 
the  opinion,  that  Holy  Writ  could  not  possibly  have  been  destined  in  the 
course  of  every  fifteen  years,  and  even  under  the  hand  of  each  of  its 
expositors,  to  receive,  as  if  by  a  divine  miracle,  an  essentially  different 
import  than  in  former  times. 

Lastly  (and  this  is  the  principal  point),  since  the  Catholic  Church 
regards  herself  as  that  institution  of  the  Lord,  wherein  His  doctrines  of 
salvation  and  the  knowledge  of  the  same,  have,  by  the  immediate  in- 
struction of  the  apostles,  and  the  power  of  the  Divine  Spirit,  been  de- 
posited ;  her  claim  to  interpret,  according  to  her  rule  of  faith,  the  sacred 
writings,  in  which  the  same  doctrines  of  salvation,  under  the  guidance 
of  the  same  Spirit,  have  been  laid  down,  perfectly  agrees  with  the  claims 
of  a  genuine  historical  and  grammatical  exegesis ;  and  it  is  precisely 
the  most  successful  interpretation  of  this  kind,  that  would,  of  necessity, 
most  faithfully  reflect  her  doctrines.     From  her  point  of  view,  it  appears 


eruditionis  et  ingenii  posteris  ipsi  quoque  suis  monimenta  rclinquerc,  in  illis  etiam, 
qu8B  antiquoium  sunt  ingcnio  ac  diligentia,  claborata,  nonnihil  nos  christiano  populo, 
si  volumus,  prffistare  et  quidem  utilissimc  possuinus.  Possumus  enim  vctustis  novita- 
tern  dare,  cbsoletis  nitorcm.  obscuris  lucem,  fastiditis  gratiam,  dubiis  fidcm,  omnibus 
naturam  suam  et  naturae  suse  omnia." 


BETWEEN  CATHOLICS  AND  PROTESTANTS.  375 

taccordingly  quite  unintelligible,  how  her  claim  should  not  be  consistent 
with  the  laws  of  a  true  exegesis,  alone  deserving  of  the  name;  or,  how 
the,  in  other  respects  able  interpreter,  when  supported  by  her  rule,  should 
not  be  precisely  the  most  distinguished.  The  Protestants,  on  the  other 
hand,  starting  from  the  prejudice,  that  the  peculiar  doctrines  of  thei^ 
Catholic  Church  are  not  conformable  to  Scripture,  must  consequently 
regard  her  principle  of  interpretation  as  one  outwardly  imposed,  and 
therefore  arbitrary  and  unnatural ;  but  this  prejudice  the  Catholic  repels 
as  idle,  and  totally  devoid  of  foundation. 

§  xLiii. — The  Hierarchy. 

It  now  remains  for  us  to  make  a  few  remarks  on  the  Hierarchy.  The 
primary  view  of  the  Church,  as  a  divine  and  human  institution,  is  here 
•evinced  in  a  very  striking  form.  Accordingly,  for  the  exercise  of  pub- 
lic functions  in  the  Church,  for  the  discharge  of  the  office  of  teaching, 
and  the  administration  of  the  sacraments,  a  divine  internal  calling  and 
a  higher  qualification  are^  above  all  things,  required.  But,  as  the  divine, 
invisible  nature  of  the  Church  is  connected  with  a  human,  visible  form  ; 
so  the  calling  from  above  must  necessarily  be  here  below  first  discern- 
ed, and  then  acknowledged ;  and  the  heavenly  qualification  must  ap- 
jjear  attached  to  an  act  obvious  to  the  senses,  and  executed  in  the  visi- 
ble Church.  Or  in  other  words,  the  authorization  for  the  public  exer- 
cise  of  ecclesiastical  functions  is  imparted  by  a  sacrament — an  outward 
act  to  be  performed  by  men  according  to  the  commission  of  Christ,  and 
which  partly  denotes,  partly  conveys  an  inward  and  divine  grace.* 
The  introduction  into  an  invisible  Church,  requires  only  a  spiritual  bap- 
tism ;  the  continuance  in  the  same,  needs  only  an  internal  nourishment, 
we  cannot  say  with  the  body  of  Christ  (because  "  body  "  already  re- 
minds us  of  an  outward  origin  of  the  Church),  but  with  the  logos  of 
God.  An  invisible  Church  needs  only  an  inward  purely  spiritual  sacri- 
fice, and  a  general  priesthood.!     But  it  is  otherwise  with  a  visible 

*  Concil.  Trident  Sess.  xxiii.  cap.  3.  "Cum  S«ripturoe  testimonio,  Apostolic& 
traditione,  et  patrum  unanimi  cons^nsd  perspicuum  sit,  per  sacram  ordinationcn!, 
quEB  verbis  et  signis  csterioribus  perficitur,  gratiam  conferri ;  dubitarc  nemo  debet, 
ordinem  esse  vere  et  proprie  unum  ex  septem  Sanctae  Ecclesise  Sacramentis;  inquit 
cnim  Apostolus :  Admoneo  te,  ut  resuscites  gratiam,  quse  est  in  te,  per  impositioneEi 
manuum  mearum." 

+  It  is  admirably  observed  by  the  Council  of  Trent,  cap.  i.  lib.  1  :  "  Sacrificium 
/8t  sacerdotium  ita  Dei  ordmatione  conjunctasunt,  ut  utrumque  in  omni  lege  cxtiterit. 
Cum  igitur  in  novo  testamcnto  sanctum  Eucharistiaj  sacrificium  visible  ex  Domini 
institutionc  Catholica  ecclesia  acceperit ;  fateri  etiam  oportet,  in  ek  novum  esse  yisj. 


376  EXPOSITION  OF  DOCTRINAL  DIFFERENCES 

church.      Tliis  requires  (hat  the  haptism  of  fire,  and  of  the  Spirit,  should 
be  Hkewise  a  baptism  of  water  ;  and  that  the  nurture  of  the  soul,  which 
Christ  imparts,  should  be  visibly  represented  by  a  bodily  food.     In  the 
very  idea  of  such  a  Church,  an  external  sacrifice,  also,  is  necessarily 
involved.     The  same  observation  will  apply  to  priestly  orders  j  the  in- 
ternal and  outward  consecration  go  together  ;  the  heavenly  and  the 
earthly  unction  become  one  and  the  same.     As  the  preservation  of  the 
doctrines  and  institutions  of  Christ,  hath  been  intrusted  to  the  Church, 
so  it  is  impossible  for  her  to  revere  as  a  priest,  every  individual  who 
declares  he  hath  been  inwardly  consecrated  to  the  priesthood.     On  the 
contrary,  as  be  must  previously  be  carefully  and  strictly  bred  up,  and 
instructed  in  the  divine  dogmas  of  the  Church,  in  order  to  contribute 
towards  their  further  propagation ;  so  he  receives  through  the  Church, 
through  her  external  consecration,  the  inward  consecration  from  God  ;: 
or,  in  other  words,  he  receives,  through  the  imposition  of  the  hands  or 
the  bishops,  the  Holy  Ghost.     The  visibility  and  the  stability  of  the 
Church  connected  therewith,  require,  accordingly,  an  ecclesiastical  or- 
dination, originating  with  Christ  the  fountain-head,  and  perpetuated  in 
uninterrupted  succession  ;  so  that  as  the  apostles  were  sent  forth  by  the 
Saviour,  they,  in  their  turn,  instituted  bishops,  and  these  appointed  their 
successors,  and  so  on,  down  to  our  own  days.     By  this  episcopal  suc- 
cession, beginning  from  our  Saviour,  and  continued  on  without  inter- 
ruption, we  can  especially  recognize,  as  by  an  outward  mark,  which  is^ 
the  true  Church  founded  by  him.* 


bile  et  externum  sacerdotium,  in  quod  vetus  translatum  est.  Hoc  autem  ab  eodem 
domino  Salvatorc  nostro  insiitutcm  esse,  atquc  Apostolis,  eorumque  successoribus  in 
sacerdotio  potestatem  traditam  consecrandi,  ofFerendi  et  ministrandi  corpus  ct  san- 
guinem  ejus,  ncc  non  et  peccata  dimittendi  et  retinendi,  sacras  literae  ostendunt,  et 
Ecclesiae  Catholicae  traditio  semper  docuit."  Hence,  in  an  invisible  Church  only  the- 
invisiblc  forgiveness  of  sins  and  confession  before  God  are  necessary;  but  it  is  other, 
wise  in  the  visible  Church. 

*  Irenspussays  to  the  heretics  of  his  time  (Adv.  haeres.  lib.  iii.  c.  3  :)  "  Haec  ordi- 
natione  et  succes-sione,  ea  quae  est  ab  apostolis  in  ccclesia  traditio  et  veritatis  praeeon- 
izatio  pcrvenit  usque  ad  nos.  Et  est  plenissima  haec  ostcnsio  unam  et  eandem  vivifi- 
catricem  fidem  esse,  qu-e  in  ecclesia  ab  apostolij  usque  nunc  sit  conservata  et  tradita 
in  veritate."  Lib.  iv.  c.  43.  "  Quapropter  eis,  qui  in  ecclesia  sunt  presbyteris  obau- 
dire  oportct,  his  qui  sucecssionem  habent  ab  apostolis,  qui  cum  episcopatfis  succes. 
sione  charismi  veritatis  ccrtnm  secundum  placitum  patris  acceperunt."  Tertullian 
remarks  against  the  same  heretics :  "  Edant  ergo  originem  ecclcsiarum  suarum  : 
evolvant  ordinem  episcoporum  suorum  ita  per  suecessiones  ab  initio  decurrentem,  ut 
primus  ille  episcopus  aliqucm  ex  apostolis,  vel  apostolicis  viris,  qui  tamen  cum  apos- 
tolis perseveraverint,  habucrit  auctorem   ct   antecessorem Hoc  enim  modo 

eccleslse  apostolicas  census  suos  deferant.     Sicut  Smyrnaeorum  ecclesia  hahens  Pbly- 


BETWEEN  CATHOLICS  AND  PROTESTANTS.  37T 

The  episcopacy,  the  continuation  of  the  apostleship,  is  accordingly- 
revered  as  a  Divine  institution :  not  less  so,  and  even,  on  that  very 
account,  the  Pope,  who  is  the  centre  of  unity,  and  the  head  of  the 
episcopacy.  If  the  episcopacy  is  to  form  a  corporation,  outwardly  as 
well  as  inwardly  bound  together,  in  order  to  unite  all  believers  into  one 
harmonious  life,  which  the  Catholic  Church  so  urgently  requires,  it 
stands  in  need  of  a  centre,  whereby  all  may  be  held  together  and 
firmly  connected.  What  a  helpless,  shapeless  mass,  incapable  of  all 
combined  action,  would  the  Catholic  Church  not  have  been,  spread  as 
she  is  over  all  the  kingdoms  of  the  earth,  over  all  parts  of  the  world, 
had  she  been  possessed  of  no  head,  no  supreme  bishop,  revered  by  all. 
She  would,  of  necessity,  have  been  split  into  an  incalculable  number 
of  particular  churches,  devoid  of  all  consistency,  had  not  a  strong, 
mighty  bond,  united  all,  had  not  the  successor  of  Peter  firmly  held  them 
together.  Had  not  the  universal  Church  possessed  a  head  instituted 
by  Christ,  and  had  not  this  head,  hy  acknowledged  rights  and  obliga- 
tions, been  enabled  to  exert  an  influence  over  each  of  its  parts  ;  those 
parts,  abandoned  to  themselves,  would  soon  have  taken  a  course  of 
development,  contrary  to  each  other,  and  absolutely  determined  by 
local  relations,  a  course  which  would  have  led  to  the  dissolution  of  the 
whole  body.  No  one  can  be  so  weak-minded  as  not  to  perceive,  that 
then  the  whole  authority  of  the  Church,  in  matters  of  faith,  would  have 
vanished,  since  the  several  Churches  opposed  to  each  other  could  not 
attest  one  and  the  same  thing,  nay,  must  stand  in  mutual  contradiction 
Without  a  visible  head,  the  whole  view,  which  the  Catholic  Church 
takes  of  herself,  as  a  visible  society  representing  the  place  of  Christ, 
would  have  been  lost,  or  rather,  never  would  have  occurred  to  her.  In 
a  visible  Church,  a  visible  head  is  necessarily  included.  The  following 
instances  may  serve  to  evince,  more  clearly,  the  truth  of  what  is  here 
asserted.  If,  in  the  appointment  of  bishops  to  their  particular  districts, 
the  universal  Church  exerted  no  decisive  influence;  did  not  possess, 
for   example,    the  right   of  confirmation,  then  views  inimical  to  the 


carpum  ab  Johanne  conlocatum  refert :  sicut  Romanorum  Clemontem  a  Pctro  ordi- 
natum  edit ;  proinde  utique  et  caetcrae  exhibent.  Confingant  tale  aliquid  haerctici." 
The  Council  of  Florence  gives  the  following  definition  of  the  Papal  power : — 
"  Item  definimus,  sanctam  apostolicam  sedem  ct  Romanum  pontificem  in  universum 
orbem  tcnere  primatuin,  et  ipsuin  Pontificem  Romanum  succtssorem  esse  beati  Petri 
principis  Apoptolorum,  et  verum  Christi  vicarium,  totiusque  ecclcsiae  caput,  et  omni- 
um Christianorum  patrcm  et  doctorem  existere  ;  et  ipsi  in  beato  Petro  pascendi,  re- 
gendi,  et  gubernandi  unjversilem  ecclesiam  a  domino  nostro  Jesu  Cliristo  plenara 
potestatem  traditam  esse,  quemadmodum  ctiam  in  gestis  cecumcnicorum  conciliorum 
et  in  sacris  canonibus  continctur."     Sec  Ilardouin  Acta  Concil.  torn.  ix.  p.  423. 


378  EXPOSITION  OF  DOCTRINAL  DIFFERENCES 

interests  of  the  Church,  would  infallibly  raise  to  the  episcopal  dignify 
men,  who.  in  a  short  time,  would  venture  to  destroy,  or,  at  least,  permit 
the  destruction,  of  the  common  faith.  The  same  would  be  thti  result, 
if  the  universal  Church  did  not  enjoy  the  right  of  deprivation,  in  case 
the  pastor  of  a  particular  Church  did  not  fulfil  his  essential  duties,  or 
even  acted  in  open  violation  of  them.  But,  what  could  the  universal 
Church  accomplish  without  her  organ,  or  the  organ  itself,  if  no  one 
were  bound  to  obey  it?  Yet  it  is,  of  course,  to  be  understood,  that  the 
rights  of  the  head  of  the  Church  are  restricted  to  purely  ecclesiastical 
concerns  ;  and  if,  in  the  course  of  the  Middle  Age,  this  were  otherwise, 
the  causes  of  this  occurrence  are  to  be  sought  for,  in  the  peculiar  cir- 
cumstances and  necessities  of  that  period.  With  the  visibility  of  the 
Church — with  the  visible,  regular,  and  established  reciprocal  intercourse 
of  the  faithful ;  with  the  internal  necessity  of  their  very  existence  to 
be  members  of  one  body,  a  visible  head,  with  essential  and  inalienable 
rights,  was,  accordingly,  ordained.  In  addition  to  his  essential  ecclesi- 
astical rights,  whose  limits  may  be  found  traced  out  in  the  canonists, 
the  Pope,  according  to  the  different  degrees  of  civilization  in  particular 
ages,  and  among  particular  nations,  acquired  the  so-called  non-essential 
rights,  admitting  of  various  changes,  so  that  his  power  appears  some- 
times more  extended,  sometimes  more  contracted.  Moreover,  it  is  well 
known,  that,  partly  in  consequence  of  the  revolutions  of  time  and  of 
disorders  in  the  Church,  partly  through  the  internal  development  of 
opposite  ideas,  two  systems  became  prevalent,  the  episcopal  and  the 
papal  system  ;  the  latter  whereof,  without  questioning  the  divine  insti- 
tution of  bishops,  exalted  more  particularly  the  central  power  ;  while 
the  former,  without  denying  the  divine  establishment  of  the  Primacy, 
sought  to  draw  authority  more  particularly  towards  the  circumference.* 
As  each  system  acknowledged   the  essence  of  the  other  to  be  divine. 


*  Tho  most  general  maxims  of  the  episcopal  system  arc  comprised  in  the  Sy. 
nods  of  Constance  (1414,)  and  of  Basil  (1431  ;)  they  assert,  the  Pope  is  subject  to  a 
general  Council  lawfully  convoked,  representing  the  Church  militant: — a  one-sided 
principle,  which,  when  carried  out  to  its  legitimate  consequences,  threatened  the 
Church  with  annihilation.  This  coarse  opinion  may  now  be  considered  as  obsolete. 
Concil  Const.  Scss.  iv.  in  Hardouin,  lib.  1.  tom  viii.  p.  252.  "  Ipsa  Synodus  in 
SpiritCi  Sanctocongrcgata  legitime  generale Concilium  faciens,  ccclcsiam  Catliolicam 
militantcm  representans,  potestatem  k  Christo  immediate  habet,  cui  quihbet  cujus. 
cunque  statds  vel  dignitatis,  etiamsi  papalis  existat,  obedLre  tenetur  in  his  quae  perti- 
nent ad  fidem  et  extirpationem  dicti  schismatis,  et  reformationem  gcneralem  ecclcsise 
Dei  in  capita  et  in  meinbris."  In  the  fifth  Session  this  is  repeated,  and  the  like  is 
added  The  Council  of  Basil,  also,  in  its  second  Session,  hath  adopted  both  decrees 
Ferbally.     See  Hardouin,  lib.  1.  p   1121. 


BETWEEN  CATHOLICS  AND  PROTESTANTS.  379 

they  constituted  an  opposition  very  beneficial  to  ecclesiastical  life  ;  so 
that,  by  their  counteraction,  the  peculiar  free  development  of  the 
several  parts  was,  on  one  hand,  preserved,  and  the  union  of  these  in  one 
living,  undivisihie  whole,  was,  on  the  other,  maintained. 

The  dogmatic  decrees  of  t!)e  episcopacy  (united  with  the  general 
head  and  centre,)  are  infallible  ;  for,  it  represents  the  universal  Church, 
and  one  doctrine  of  faith,  falsely  explained  by  it,  would  render  the 
whole  a  prey  to  error.  Hance,  as  the  institution  which  Christ  hath 
established  for  the  preservation  and  the  explanation  of  Ilis  doctrines, 
is  subject,  in  this  its  function,  to  no  error  ;  so  the  organ,  through 
which  the  Church  speaks,  is  also  exempt  from  error. 

The  Metropolitans  (archbishops,)  and  patriarchs,  are  not,  in  them- 
selves, essential  intermediate  grades  between  the  Bishops  and  the 
Pope;  yet  has  their  jurisdiction,  the  limits  whereof  have  been  deter- 
mined by  general  councils,  proved  very  useful  for  maintaining  a  closer 
connexion,  and  a  more  immediate  superintendence  over  the  bishops, 
subject  to  their  authority. 

The  priests,  (taking  the  word  in  a  more  limited  sense,)  are,  as  it 
were,  a  multiplication  of  the  bishop  ;  and,  as  they  arknov/ledge  them- 
selves his  assistants,  they  revere  in  him  the  visible  fountain  of  their 
jurisdiction — their  head  and  their  centre.  In  this  way,  the  whole  body 
is  bound  and  jointed  together  in  a  living  organism  :  and  as  the  tree, 
the  deeper  and  wider  it  striketh  its  roots  into  the  earth,  the  more  goodly 
a  summit  of  intertwining  boughs  and  branches  it  beareth  aloft  unto  the 
sky,  it  is  so  with  the  congregation  of  the  Lord.  For,  the  more  closely 
the  community  of  believers  is  established  with  him,  and  is  enrooted  in 
him,  as  the  all-fruitful  soil  ;  the  more  vigorous  and  imposing  is  its  out- 
ward manifestation. 

As  to  the  remaining  non-sacerdotal  orders,  the  deacons  were  insti- 
tuted by  the  apostles,  and,  as  their  representatives,  were  charged  more 
immediately  with  the  affairs  of  administration,  not  immediately  con- 
nected with  the  apostolic  calling.  The  sub-deaconship,  and  the  four 
so-called  minor  orders,  are  restricted  to  a  circle  of  subordinate,  yet 
indispensable  ministrations,  and  in  former  times,  formed  altogether  (in- 
cluding the  dcaconship,)  a  practical  school  wherein  the  training  for 
higher  ecclesiastical  functions  was  acquired,  and  a  test  of  qualification 
for  their  discharge  was  afforded.  For,  in  the  ancient  Church,  the  pas- 
tors as  well  as  believers,  were  formed  in,  and  by  the  immediate  experi- 
ence of  life  ;  as  the  inferior  ministers  constantly  surrounded  the  bishop 
or  priest,  and  attending  him  in  all  his  sacred  functions,  imbibed  the 
spirit  which  animated  him,  and  qualified  themselves  to  become  one  day 
his  successors.     But,  they  rose  only  slowly  and  by  degrees ;  and  every 


380  EXPOSITION  OF  DOCTRINAL  DIFFERENCES 

new  ordination,  was  but  the  recompense  of  services  faithfully  per- 
formed, and  a  period  of  probation  for  a  still  more  important  trust.  At 
present,  these  orders,  from  the  sub-deaconship  downwards,  are  preserved 
but  as  ancient  customs  ;  for,  the  educational  system  of  modern  times, 
bears  an  essentially  different  character,  and  follows  a  decidedly  theo- 
retical course.  Hence,  the  duties,  which  the  inferior  members  of  the 
clergy  once  performed,  are  now  nearly  everywhere  discharged  by  lay- 
men, such  as  acolytes,  sacristans,  and  the  like. 


LUTHERAN  DOCTRINE  ON  THE  CHURCH. 

§  XLiv. — The  Bible  the  only  source  and  arbitress  in  matters  of  faith. 

Great  importance  has  been  attached  by  us  to  the  proposition,  that  a 
positive  religion,  if  destined  to  act  with  a  permanent  and  decisive 
authority  on  mankind,  must  be  ever  imparted  to  successive  generations, 
through  the  medium  of  an  authority.  In  the  application  of  this  trust, 
however,  an  illusion  may  easily  occur.  Thus  we  may  imagine  that 
the  ordinary  mode,  in  which  an  historical  fact  is  attested,  may  here 
absolutely  suffice  :  and  that  thus,  if  credible  eye  and  ear-witnesses  have 
delivered  a  written  testimony,  respecting  the  divine  envoy,  their  evi- 
dence should  constitute  an  adequate  and  lasting  authority  for  all  times. 
In  the  same  way,  as  Polybius  and  Livy  are  our  sources  of  information, 
in  respect  to  the  second  Punic  war,  and  Herodian  in  regard  to  the 
heroic  deeds  of  the  emperor  Commodus,  so  Matthew,  Mark,  Luke,  and 
John,  are  the  standing  authority  for  those  who  desire  to  know  Christ, 
to  surrender  to  him  their  faith  ;  and  thus  the  necessary  claim,  that  the 
authority  of  Christ  should  be  represented  by  an  authority,  is  fully 
satisfied. 

But  here,  several  extremely  important  circumstances  are  completely 
overlooked.  The  sacred  historians  the  Christian,  in  fact,  by  no  means 
ranks  in  the  same  class  with  other  writers  of  history,  nor,  on  that 
account,  the  readers  of  the  Bible  with  those  of  any  other  historical 
work.  We  hold  it  to  be  necessary,  that,  under  quite  special  conditions, 
the  evangelical  historians  should  have  written  down  their  narratives, 
in  order  not  to  be  disturbed  by  the  doubt,  whether  they  had  in  reality 
rightly  heard,  seen,  and  understood.  For  this  very  reason,  from  the 
foundation  of  Christianity  it  has  been  deemed  a  matter   of  necessity, 


BETWEEN  CATHOLICS  AND  PROTESTANTS.  381 

thnt  only  under  certain  peculiar  conditions  could  the  right  understand* 
ing  of  the  sacred  penmen  be  secured,  in  order  that  we  might  have  the 
decided  conviction,  that  what  they  recorded,  without  falsification,  we 
apprehended,  without  confusion.  As  little,  nay,  from  evident  reasons 
still  less,  can  we  trust  alone  to  the  honest  purpose  and  personal  capacity 
of  the  author  of  the  apostolic  epistles,  when  the  question  at  issue  is, 
whether,  in  the  application  and  further  development  of  what  they  had 
learned  from  and  respecting  Jesus,  they  have  not  erred  ;  but  precisely, 
because  we  do  not  wish,  and  cannot  wish  to  bestow  such  confidence, 
we  are  unable  to  rest  satisfied  with  those  ordinary  means,  which  are 
employed  to  discover  the  sense  of  an  author.  And  this,  because  here 
far  other  wants  are  to  be  satisfied  than  those,  which  the  study  of  a 
Greek  or  Roman  classic  can  gratify  ;  because  matters  of  far  graver 
moment,  and  unquestionably  weightier  influence  on  life,  are  involved, 
than  in  the  case  of  the  latter  ;  to  wit,  the  knowledge  whereon  depends 
the  salvation  of  immortal  souls. 

The   following  circumstance,  also,  was  overlooked,  the   non-obser- 
vance whereof  was  likely  to  entail  important  consequences.     We  have 
two  sources  from  which  we  derive  our  knowledge  of  God  and  divine 
things,— -the  natural  and  the  supernatural  revelation  :  for  brevity-sake  we 
will  put  a  part    for  the  whole,  and  say, — -the  revelation  of  God  within 
us,  and  the  revelation  of  God  out  of  us  in  Christ  Jesus.   The  revelation 
of  God  within  us,  is  likewise  the  organ,  whereby  we  apprehend  the  out- 
ward revelation  ;  and  it  has,  therefore,  a  twofold  function,  at  once  to 
bear  testimony  unto    God,  and   our  relation  towards  Him,  and  also  to 
receive  the  testimony  coming  from  without.     Accordingly,  in  behalf  of 
one   and  the  same  object,  we  directed  to  two  witneses,   quite  distinct 
one  from  the  other  ;  and  the  matter  of  importance  is,  that  the  one  wit- 
ness within   us    should  not  overvalue   the  worth  of  his  evidence,  and 
willingly  confess  that  his  declarations  stand  in  a  subordinate  relation 
to  those  of  the  other  ;  for,  otherwise,  the  necessity  of  another  witness, 
beside  him,  would  be  inexplicable.     Precisely  as  historical  criticism  de- 
cides on  the  qualities  of  the  witnesses,  and  seeks  to  discover,  in  each 
particular   case,  whether  they  could   rightly  apprehend,  and  desired 
faithfully  to  recount  what  they  had  learned,  so  must  the  witness  in  our 
own  interior  be  examined.     But,  this   inward  witness  possesses  a  very 
decided  advantage,  over  the  outward  one.    Being  the  organ  for  the  loi- 
ter, he  is  too  inclined,  in  his  narrative,  to  substitute  his  own  pretended 
internal  perceptions,  for  the  testimony  of  the  voucher,  who  stands  by 
his  side  ;  and  persuades  himself  that  he  is  but  faithfully  relating  what 
he  had  learned  from  without,  when  he  has  been  listening  only  to  him* 
self,  and  in  this  wise  has  thrown  every  thing  into  confusion. 


883  EXPOSITION  OF  DOCTRINAL  DIFFERENCES 

For  this  simple  reason  it  is  evident,  that  the  attestation  of  the  purport 
of  an  external  revolation  can,  by  no  means,  be  unconditionally  ranked, 
with  the  attesta.ion  of  any  other  fact  ;  nor,  can  it  bo  affirmed,  that  the 
written  testimony  of  credible  eye  and  car- witnesses,  is  an  adequate  au- 
thority in  the  one  case,  as  it  is  in  the  other.  What  any  informant  re- 
lates, respecting  the  events  of  ordinary  life,  we  can  learn  only  from  the 
testimony  of  him  and  his  like.  That  Carthage  was  taken  by  Scipio 
^mihanus,  is  known  to  us  only  from  the  ancient  historians;  and  as 
our  own  interior  suggests  not  the  slightest  hint,  as  to  such  a  fact,  there 
is  no  danger  of  confounding  here  our  internal  voice,  with  the  narrative 
of  the  historian.  Religious  truths,  on  the  other  hand,  are  attested  in  a 
twofold  manner  ;  and  there  is  an  eminent  danger  that  what  hath  been 
revealed  to  us  from  without,  while  we  are  but  bringing  it  home  to  our 
own  conviction,  might  take  the  colour  of  our  minds,  and  undergo  a 
greater  or  less  change.  Hence,  besides  Holy  Writ,  which  objectively 
is  unerring,  the  living  authority  of  the  Church  has  been  instituted,  in 
order  that  we  might  obtain ^br  ourselves,  subjectively,  the  divine  word, 
as  it  is  i"  itsel^.  Between  two  persons,  moreover,  an  absolute  under- 
standing alone  is  possible  ;  between  a  person  and  a  writing,  on  the 
other  hand,  an  absolute  misunderstanding  is  but   too  possible. 

Had  we  no  innate,  internal  testimony  of  God,  so  that  we  were  by 
nature  utterly  godlcss  ;  then  indeed,  provided  only  we  had  still  the 
faculty  of  apprehending  him,  a  mere  book  would  have  availed  as  suf- 
ficient authority.  In  that  case,  at  least,  our  own  interior,  perhaps  de- 
lusive, testimony  could  not  possibly  have  been  confounded,  with  the 
outward  one  ;  still  less,  could  a  tacit  preference  have  been  given  to  the 
formei'.  if  not  the  slightest  tone  of  a  divine  voice  came  forth  from  our 
bosoms.  iSo  fear  then  could  have  been  entertained,  that  we  were 
listening  to  ourselves,  instead  of  to  God,  when  all  in  man  that  could 
point  to  heaven,  were  mute.  This  is  the  point,  where  Luther's  doc- 
trine, on  Scripture  and  the  Church,  coincides  with  his  other  errors,  that 
have  been  previously  investigated.  His  doctrine  touching  original  sin 
inculcated,  that  notliiiig  in  man  intimated  and  attested  the  Deity  :  His 
doctrine  on  the  absence  of  human  free-will,  and  the  exclusive  operation 
of  God  in  the  work  of  salvation,  that  the  Divine  Spirit  alone  engenders 
faith  in  man.  So  next  the  proposition  was  advanced,  that  Holy  Writ 
is   the  soul   fountain-head,   standard,  and  judge  in  matters  of  faith.* 


*  Epitome  Comp.  §  p.  543.  "  Crcdimus,  confitemur,  ct  docemus,  unicain  rcgulam 
et  norniain,  ex  qua.  omnia  dogmata,  omnesquedoctorcs  judicare  opcrteat,  nullum  om- 
nino  aliam  esse,  quam  proplutlca  et  apostolica,  turn  vtlcris,  tum  novi  Testamenti 
Scripta."     Solid,  declar.  forma  dijudic.  controv.  ^  ii.  p.  (JU5. 


BETWEEN  CATHOLICS  AND  PROTESTANTS.  383 

While,  therefore,  the  Catholic  Church,  in  order  to  guard  man  against 
errors,  in  the  reception  of  Christian  truth,  and  to  atford  him  the  cer- 
tainty that  he  is  in  possession  of  the  same,  presents  herself  as  the  all- 
sufficient,  because  divinely  appointed,  surety  ;  Luther,  on  the  other 
hand,  seeks  to  obtain  the  same  end,  by  not  only  exalting  the  measure 
of  the  communications  of  the  Holy  Spirit,  but  by  annihilating  all  hu- 
man concurrence,  and  reserving  to  the  Deity  an  exclusive  agency :  he 
says,  the  Holy  Spirit  rcadcth  in  the  Scriptures,  not  thou. 

As  accordingly  the  Reformers  represented  all  human  concurrence  in 
the  work  of  salvation,  not  only  as  unnecessary,  but  as  impossible,  and 
held  that,  where  human  eagerness  ventured  an  intrusion  into  this  work, 
an  abortion  was  unavoidably  engendered ;  so,  they  indulged  in  the 
idea,  that  whoever  addressed  himself  immediately  to  Holy  Writ,  ob- 
tained an  immediate  knowledge  of  its  contents.  They  rejected  the 
mediating  authority  of  the  Church,  which  guided  the  intellectual  activity 
of  each  individual,  because  they  wished  to  avoid  every  thing  human, 
without  apprehending  that  the  subjectivity  of  the  believer,  would,  thereby, 
be  set  in  the  most  unrestrained  movement,  and  be  confounded  with  the 
objective  revelation  ;  nay,  without  fearing,  that  any  human  alloy  were 
possible  in  this  work,  because  such  had  been  discarded  from  their  own 
imagination. 

This  view  often  breaks  out  with  singular  naivete  ;  as  for  instance,  in 
the  oft-repeated  assertion,  that  the  Bible  is  the  judge  in  matters  of  faith. 
The  reader  of  the  Scripture  is,  unhesitatingly,  confounded  with  the 
Scripture  itself,  and  the  immediate  conveyance  of  its  contents  to  his 
mind,  most  childishly  assumed.  It  is  one  thing  to  say,  "  the  Bible  is 
the  source  of  the  doctrine  of  salvation ;"  and  another  to  say,  "it  is  the 
judge  to  determine  what  is  the  doctrine  of  salvation."  The  latter  it 
can  as  little  be,  as  the  code  of  civil  law  can  exercise  the  functions  of 
the  jujge:  it  forms  indeed  the  rule  of  judgment,  but  it  doth  not  itself 
pronounce  judgment.  Bat,  as  Luther  originally  quite  overlooked  the 
concurrence  of  human  energies,  and  held  all  his  thoughts,  judgments, 
and  conclusions,  in  regard  to  the  kingdom  of  God,  to  be  as  much  the 
effects  of  an  exclusive  divine  operation,  as  his  will  in  reference  to  ttie 
kingdom  of  God  ;  so  all  conceptions  of  Scripture,  and  of  the  readers  of 
Scripture,  floated  indiscriminately  in  his  mind  ;  and  the  proposition  was 
then  advanced,  that  the  Bible  is  the  judge  in  controversies  of  faith.*  In 

*  We  know  indeed  that  the  opinion,  the  Bible  is  the  judge  in  doctrinal  disputes, 
is  made  to  signify  as  much,  that  ihc  B.ble  best  explains  itself;  thai  thus  tlie  context, 
parallel  passages.  &c.  remove  obscurities,  and  allay  controversies.  But,  this  is  iar 
from  completely  mseting  the  view  of  the  first  Keforraers,  and,  abstractedly  considered, 
is  historically  quite  false. 


•384  fixroslTION  OF  DOCTRINAL  DIFFERENCES 

numerous  passages  of  the  writings  of  the  Reformers,  as,  for  example,  in 
the  following  sentence  of  Zwinglius,  this  confusion  recurs.  In  wishing 
to  explain  what  Church  cannot  err,  and  how  it  conieth  that  it  cannot 
err,  he  says,  "  The  sheep  of  God  follow  the  word  of  God  alone,  which 
-can  in  nowise  deceive  :  it  is  accordingly  clear,  which  is  the  inerrable 
Church,  the  one,  to  wit,  which  rests  on  the  word  of  God  alone."*  In 
other  words,  he  who  holds  to  the  infallible  Word  of  God  alone,  is  re- 
garded, in  the  most  unqualified  manner,  as  infallible  ;  just  as  if  it  were 
one  and  the  same  to  read  the  inerrable  Scripture,  and  to  be  forthwith 
inerrable :  and,  as  if  a  vastly  important  intermediate  step  were  not  here 
overleaped.  On  the  other  hand,  the  Reformers  concluded,  that  Catho- 
lics are  in  error,  because  they  interpret  Holy  Writ,  according  to  the  au- 
thority of  the  Church. 

That  the  union  which  we  have  pointed  out  between  the. mode, 
wherein,  according  to  the  Reformers,  man,  in  his  inward  sentiments 
and  his  powers  of  will,  is  converted  to  God,  and  the  mode,  wherein  the 
rehgious  thoughts  and  conceptions  of  the  believer  are  formed,  is  based 
on  no  arbitrary  assumption,  may  be  irrefragably  proved  by  numerous 
passages,  from  Luther  and  Zwinglius,  when,  even  the  general  connexion 
of  their  doctrines  did  not  clearly  imply  it.  In  his  writings  to  the  Bohe- 
mians, on  the  institution  of  Church  ministers,"]"  Luther  expressly  de- 
clares, that  the  believer  is  the  freestjudge  of  all  his  teachers,  since  he  is 
)  inwardly  instructed  by  God  alone.  Excellently  well  doth  Zwinglius 
illustrate  the  sense  of  his  colleague  in  Wittenberg ;  and  we  may  the 
more  confidently  summon  him,  as  a  witness  to  Luther's  original  view, 
as  he  nowhere  manifests  a  productive  genius,  has  not,  perhaps,  in  all 
his  writings,  expressed  one  original,  pregnant  idea,  and  almost  always 
pushes  Luther's  opmions  to  an  extreme,  albeit,  he  often  ridiculously 
puts  in  claims  to  originality.  Zwinglius  compares,  without  scruple,  the 
word  of  Scripture  to  the  Word  of  God,  whereby  all  things  were  created 
out  of  nothing — with  that  word,  in  virtue  whereof  light  arose  when  the 

*  Zwingl.  de  verJi  et  fals.  relig.  comment.  0pp.  torn.  ii.  fol.  192.  "  Hffic  tandem 
Eola  est  ecclesia  labi  et  errare  nescia,  quas  solam  Dei  pastoris  vocem  audit,  nam  haeC 
sola  ex  Deo  est.  Qui  enira  ex  Deo  est,  verbum  Dei  audit ;  et  rursus,  vos  non  auditis, 
qui  ex  Deo  non  estis.  Ergo  qui  audiunt,  Dei  oves  sunt,  Dei  ecclesia  sunt,  errare  ne- 
queunt :  nam  solum  Dei  verbum  sequuniur,  quod  fallere  nulla,  ratione  potest.  Habes 
jam,  quaenam  sit  ecclesia,  quae  errare  nequeat,  ea  nimirum  sola,  quae  solo  Dei  verbo 
nititur." 

t  Luther  de  Instit.  minist.  eccles.  0pp.  torn.  ii.  fol.  584.  "Hiset  similibus  mul- 
tis  locia,  turn  evangelii,  turn  totius  Scripturce,  quibus  admonemur,  ne  falsis  doctoribua 
credamus,  quid  aliud  docemur,  quam  ut  nostras  proprise  quisquis  pro  se  salutis  ration^ 
em  habens,  certus  sit,  quid  credat  et  sequatur,  ac  judex  liberrimus  sit  omnium,  qui 
docent  eum,  intJis  a  Deo  solo  doctus."     Other  passages  we  shall  cite  below. 


BETWEEN  CATHOLICS  AND  PI?OTESTANTS.  335 

Lord  spake  :  "  Let  there  be  light."*  To  explain  the  mode  of  operation 
of  the  Divine  Word,  he  appeals,  moreover,  to  that  internal  word,  which 
came  to  the  prophets  of  the  old  covenant,  and  which,  although  it  ex- 
acted what  was  most  extraordinary,  and  promised  what  was  most  mar- 
vellous, yet  without  the  aid  of  human  reflection  and  mental  activity,  took 
possession  of  those  to  whom  it  was  addressed,  and  brought  them  under 
subjection. f  Mingling  truth  with  falsehood,  and  deducing  the  latter 
from  the  former,  he  concludes  that  no  man  can  instruct  another,  since 
Christ  saith,  "  No  one  cometh  io  Him,  unless  the  Father  draw  him." 
That  no  man  can  implant  faith  in  another — that,  without  the  internal 
attraction  of  the  Father,  without  the  mysterious  opening  of  the  internal 
sense  by  the  Holy  Spirit,  no  one  can  believe,  is  undoubtedly  quite  cer- 
tain. But  the  opinion,  that  on  this  account,  human  co-operation  is  un- 
necessary, rests  on  the  very  same  false  conclusion,  which  the  Refor- 
mers drew,  when  they  represented  the  conversion  of  the  will,  as  the 
exclusive  work  of  God.:]: 

Here,  moreover,  we  can  clearly  discern  the  cause,  why  the  Reformers 
were  originally  such  decided  adversaries  to  all  philosophy  and  specula- 
tion— why  Carlstadt,  who  was  a  confederate  of  Luther's,  in  the  famous 
disputation  at  Leipzig,  required  the  candidates  of  theology  to  apply 
themselves  to  some  handicraft,  rather  than  to  study,  in  order  that  the 
human  mind  might  not  be  filled  with  things,  which  only  impeded  the 
entrance  of  the  Divine  Spirit.     Accordingly  he  himself  gave  up  the 

•  Zwingl.  de.  certitud.  et  clari.  verbi.  Dei.  c.  11.  Opp  tom.  i.  fol.  165.  "  Tantat 
verbi  Dei  Certitudo  et  Veritas,  tanta  etiam  ejusdem  virtus  et  potentia,  ut  quaecunque 

relit  mox  juxta  nutum  iilius  eveniant.     Dixit  et  facta  mandavit  et  creata  sunt 

Dixit  Deus,  fiat  lux,  et  facta  est  lux.     Ecce  quanta  sit  Verbi  virtus,"  etc. 

t  Loc.  cit.  c.  111.  p.  168.  seq. 

X  Loc  cit  p  169.  "Cum  Deo  docente  discant  pii,  cur  non  earn  doctrinam  ;  quam 
divinitus  accipiunt,  iis  liberam  pertnittitis?  Quod  vero  Deuspiorum  animos  in.'-titu- 
at,  Christus  eodem  in  loco  non  obscure  innuit,  dicens:  omnis  qui  audiverit  &.  patre 
et  didiceret,  ad  me  venit.  Nemo  ad  Christum  pervenit,  nisi  coffnitionem  iilius  k  pa. 
tre  acceperit.  Jamne  ergo  videtis  et  auditis,  quis  sit  magister  fidelium  ?  Non  p-itres, 
non  doctores  titulo  superbi,  noninagistri  noslri.  non  pontificum  ccetus,  non  sedes,  non 
scholae  nee  concilia,  sed  pater  Domini  nostri  Jesu  Christi.  Quid  ergo,  objicitis,  an 
homo  hominem  docere  non  potest  ?     Nequaquain.     Christus  enim  dicit :  nemo  venit 

ad  me,  nisi  pater  traxerit  eum  Verba  spiritus  clara  sunt,  doctrina  Dei  clara  est, 

docct  et  hominis  animum  sine  ullo  humante  rationis  additamento,  de  salute  certiorem 
reddit,"  etc.  In  Zwinglius,  the  doctrine  of  absolute  predestination,  and  of  the  ex- 
clusive agency  of  the  Deiiy,  evidently  exerted  a  great  influence  in  the  framing  of  this 
article  ;  namely,  that  what  man,  in  the  reading  of  the  Bible  and  so  forth,  performs 
by  reflection,  he  seems  only  so  to  do.  Loc  cit  p  171.  "Quod  vero  hic  in  re  opus 
tamen  esse  credis,  non  tuura  sed  Spiritus  sancti  est,  qui  occulte  in  te  et  per  virtutem 
Buam  operatur." 

25 


386  EXPOSITION  OF  DOCTRINAL  DIFFERENCES 

scientific  investigation  of  the  Scriptures,  in  order  that,  from  simple  arti» 
sans,  who  had  not  disqualified  themselves  by  indulging  in  human  re* 
flections,  he  might  learn  immediately,  through  God,  the  mysteries  of 
His  kingdom,  and  be  initiated  in  the  true  sense  of  Holy  Writ.  Melanc* 
Ihon  went  as  an  apprentice  to  a  baker,  not  only  to  learn  how  to  under- 
stand the  Bible,  but  to  apply  it,  when  understood  in  the  manner  we 
have  mentioned  ;  for,  the  passage  "  by  the  sweat  of  thy  brow,"  &:c.  he 
conceived  to  be  a  divine  precept,  imposing  the  duty  of  manual  labour. 
We  are,  indeed,  aware,  that  Luther  himself  very  much  modified  this 
his  original  view,  which,  on  the  part  of  the  Lutherans  and  Calvinists, 
had  been  made  to  undergo  a  still  greater  change.  But,  when  we  wish 
to  exhibit  to  view,  the  internal  genesis  of  the  Protestant  theory  of  the 
Church,  we  should  not  hold  up  the  later  phase  as  the  earliest,  nor,  in 
general,  confound  one  with  the  other.  The  later  conceptions  of  Luther, 
which  were  meant  to  be  an  improvement  on  his  earlier  opinions,  brought 
into  his  system  contradictions,  which  must  themselves  be  accounted 
for.  It  was  also  only  outward  phenomena  that  induced  Luther  to  pur- 
sue another  course — to  wit,  the  rise  of  the  Anabaptists.  As  the  authors 
of  this  sect,  like  Luther,  appealed  to  the  interior  teachings  of  the  Di- 
vinity, and  as  he  felt  utterly  incapable  of  meeting  their  objections  on 
this  ground,  he  saw  himself  forced  to  insist  anew,  on  the  indispensable 
necessity  of  human  cflforts,  for  the  right  understanding  of  Scripture.  In 
general,  the  fanatical  commotions,  excited  by  the  so-called  heavenly 
prophets,  gave  a  very  different  turn  to  Luther's  mind,  than  he  previous- 
ly  had  ;  and  this  fact,  Adolphus  Menzcl,  in  his  "  Modern  History  of  the 
Germans,"  has  observed  with  great  penetration.  But,  at  all  events, 
those  are  far  from  duly  appreciating  Luther's  views  and  spirit,  who 
imagine,  that  he  absolutely  believed  that  he  could  disjcover  the  true 
sense  of  Scripture,  by  an  historico-grammatical  interpretation.  Nothing 
•was  more  alien  to  him — nothing  more  at  variance  with  his  whole  sys- 
tem :  the  very  notion  that,  by  human  exertions,  we  can  win  and  appro- 
priate to  ourselves  the  knowledge  of  divine  things^  he  held  to  be  the 
acme  of  ungodliness.  Learned  interpretation  was,  by  no  means,  his 
method  for  discovering  the  sense  of  the  Bible,  but  only  for  obtaining 
for  himself  and  others,  an  exegetical  explication  of  the  sense,  engender- 
ed in  man  by  the  immediate  and  exclusive  operation  of  the  Deitj^ — an 
explication,  which,  according  to  his  principles,  should  have  appeared 
quite  unnecessary.  Zwingle's  and  Luther's  original  views,  may  thus, 
in  a  certain  sense,  be  compared  with  the  Catholic  doctrine.  The  Catho- 
lic Church  saith  :  "  I  am  immediately  certain,  wherein  the  true  doc- 
trine of  Christ  and  of  the  Apostles  consists,  for,  I  have  been  therein  in- 
tructed,  trained  up  and  educated  ;  and  what  I  have  learned,  hath  been, 


BETWEEN  CATHOLICS  AND  PROTESTANTS.  387 

hy  the  Divine  Spirit,  deeply  impressed  and  confirmed  on  my  heart. 
The  written  word  of  the  Apostles  can  only  coincide  with  their  oral 
'comrriunications,  and  must  be  interpreted  by  the  same.  On  the  other 
hand,  the  opinion  of  the  two  Reformers  appears  to  have  been  this : 
**  God,  by  his  own  interior  word  of  power,  working  with  human  co-ope- 
ration,  hath  implanted  his  doctrine  within  us,  through  the  vehicle  of  the 
Sacred  Scriptures.  According  to  this  interior  word,  whose  working 
forms  the  Christian  consciousness,  the  outward  word  must,  in  its  de- 
tails, be  then  explained."  It  is  indeed  extremely  difficult  to  form  a  very 
^clear  conception  of  the  primitive  views  of  the  Reformers  :  but,  we 
think  it  vain  to  attempt  to  reconcile,  in  any  other  manner,  the  words 
of  Luther,  "  The  believer  is  internally  taught  by  God  alone,"  with  the 
perpetually  recurring  assertion,  that,  without  the  Bible,  no  Christian 
knowledge  is  possible.  In  the  sequel,  we  shall  obtain  fuller  explanations 
on  this  matter. 

§  XLV. — Continuation.  Internal  ordination.  Every  Christian  a  priest  and  teacher, 
and  consequently  independent  of  all  ecclesiastical  communion.  Notion  of  ecclct 
siastical  freedom. 

These  opinions  were  attended  with  the  weightiest  and  most  decisive 
consequences.  As  each  believer  was  deemed  to  be  instructed  by  God 
alone,  and  capable,  without  human  aid,  of  attaining  to  Christian  know«= 
ledge  ;  so,  in  the  first  place,  an  outward  Christian  ministry  could  not 
even  be  conceived  :  God,  by  means  of  Scripture,  was  the  sole  teacher. 
Jn  the  second  place,  ordination,  as  a  sacrament,  became  no  longer  ne^ 
pessary  :  since  this  presupposes  the  necessity  of  a  continuance  of  the 
divine  work  of  salvation,  by  the  mediation  a£  the  Church.  But  then, 
as  God  communicates  himself,  with  indubitable  certainty,  only  in  an 
immediate  and  mterior  manner,  it  follows,  that  as  no  human  teacher  is 
any  longer  necessary  ;  so  an  outwardly  accredited  ministry  is  equally, 
and  still  more  unnecessary.  The  exterior  ordination  becomes  trans- 
muted into  a  purely  internal  act,  whereby  God  imparts  the  consecration 
of  the  Spirit,  not  to  this  or  that  individual  in  a  special  manner,  but  to 
all  in  an  equal  degree.  In  a  word,  Luther  laid  hold  of  the  old  Christian 
idea  of  a  universal  priesthood,  disfigured  it,  and  then  applied  it  to  his 
new  scheme.  This  is  a  subject  to  which  he  often  recurs,  but,  he  treats 
it,  at  full  length,  in  the  Essay  to  the  Bohemian  Brethren,  which  we 
have  already  had  occasion  to  cite.  We  must  here  briefly  state  the  lead* 
ing  ideas  of  this  essay.  Quite  in  the  beginning,  and  still  more  in  the 
■course  of  this  production.  Catholic  Ordination  is  exhibited  as  a  mere 
daubing,  shaving,  and  jugglery,  whereby  nought  but  lying  and  idle 
fools,  true  priests  of  Satan,  were  made.     One  could  likewise  shave  the 


388  EXPOSITION  OF  DOCTRINAL  DIFFERENCES 

hair  off  any  sow,  and  put  a  dress  on  any  block.*  Luther  requires  his^ 
disciples  confidently  to  reject  all  those,  who  have  been  ordained  by  the 
beast  as  he  calls  the  Pope,  that  is  to  say,  all  those  who  had  received 
ordination  in  the  Catholic  Church,  in  whose  place  the  Pope  is  named, 
as  bcin"-  its  representative.  No  one  should  doubt,  he  says,  that  be  is 
justified,  nay,  obliged  to  do  this,  since  all  believers  have  received  from 
Christ  a  priestly  dignity,  which  not  only  entitles^  but  binds  them  to 
exercise  the  office  of  teaching,  to  forgive  sins,  and  to  administer  all 
the  sacraments.  The  Holy  Spirit,  with  its  interior  unction,  instructs 
each  one  in  all  things,  engenders  faith  in  him,  and  makes  him  assured 
of  its  possession. f  Although  now  all  be  qualified  for,  and  possess  the 
right  of  exercising  the  priestly  functions,  yet,  in  order  to  avoid  disorder, 
they  must  delegate  to  one  or  more  of  their  body  the  general  right,  to  be 
exercised  in  their  place,  and  in  their  name,  after  the  more  respected 
members  of  the  community  have  imposed  hands  on  him,  and  thereby 
made  him  their  bishop.  (Ordination  according  to  this  point  of  view, 
is  nothing  more  than  a  mere  act  of  introduction  into  an  ecclesiastical 
oflSce.) 

Before  we  proceed  in  this  exposition,  we  may  be  permitted  to-  express 
'  the  thoughts,  which  the  views  of  Luther  here  stated,  have  excited  in  our 
minds.  His  writing  to  the  Bohemians,  in  the  true  democratic  tone  of 
the  most  disgusting  popular  adulation,  confers  on  every  Christian  a 
degree  of  perfection,  which  is  belied  by  the  most  casual  glance,  that 
an  impartial  spirit  will  cast  into  its  own  interior.     That  yearning  after 


*  Luther  de  Instituendis  minist,  cedes,  opp.  torn.  ii.  fol.  585. 

t  Loc.  cit  fol.  584.  '•  Christianuin  esse  puto  eum,  qui  Spiri!um  sanctum  habef, 
qui  ut  (Christus  ait)  docebit  eum  omnia.  Et  Johannes  ait :  unctio  ejus  docebit  vos- 
omnia,  hoc  est,  ut  in  summa  dicara  :  Christianus  ita  certus  est,  quid  credere  et  non 
credere  debeat,  ut  ctiam  pro  ipso  moriatur,  aut  saltern  mori  paratus  sit."  (What 
would  Luther  now  say?  Fol.  585.  ''Dcinde  cum  quilibet  sit  ad  verbi  ministerium 
natuse  baptismo,  etc.  Quodsi  exemplum  petimus,  adcst  Apollo  Act.  Irf,  quem  legi- 
mus  plane  sine  ulla  vocatione  et  ordinatione  Ephesum  venisse  et  ferventer  docuisse, 
Judteosque  potenter  revicisse. — Aliud  exemplum  praestant  Stephanus  et  Philippus.  . 

.  Quo  jure,  rogo,  et  qua  auctoritate  ?  Certe  nusquam  nee  rogati  nee  vocati  aquo>- 
piam,  sed  proprio  moluet  generah  jure."  (What  astonishing  proofs !  >  Then:  "Nova 
res  est,  inquinnt,  et  sine  exempio,  sic  eligere  et  creare  cpiscupos.  Respondeo  :  Imo' 
antiquissima  ct  exemplis  Apostolorum  suorun>que  discipulorum  probata,  licet  per  Pa- 
pistas  contrario  excmplo  et  pcstilentibus  doctrinis  abolita  et  extincta."  (Compare  the 
Acts  of  the  Apostles  c.  xiv.  22  ;  Titus,  c.  i.  5.  1 1  ;  Tim.  ii.  2.;  Deinde  si  maxime 
nova  res  esset.  tamen  cum  verbum  Dei  hie  luceat  et  jubeat,  simul  necessitas  anima- 
rum  cogit,  prorsus  nihil  movere  dtbetrei  novitas,  sod  verbi  majeatas.  Nam  quid  rogo 
Qon  est  novum,  quod  fides  facit  ?  Non  fuit  etiam  Apostolorum  tempore  novum  hu- 
jusmodi  ministerium  ?     Non  fuit  novum,  quod  filii  Israel  mare  transierunt  ?"  etc. 


BETWEEN  CATHOLICS  AND  PROTESTANTS.  389 

communion,  which  is  discernible  in  every  man,  and  by  none  is  felt 
more  vividly  than  by  the  Christian,  would  be  utterly  inexplicable,  if 
each  man,  like  to  a  God,  knew  everything,  possessed  all  truth  and  all 
iife  within  himself,  and,  in  every  respect,  absolutely  sufficed  for  him- 
self. All  communion  arises  and  exists  but  by  the  sense,  or  the  clear 
knowledge  of  our  own  wants  and  deficiencies,  and  the  perception 
thereby  determined,  that  it  is  only  in  connexion  with,  and  the  closest 
adherence  to  others,  our  own  incapacity  and  helplessness  can  be  re- 
moved. From  Luther's  view  of  the  rights  of  a  Christian,  we  cannot 
even  conceive,  why  the  latter  should  at  all  need  a  teacher,  and  where- 
fore a  community,  of  which  each  individual  member  possesses  sufficient 
power,  to  satisfy  all  his  own  wants,  should  be  called  on  to  appoint  such 
a  teacher.  Even  the  quite  material  and  paltry  motive,  which  he  assigns 
for  the  necessity  of  a  public  teacher,  namely,  "  the  avoidance  of  dis- 
order," is,  in  his  scheme,  devoid  of  all  consistency. 

What  need  is  there  of  a  congregation,  for  mutual  edification  or  mu- 
tual instruction,  when  each  individual  is  taught  to  consider  himself  as 
an  independent,  all-sufficient  monad  ?  Far  other  principles  than  these 
of  Luther's,  did  the  Apostle  Paul,  in  his  first  epistle  to  the  Corinthians, 
(c.  xii.)  unfold  on  the  communion  of  life  in  the  Church,  which  he  finds 
established  in  the  distribution  of  the  diverse  gifts  of  the  one  Spirit 
among  many,  yet,  in  their  operations  necessary  for  all  believers,  who, 
therefore,  like  the  members  of  one  body,  are  taught  to  depend  one  upon 
the  other.  If  Luther  says,  "  each  one  is  born  out  of  baptism  for  the 
ministry,"  so  Paul,  on  the  other  hand,  saith  :  "  Are  all  apostles,  are  all 
prophets,  are  all  teachers  ?"  Luther  considers  the  Divine  Spirit  as  so 
distributed  among  all,  that  in  each  individual  it  is  found  in  all  its  forms, 
whereby  the  very  idea  of  a  common  organic  life  is  utterly  destroyed. 
Paul,  on  the  other  hand,  asserts  the  various  revelations  of  the  One  in  the 
many,  whereby  a  living  connected  whole  is  produced.* 


*  Mclchior  Canus  (Loci  theologici,  lib.  iv.  c.  4,  p  238,  seq  )  has  already  well  an. 
■swered  the  objection  of  the  Reformers,  that  Catholics  attributed  the  entire  gifts  of  the 
Holy  Spirit  to  the  body  only,  and  were  unwilling  to  concede  to  individuals  the  full 
measure  of  such  graces,  though  they  need  them  all.  Canus  replies,  as  the  peculiar 
functions  of  every  member  in  the  physical  body  tend  to  the  profit  of  the  whole,  and 
each  participates  in  them  all,  so  it  is  with  the  moral  body  of  the  Church.  "  Uni- 
cuiqne,  ait  S  Paulus,  nostrum  data  est  gratia  secundum  mensuram  donationis  Christi. 
Et.  ipse  dedit  quosdam  quidem  apostolos,  etc.  ad  consummationcm  sanctorum  in 
opus  ministerii,  in  asdificationem  corporis  Christi.  Et  posterius  :  accrescamus  in 
illo,  qui  est  caput  Christus  ;  ex  quo  totum  corpus  compactum  et  connexum  secun- 
dum operationem,  in  mensuram  uniuscujusquc  membri,  augmentum  corporis  facit  in 
adificationcm  sui  in  charitate."     (Eph.  c.   iv.,    11.   16.)     Membrum  igitur,  quoniam 


390  EXPOSITION  OF  DOCTRINAL  DIFFERENCES 

Luther  thus  considered  each  individual  behever  as  absolutely  inde- 
pendent of  a  religious  community,  because  standing  in  need  of  none, 
and  therefore  ecclesiastically  free.  Here  we  are  enabled  to  explain  a 
phenomenon,  the  connection  whereof  with  others  was  impervious  to  the 
understanding  of  a  celebrated  historian.  Schmidt,  in  his  history  of  the 
Germans,  deemed  it  strange,  on  the  part  of  the  Lutherans,  that  they 
should  reject  metaphysical  freedom,  and  yet,  on  the  other  hand,  lay 
claim  to  ecclesiastical  liberty.  It  was  precisely,  however,  the  denial  of 
the  former,  which  led  to  the  affirmation  of  the  latter.  He  who  believes 
himself  to  be  guided  by  God  mily,  cannot  possibly  discover  any  mean- 
ing in  a  dependence  on  men  ;  nay,  he  must  reject  it  as  absurd — as,  on 
one  hand,  the  offspring  of  arrogance,  ambition,  and  the  love  of  a  besot- 
ting domination  ;  so  on  the  other,  as  the  effect  of  spiritual  blindness, 
and  of  a  slavish  sense,  ignorant  of  Gospel  liberty — the  liberty  of  the 
children  of  God.  The  Catholic,  on  the  other  hand,  who  concedes  to 
man  the  first-named  species  of  freedom,  and  pretends  not  to  deny  his 
power  of  independent  action,  cannot  do  otherwise  than  look  on  himself 
as  bound  by  the  authority  of  the  Church,  and  for  this  reason,  because 
everything  human  is  to  be  considered  as  established  in  manifold  rela- 
tions, and  determined  by  the  finite  world,  in  which  it  lives.* 


id,  quod  totius  corporis  est,  nihil  sibi  vindicat  proprium  :  sed  ita  in  corpus  omnia  con- 
fert,  ut  magis  corporis,  quam  membri  actioncs  perfectionesquo  esse  videantur.  Quo- 
circa  illud  absurdum  est,  quod  ii  scilicet,  quibuscum  nunc    disseritur,  earn  curam,. 

quam  dcbcnt  capere,  non  capiunt Nos  sane,  quemadmodum   scimus,  animam 

actum  et  perfectioncm  esse,  maxime  quidem  corporis  physici  organici,  secundo 
autem  loco  membrorum  etiam  slngulorum,  quibus  varias  licet  edat  functiones, 
sed  omnes  illse  et  corporis  proprie  sunt,  et  propter  corpus  ipsum  membris  a  na- 
turS.  tributae  ;  ita  spiritum  veritatis  ad  corpus  primum  ecclesias  referimus,  deinde 
propter  ecclcsiam  ad  singulas  etiam  ecclesix  partes,  non  ex  sequo,  sed  analogia  et  pro- 
portionc  quadam  juxta  mensuram  uniuscujusque  membri.  Unum  corpus,  inquit,  et 
unus  spiritus.  Unicuique  autem  nostrum  data  est  gratia  secundum  mensuram  dona- 
tionis  Christi.  Qua?nam,  vcro,  hsc  mensura  Christi  est  ?  Secundum  opcrationemr 
ait,  in  mensuram  uniuscujusqe  membri.  Spiritus  ergo  suo  quidem  modo  singulis  pro- 
missus  est,  ut  magnos  doceat,  doceat  ct  parvulos.  Ac  parvulis  lac  potuni  dat,  ma- 
joribus  solidum  cibuni.  Illis  Christum  loquitur  et  hunc  crucifixem  :  his  loquiter  sa- 
pientiam  in  mysterio  absconditam.  Verum  singuhs  membris  sic  spiritus  veritatis 
adest,  ut  non  solum  eorpori  universo  non  desit^  sed  corpori  quam  membris  prius  po, 
tiusque  intelhgatur  adesse,  etc. 

*  Luther  do  capt.  Babyl.  p.  288,  b.  "  Christianis  nihil  nullo  jure  posse  imponi  le- 
gum,  sive  ab  hominibus,  sive  ab  angclis,  nisi  quantiun  volunt,  liberi  ciiim  sumus  ab 
omnibus.  Dccebat  enim  nos  esse,  sicut  parvuli  baptizati,  qui  nullis  studiis,  nuUis  ope- 
ribus  occupati.  In  omnia  sunt  liberi,  soli  us  gloria  baptismi  sui  securi  ct  salvi.  Sumus 
enim  ct  ipsi  parvuli  in  Christo,  assiduc  baptizati,  p.  2iS,  a.  Dico  itaquc  :  ncquc  pa- 
pa, ncque  episcopus,   ncquc  ullus  hominum  habct  jus  unius  syllabaj  constituendiE 


BETWEEN  CATHOLICS  AND  PROTESTANTS.  391 

Moreover,  in  considering  the  outward  relations  of  things,  it  is  not 
difficult  to  conceive  how  the  doctrine  we  have  stated  might,  nay  must, 
have  arisen  in  the  mind  of  Luther.  As  he  had  against  him  the  authori- 
ty of  the  existing  Church,  he  was  forced  to  resort  to  the  immediate 
power  of  God  working  within  him  ;  as  the  old  ecclesiastical  spirit  be- 
came extinct  in  his  breast,  he  must  begin  by  renouncing  all  historical 
and  traditionary  guidance,  and  incapable  of  calling  back  in  person  the 
Apostles  themselves,  in  order  to  be  authorized  by  them  in  the  name  of 
Christ,  he  saw  no  other  expedient  than  an  appeal  to  an  invisible,  inter- 
nal authorization.  The  consequences  were  not  slow  to  follow.  Scarce 
had  Luther's  opinions  obtained  currency,  and  begun  to  be  enforced, 
when  men,  the  most  uncalled,  deemed  themselves  to  have  received  the 
calling  of  teachers,  and  universal  confusion  ensued.* 

The  Augsburg  Confession  sought  to  obviate  this  evil,  and  hence  en- 
joined, that  no  one  should  teach  in  public,  who  had  not  received  a  law- 
ful vocation.  An  article  which,  in  the  Lutheran  system,  is  utterly 
unintelligible,  and  to  which,  therefore,  we  can  assign  no  place  therein  : 
but  must  merely  rest  satisfied  with  stating  its  existence,  as  well  as  the 
extraneous  causes,  to  which  it  owed  its  origin.  It  is,  too,  a  conse- 
quence of  the  accidental  character  of  this  article,  that  it  merely  asserts, 
that  every  teacher  is  to  be  called  in  a  lawful  manner,  without  at  ^11 
determining  in  what  this  lawfulness  consists. f     Lawfulness,  according 


super  Christianum  hominem,  nisi  id  fiat  ejusdem  consensd,  quidqtiid  aliter  fit,  tyran- 
nico  spintCl  fit."  Hence,  Melancthon,  in  further  proof  of  this  asserts  that,  after 
Christ,  no  new  law,  no  ordinance  and  rite  ought  io  be  instituted.  "  Loci,  p.  6.  Adc- 
mit  igitur  potestatem,  novas  leges,  novos  ritus  condendi." 

*  The  congregations  elected  such  men  for  their  preachers,  as  spoke  in  a  manner 
the  carnal  sense  was  delighted  to  hear.  It  was,  by  such  preachers  that  the  war  of 
the  peasants  was,  in  a  great  degree,  enkindled.  George  Eberlin,  a  Lutheran  pastor, 
in  the  year  1526,  dissuaded  the  peasants  from  joining  in  the  insurrection,  and  among 
other  things  observed:  "Should  the  people  say,  why  had  revolt  been  preached  up  to 
them,  the  answer  is,  why  did  they  not  let  their  preachers  be  tested  beforehand,  and 
without  advice  suffer  every  loose  fisherman  to  preach?  Compare  Bucholz:  Gcs- 
chichte  der  Regierung  Ford.  I.  (History  of  the  Reign  of  Ferdinand  I.)  Vienna, 
1831.  vol.  ii.  p.  220. 

+  Confess.  August.  Art.  xiv.  De  ordine  ecclesiastico  docent,  quod  nemo  debeat 
in  ecclcsia  publice  docere,  nisi  rite  vocalus.  Moreover,  it  was  necessary  not  only  to 
pass  this  ordinance,  but  to  enjoin,  that  teachers  should  generally  be  procured,  and  be 
maintained.  The  Saxon  nobility  and  peasants  took  Luther  at  his  word  ;  and  since 
he  had  told  them,  that,  by  the  interior  unction,  they  were  made  acquainted  with  all 
things  :  and  as  men  divinely  illuminated,  they  stood  in  need  of  no  human  teachers, 
they  were  uncommonly  flattered  by  this  declaration,  and  seriously  resolved  to  do 
away  with  the  public  ministry.     Hence,  they  withheld  from  the  curates  their  dues. 


392  EXPOSITION  OF  POCTRINAL  DIFFERENCES 

to  Ihc  principles  of  the  Reformers,  consisted  in  this  :  that  nothing  ex- 
ternal could  be  lawfully  instituted,  and  that  every  one  might  undertake 
the  office  of  teacher,  who  believed  himself  under  the  impulse  of  the 
Divine  Spirit,  and  could  find  such  sirlgular  hearers,  as,  firmly  con- 
vinced, they  already  knew  everything,  and  needed  no  instruction,  yet 
were,  nevertheless,  most  desirous  to  learn.  That,  at  a  later  period, 
the  Consistories  reserved  to  themselves  the  right  of  deciding  on  the 
qualifications  of  a  candidate,  for  the  office  of  preacher,  and  permitted 
the  congregation  to  elect  only  such,  as  had  enlisted  the  approval  of  the 
most  higher  functionaries,  is  a  fact  as  well  known,  as  the  utter  incon- 
sistency of  such  an  arrangement,  with  the  fundamental  doctrines  of 
Luther,  must  be  evident  to  every  mind.  At  all  events,  it  is  a  very  re- 
markable fact,  that  the  Lutherans,  nay,  Luther  himself,  in  his  maturer 
3'ears,  should  have  practically,  at  least,  rejected  his  fundamental  opin- 
ions, and  thereby  unequivocally  demonstrated,  that,  perfectly  adapted 
as  those  opinions  might  be,  for  the  destruction  of  an  existing  Church, 
and  the  subversion  of  all  established  notions,  yet  were  they  utterly  un- 
serviceable, for  the  building  up  and  consolidation  of  a  new  Church. 
To  construct  such  a  Church,  they  were  forced  to  recur  to  the  old 
Catholic  method,  which  had  been  so  violently  assailed.  In  the  exami- 
nation of  the  doctrines  of  the  Anabaptists,  we  shall  first  have  occasion 
to  furnish  the  most  striking  evidences  of  this  retrograde  movement. 

§  xLvi, — Continuation.     Invisible  Church. 

By  the  analysis  we  have  followed,  we  have  obtained  a  tolerably  com- 
plete insight,  into  the  Lutheran  theory  of  the  Church.  The  believer, 
according  to  what  has  been  stated,  is,  in  the  first  place,  instructed  by 
God  only,  exclusively  of  all  co-operation  of  human  activity,  whether  it 
be  his  own,  or  that  of  other  men.  In  the  second  place,  he  is  on  this 
account  infallible,  because,  having  been  taught  by  God,  without  human 
concurrence,  whereby  error  can  alone  arise,  he  is  in  himself  absolutely 


Luther  complains  somewhere,  "  That  if  aid  be  not  speedily  brought,  the  Gospel, 
schools  and  parish  ministers,  arc  all  ruined  in  this  land  ;  the  latter  must  go,  for  they 
possess  nothing,  and  wander  about,  looking  like  haggard  ghosts."  Elsewhere  he 
says :  "  The  people  will  no  longer  give  anything,  and  there  is  such  thanklessncss 
among  them  for  the  lioly  Word  of  God,  that,  if  I  could  do  it  with  a  safe  conscience,  I 
should  iiclp  to  deprive  them  of  pastors  or  preachers,  and  let  them  live  like  swine,  as 
they  already  do."  See  Plank's  History  of  the  Protestant  System  of  Doctrine.  Vol. 
ii.p.  342.  (In  German.)  Had  not  the  sovereign  power  interfered  to  set  restraints  on 
this  gospel  liberty,  never,  accordmg  to  Luther's  principles,  could  an  ecclesiastical 
community  have  been  formed. 


BETWEEN  CATHOLICS  AND  PROTESTANTS.  393 

inerrable.  Thirdly,  it  cannot  hence  be  discerned,  why  he  should  need 
the  supplemental  aid  of  a  congregation,  invested  with  authority,  from 
whose  centre  the  Word  of  God  should  be  announced  to  him  ;  for,  by 
the  assistance  of  the  outward  Divine  Word,  written  in  the  depths  of 
his  heart,  he  hears  his  voice  alone,  and  without  an  intermediate  organ.* 

What,  after  all  this,  can  the  Church  be  other  than  an  invisible 
community,  since  no  rational  object,  in  the  visibility  of  the  Church,  can 
any  longer  be  conceived  ?  So,  in  fact,  Luther  defines  its  notion,  when 
he  says,  "  As  we  pray  in  faith,  I  believe  in  a  Holy  Ghost,  in  a  com- 
munion of  saints.  This  means  the  community,  or  congregation  of  all 
those,  who  live  in  the  right  faith,  hope  and  charity  ;  thus,  the  essence, 
life  and  nature  of  Christendom,  consists  not  in  a  bodily  assemblage,  but 
in  the  assemblage  of  hearts  in  one  faith."f  That  this  one  faith  will 
never  fail,  Luther  had  not  the  slightest  cause  to  doubt,  for  God,  whose 
agency  is  here  represented  as  exclusive,  will  everywhere  produce  the 
same  effects. 

But,  we  have  already  seen  how  Luther,  although,  according  to  him, 
believers  are  inwardly  taught  by  God  alone,  yet  all  at  once  (and  with- 
out its  being  possible  to  discover,  in  his  system,  any  rational  ground 
for  such  an  assumption),  admits  the  establishment  of  human  teachers, 
and  even  the  lawfulness  of  their  calling.  Hereby  the  Church  becomes 
visible,  recognizable,  obvious  to  the  eye,  so  that  the  ill-connected  notions 
of  God,  the  sole  teacher,  and  of  a  human  teacher  declared  competent, 
and  who  cannot  yet  be  dispensed  with,  meet  us  again  in  such  a  way  as 
to  imply,  that  the  invisible  is  still  a  visible  Church  also.  In  Luther's 
work  against  Ambrosius  Catharinus,  this  singular  combination  of  ideas 
is  most  decidedly  expressed.  Luther  asks  himself  the  question,  which 
Catharinus  had  already  proposed,  "  but  those  will  say,  if  the  Church  be 
quite  in  the  spirit,  and  of  a  nature  thoroughly  spiritual,  how  can  we 
discern  where  on  earth  any  part  of  it  may  bel"  And  he  accordingly 
confesses,  that  it   must  be  absolutely  internal  in  its  nature  ;  only  he 


*  We  must  here  for  once  observe  to  our  readers,  that  it  is  not  our  fault,  if,  in  the 
words  of  the  text,  a  contradiction  should  be  apparent.  For,  the  words,  "  God  alone 
without  any  intermediate  organ  worketh  in  man  ;"  and  those,  "  He  worketh  by  the 
aid  of  the  external,  divine,  and  written  Word,"  involve  a  contradiction.  It  is  only  in 
the  second  part  of  this  work,  this  contradiction  will  be  fully  solved. 

t  Luther  "  On  the  Papacy."  Jena.  German  edition,  vol.  i.  p.  266.  Respons.  ad 
librum  Ambros.  Cathar.  anno  1521.  0pp.  torn  ii.  fol.  376.  In  the  work  on  the  Pa- 
pacy, Luther  says,  "  Furthermore,  because  communion  with  the  visible  Church  con- 
stitutes no  communion  with  the  invisible,  and  because  many  non-Christians  are  found 
in  the  visible  Church,  so  no  visible  Church  is  at  all  necessary  I" 


394  EXPOSITION  OF  DOCTRINAL  DIFFERENCES 

replies,  "  the  ncccsary  mark,  whereby  we  recognize  it,  and  which  we 
possess,  is  baptism,  and  the  Lord's  Supper,  and  above  all,  the  Gospel."* 
Hereby  the  Church  evidently  becomes  outwardly  manifest,  and  conse- 
quently not  entirely,  and  in  every  respect  spiritual.  Still  better  doth 
the  Augsburg  Confession  describe  the  Church  as  a  community  of  saints, 
in  which  the  Gospel  is  rightly  taught,  and  the  sacraments  are  duly 
administered  ;f  ^so  that?  in  as  far  as  it  consists  of  saints  only,  it  is  abso- 
lutely invisible  ;  for  the  saints  no  one  knoweth  but  God  alone  ;  and,  in- 
asmuch as  the  Gospel  is  there  taught,  and  baptism,  and  the  body  of  the 
Lord  are  therein  administered,  it  cannot  avoid  being  visible.  The 
singularity  of  the  notion,  that  the  Church,  which  should  be  only  an 
invisible,  because  a  purely  spiritual  one,  yet  must  be  perceptible  to  the 
senses,  is  still  further  heightened  by  the  addition,  that  it  is  found  there, 
where  the  Gospel  is  rightly  taught,  and  the  sacraments  are  rightly  ad- 
ministered. For  this  passage  su^jposes  that  there  are  false  Churches  ; 
and  now  to  distinguish  the  tr-ue  from  the  opposite  Churches,  the  right 
doctrine  set  forth  by  the  saints,  and  the  right  worship  adminis- 
tered by  them,  is  given  as  a  sign.  Doubtless,  the  true  Church 
possesses  the  pure  evangelical  Word  and  sacraments,  and  lives 
by  them,  and  consequently  possesses  saints.  Yet,  from  all  this,  the 
true  Church  of  Christ,  amid  the  struggle  of  various  parties,  is  not  to  be 
recognized.  For,  either  from  the  circumstance,  that  a  saint,  or,  in 
other  words,  a  man  qualified  by  God  alone  for  the  ministry,  preaches, 
we  should  conclude  his  doctrine  to  be  true  ;  or  else,  from  the  truth  of 
his  doctrine,  we  infer  that  he  is  a  saint.  The  first  is  not  possible,  for, 
from  a  thing  to  us  uncertain,  nothing  certain  can  be  deduced.  The 
second  presupposes,  that  he,  who  wishes  to  learn  the  true  doctrine  of 
Christ,  and  consequently  demands  a  characteristic  of  the  same,  already 
possesses  the  true  doctrine,  and  is  certain  and  assured  of  its  possession, 
and  therefore  needs  t>o  mark.  Yet,  every  one  inquires  after  the  true 
Church  of  Christ,  only  because  he  wishes  to  attain  to  the  possession  of 
Christ's  true  doctrine,  as  well  as  to  acquire  the  certainty  and  assurance. 


*  Luther's  Respons.  ad  libr.  Ambros.  Cathar.  loc.  cit.  fol.  376.377.  Dices  autera, 
si  ccclcsia  tola  est  in  spiritu,  et  res  omnino  spiritualis,  nemo  ergo  nosse  poterit,  ubi  sit 
ulla  ejus  pars  in  toto  orbe.  .  .  .  Quo  ergo  signo  agnoscam  ecclesiam?  Respondeo; 
signum  necessariura  est,  quod  et  hubcmus,  Baptisrna,  ac  paneni  et  omnium  potissi- 
mum  Evangelium. 

1  Confess.  August.  Art.  vii.  Item  decent,  quod  una  sancta  ecclesia  perpetuo 
mansura  sit.  Est  autem  ecclesia  congrcgatio  sanctorum,  in  quS,  Evangelium  recte 
docetur,  et  recte  administrantur  sacramcnta.  Et  ad  vcram  unitutem  ecclcsiae  satis 
est,  consentire  de  doctrinS,  Evangclii,  et  administratione  sacramentorum. 


BETWEEN  CATHOLICS  AND   PROTESTANTS.  395 

that  he  possesses  it.  But,  should  he  receive  for  answer,  the  true 
Church  is  there,  where  the  true  doctrine  is  found,  so  a  reply  is  evidently 
given,  which  is  nought  else  but  the  question  itself,  that  is  to  say,  nothing 
at  all  is  answered. 

§  XLvii. — Continuation.    Rise  of  the  visible  Church  according  to  Luther.     Ultimate 
reasons  for  the  truth  of  an  article  ol  faith. 

But,  as  yet  this  reasoning  can  scarcely  be  understood  ;  and  its  real 
sense  will  then  only  be  clearly  apprehended,  when  we  have  dwelt  more 
at  large  on  the  origin  of  the  Church,  such  as  Luther  darkly  conceived 
it.  His  meaning  may  thus  be  more  accurately  expressed  as  follows. 
In  a  man,  belief  in  Christ  takes  seed  ;  if  this  faith  come  to  maturity, 
then  is  the  disciple  of  Christ  formed.  But,  as  a  mere  believer,  he  stands 
only  in  one  relation  to  God  in  Christ ;  he  is  a  member  of  the  invisible 
Church,  of  the  concealed  and  everywhere  scattered  worshippers  of  the 
Lord.  But  as  soon  as  he  gives  utterance  to  his  faith,  that  which  was 
hidden  within  him,  bursts  visibly  forth,  and  he  appears  an  open  disciple 
of  the  Saviour,  perceptible  to  the  eyes  of  the  whole  world.  If  he  finds 
now  several  with  the  like  views,  if  they  associate  with  him,  and  together 
outwardly  set  forth  the  substance  of  that,  which  they  internally  recog- 
nize as  religious  truth  :  then  the  invisible  community  becomes  visible. 
The  common  faith,  which  inwardly  animated  and  united  all,  ere  they 
knew  each  other's  sentiments,  becomes,  as  a  common  doctrine,  an  out- 
ward bond  holding  them  all  together.  In  the  same  way  it  is  with  the 
sacraments,  and  the  outward  worship,  which  they  acknowledge  to  be 
ordained  by  Christ.  That  Luther  had  this  idea,  is  evident  from  what 
follows.  In  his  apology  for  free-will,  Erasmus  took  occasion  to  touch 
on  this  weak  side,  in  the  Lutheran  doctrine  respecting  the  Church. 
Luther  had  then  made  considerable  steps  in  the  way  of  improvement, 
and  solemnly  declared,  that  he  approved  not  the  principles  of  those  who, 
in  all  their  assertions,  constantly  appealed  to  the  language  of  the  Spirit, 
in  their  interior  ;  and  expressed  his  opinion  in  what  manner  the  Scrip- 
ture should  be  judge  in  matters  of  faith.  He  says,  an  internal  certainty 
of  having  seized  the  true  sense  of  Holy  Writ,  is  to  be  distinguished  from 
the  outward  certainty  ;  the  former  (the  Christian  consciousness) 
consisting  in  the  testimony  of  the  Holy  Spirit,  which  assures  each 
individual,  that  he  is  in  possession  of  the  truth ;  the  latter  con- 
sisting in  the  Scriptural  proofs   alleged  by  the  public   ministry.*     In 


*  Luther  de  servo  arbitrio.  Opp.  torn.  iii.  fol.  182.     Nequc  illos  probo,  qui  refugium 
suum  ponunt  in  jactantia  spiritus.     Nos  sic  dicimus,  duplici  judicio  spiritus  esse  ex- 


396  EXPOSITION  OF  DOCTRINAL  DIFFERENCES 

this  passage,  the  clornry  arc  conceived  to  be  the  representatives  of  the 
Church,  which  accordingly  is  of  a  nature  quite  visible,  and  professing 
the  faith  of  the  invisible  Church,  expressing  its  consciousness,  has  a  de- 
fined system  of  doctrines,  that  through  the  instrumentahty  of  its  minis- 
ters  it  defends,  and,  as  the  sentence  of  the  saints,  holds  to  be  true  and 
inerrable.  The  visible  Church  appears,  consequently,  as  the  expression 
and  the  copy  of  the  invisible. 

The  following  considerations  are  of  great  importance,  to  enable  us  to 
form  a  complete  conception  of  the  Lutheran  theory  of  the  Church,  and 
of  its  divergence  from  the  Catholic  system.  Luther  confounded  the 
internal  sense  of  the  truth  of  a  proposition,  with  its  outward  testimony, 
or  rather,  his  view  of  the  purely  interior  and  spiritual  nature  of  the 
Church,  whose  members  were  instructed  by  the  Holy  Spirit  only,  neces- 
sarily  involved  this  confusion. 

After  dilating  at  length  on  the  manner  in  which  the  Christian,  amid 
the  various  views  as  to  the  sense  of  the  written  Word,  can  assure  him- 
self that  his  own  view  is  the  true  one,  he  lays  down  the  maxim  :  "  then 
thou  canst  be  assured  of  any  matter,  when  thou  canst  freely  and  safely 
assert,  this  is  the  pure  and  genuine  truth  ;  for  this  will  I  live  and  die, 
and  he  who  teaches  otherwise,  be  he  who  he  will,  let  him  be  anathema."* 
Hereby,  Luther  made  subjective  certainty  the  highest  criterion  of  Gos- 
pel truth,  without  reflecting  that,  by  the  very  fact,  the  eternal  Word  of 
God  had  become  an  outward  teacher,  an  external  authority,  for  attesting 
that  that  Divine  Word  had  revealed  such  and  such  doctrines,  was  above 
all  things  necessary,  in  order  to  impart  the  certainty  in  question.  The 
passage  of  St.  Paul's,  "  If  an  angel  from  heaven  were  to  teach  another 


plorandds  seu  improbandos.  Uno  interiori,  quo  per  Spiritum  sanctum  vel  donum  Dei 
eingulare,  quilibetpro  se,  su&.que  solius  salute  illustratus,  certissime  judical  et  discemit 
omnium  dogmata  et  sensus,  de  quo  dicitur  1  Cor.  ii.  1.  Spiritualis  omnia  judicat  et  a 
neminc  judicalur.  Hjec  ad  fidem  pertinet,  et  necessaria  est  cuilibet  etiam  private 
Christiano.  Hanc  superius  appellavimus  interiorem  clarilatem  Scripturte  sacrae. 
Alterum  est  judicium  externum,  quo  non  modo  pro  nobis  ipsis,  sed  et  pro  aliis  et  prop, 
ter  aliorum  salutcm,  certissime  judicamus  spiritus  et  dogmata  aliorum.  Hoc  judicium 
est  public!  rainisterii  in  verbo,  et  officii  externi,  et  maxime  pertinet  ad  duces  et  prcB- 
conesverbi.  Quo  utimur,  dum  infirmos  in  fide  roboramus  (?)  et  adversarios  rcfutS,- 
mus.  Sic  dicimus,  judice  Scripture,,  omnes  spiritus  in  facie  Ecclcsise  esse  probandos. 
Nam  id  oportct  apud  Christianos  esse  imprimis  ratura  atque  fiimissimum,  Scripturas 
sanctas  esse  luccm  spiritualem,  ipso  sole  longe  clariorcm :  praescrtim  in  iis,  quae  per- 
tinent ad  salutem  vel  necessitatem  Thus  he  speaks  in  the  year  1525,  not  when  he 
wrote  to  the  Bohemians.  Here  we  find  the  source  of  what  was  afterwards  put  forth, 
as  a  claim  of  the  Lutheran  clergy. 

*  Luther's  Commentary  on  the  Epist.  to  the  Galat.  part  i.  p.  31.     In  the  writing 
to  the  Bohemians,  this  sentiment  is  often  expressed. 


BETWEIEN  CATHOLICS  AND  PROTESTANTS.  397 

Gospel,  let  him  be  anathema,"  gave  him  occasion  to  make  this  asser-ii 
tion.  But  Luther  did  not  consider,  that  Paul,  to  whom  the  Saviour 
himself  had  appeared,  to  whom  extraordinary  revelations  had  been  made, 
was  in  a  very  ditTerent  situation  from  an  ordinary  Christian.  Doubtless, 
the  unconquerable  firmness  of  Christian  conviction,  is  the  mark  of  a 
true-believing  soul  ;  yet,  unfortunately,  the  grossest  error  hath  the 
power  to  exert  the  most  lamentable  fascination  over  the  mind,  and  bring 
it  by  degrees  under  bondage,  as  Luther,  had  he  even  been  unacquainted 
with  earlier  examples  in  history,  might  have  seen  in  those  fanatics,* 
■whom  he  30  violently  combated. 

An  expedient,  varying  in  expression,  yet  the  same  in  substance,  is 
resorted  to  by  Zwinghus,  when,  in  his  "  Commentaries  on  True  and 
False  Religion,"  he  says,  the  mark  of  true  doctrine,  the  sign  that  we 
have  rightly  understood  the  Divine  Word,  is  the  unction  and  testimony 
of  the  Holy  Spirit.  Faith,  according  to  him.,  is  no  science,  for  it  is  pre- 
cisely the  learned  who  are  often  most  addicted  to  error  ;  and,  on 
this  account,  faith  is  no  matter  for  investigation,  and  is  exalted  above 
allstrife.f 

Zwinglius  makes  here  the  most  perverse  application  of  a  truth,  which 
he  had  found  a  thousand  times  repeated  in  Catholic  writers,  especially 
the  mystics.     The  belief  in  Jesus  Christ,  must  undoubtedly  attest  itself; 
in  each  one,  who  possesses  it  in  the  right  way,  it  will  exalt  and  extend 
the  consciousness  of  God  ;  it  will  pervade  and  transform  his  whole  ex- 
istence ;  infuse  into  his  soul  the  fullest  confidence  in  God,  the  deepest 
tranquillity,  and  the  most  joyous  consolation;  and  impart  to  him  a  power 
for  all  good,  and  the  victory  over  hell  and  death*     In  these  personal 
perceptions,  the  dogmas  professed  hy  the  understanding  as  the  doctrine 
of  Jesus  Carist  are  tested  ;  and  we  clearly  recognize  herein  the  fulfil- 
ment  of  what  that  doctrine  promised,  and  the  truth  of  its  claim  to  be  a 
power  from  God.     But,   the  converse   of  this  proposition  can5  by  no 
means,  be  affirmed,  that  a  series  of  religious  tenets,  which  tend  to  nourish 
the  piety  of  an  individual,  or  a  greater  or  smaller  circle  of  men,  necessarily 
contain  the  doctrine  of  Christ,  or  even  are  not  at  variance  with  it.  There 
is  no  doubt  but  that  the  opinion,  that   man  in  his  regeneration  worketh 
nothing,  and  God  alone  worketh  all  things,  captivated  and  strongly  ex* 
cited  the   religious  feelings  of  Luther.     Bat  the  inference   which  he 
thence  drew,  that  therefore  that  tenet  was  taught  by  Christ,  cannot  be 
admitted.     The  writings  of  Calvin,  Beza,  Knox,  and  others  show,  that, 


*  The  Anabaptists. 

t  Zvvingli  Comment,  derera  et  falsa  relig.  0pp.  torn.  ii.  fol.  195. 


398  EXPOSITION  OF  DOCTRINAL  DIFFERENCES 

from  a  belief  in  the  doctrine  of  absolute  predestination,  they  and  thellf 
disciples  derived  a  marvellous  case  of  mind,  a  boundless  religious  en-^ 
thusiasm  (which  often  even  degenerated  into  a  frightful  all-destructive 
fanaticism,)  and  an  uncommon  energy,  activity,  and  perseverance  of 
conduct.  But  it  thence  as  little  follows,  that  the  doctrine  which  ren» 
dered  these  Calvinists  personally  easy,  is  a  Christian  and  apostolic  one, 
as  from  the  mere  circumstance,  that  in  the  reception  of  the  sacraments, 
Zwinglius  felt  himself  impressed,  strengthened,  and  solaced  by  no  high 
Divine  power,  wc  could  conclude,  that,  through  these  channels  of  sal- 
vation, Christ  imparts  not  from  the  si)ring,  whose  waters  flow  into  etcf 
nal  life.  And  if  all  the  three  Reformers,  together  with  all  their 
followers,  had  the  personal  experience  and  living  conviction  of  never  hav-^ 
ing  performed  one  good  work,  what  would  thence  follow  1  Evidently 
nouglit  else,  than  that  the  state  of  their  souls  was  most  lamentable,  and 
we,  if  they  still  lived,  would  be  obliged  to  require  them  seriously  to 
amend  their  lives.  But  by  no  means  will  we  draw  the  inference,  that 
_it  could  not  have  been  otherwise  ;  nay,  we  will  urge  against  them,  as 
a  matter  of  capital  reproach,  that  out  of  themselves,  out  of  their  own 
individual  life  they  have  deduced  an  universal  law.  Christ  is  our 
pattern  as  well  as  our  lawgiver ;  but  such  no  creature  is.  The  Lu- 
theran Church  is  the  incarnate  spirit  of  Luther,  and  therefore  thus 
one-sided. 

§  XLVUi. — Continuation.     Divergences  in  the  doctrine  on  the  Church,  shortly 

expressed. 

Now  only,  can  the  differences,  between  the  Catholic  and  the  Lu* 
theran  view,  be  reduced  to  a  short,  accurate,  and  definite  expression* 
The  Catholics  teach  :  the  visible  Church  is  first,  then  comes  the  invis» 
ible  ;  the  former  gives  birth  to  the  latter.  On  the  other  hand,  the 
Lutherans  say  the  reverse  :  from  the  invisible  emerges  the  visible 
Church  :  and  the  former  is  the  ground-work  of  the  latter.  In  this  ap, 
parently  very  unimportant  opposition,  a  prodigious  difference  is  avowed* 
When  Christ  began  to  preach  the  kingdom  of  God,  it  existed  nowhere 
but  in  him,  and  in  the  Divine  idea.  It  came  from  without  to  men,  and 
first  of  all  to  the  apostles,  in  whom  the  divine  kingdom  was  thus  founded 
by  the  Word  of  God,  speaking  from  without,  and  after  a  human  fashion 
unto  them ;  so  that  it  was  conveyed  to  them  from  without.  When, 
through  external  media,  the  religious  consciousness  of  those  had  been 
awakened,  by  the  incarnate  Son  of  God,  and  they  had,  accordingly, 
received  the  outward  calling,  to  announce  the  Gospel  unto  others,  they 
went  into  countries  where,  in  like  manner,  the  kingdom  of  God  was  not 


BETWEEN  CATHOLICS  AND  PROTESTANTS.  359 

but  the  dominion  of  Satan  ;  and,  as  instruments  of  Christ,  working 
within  them,  they  impressed,  from  without,  the  image  of  the  celestial 
man  on  the  interior  of  those,  who  before  had  been  stamped  with  the 
image  of  the  earthly  one.  And  as  Christ  had  done  unto  them,  they 
also  did  again  unto  others  :  they  appointed  disciples,  who,  like  them, 
continued  to  preach  the  doctrine  of  salvation,  as  the  Holy  Scripture,  in 
numerous  passages,  loudly  declares,  and  so  on  perpetually  did  the  in- 
visible spring  out  of  the  visible  Church.  This  order  of  things  is  im- 
plied in  the  very  notion  of  an  external,  historical  revelation,  whoso  entire 
peculiar  essence  requires  a  definite,  perpetual,  and  outward  ministry, 
to  which  each  one  must  adhere,  who  will  learn  the  dictates  of  that 
revelation.  By  the  tistimony  of  this  ministry,  and  so  by  an  outward 
testimony,  the  external  revelation  is  preserved  in  its  truth,  purity,  and 
integrity. 

But  according  to  Luther,  it  is  quite  otherwise.  First,  it  is  the  Chris- 
tian consciousness  (interior  claritus  sacrcB  Scripturcc  ;)  then  comes  the 
outward  certainty  (exterior  claritus  sacra;  Scriptnro'. ;)  the  Church  is 
a  community  of  saints,  in  which  the  Gospel  i^  lightly  announced  ; 
saints,  above  all,  are  consequently  described  as  existing,  whose  origin, 
extraction  and  rise,  are  utterly  unknown,  and  then  they  preach.  How 
then  have  they  become  disciples  of  Christ  ?  The  universal  priesthood 
of  all  Christians  precedes,  and  out  of  this  grows  the  special  priesthood ; 
but,  on  the  contrary,  it  is  the  special  which  determines  the  general 
priestliood,  the  outward  the  internal  one.  If  the  apostles  have  not  pro- 
duced the  Lord,  as  little  have  the  disciples  of  the  apostles  elected  the 
latter.  And  wherein,  according  to  Luther,  is  a  man  in  the  last  result 
to  find  the  certainty,  that  he  possesses  the  truth?  In  a  purely  internal 
act,  in  the  testimony  of  the  Holy  Spirit ;  just  as  if  the  revelation  in 
Christ  Jesus  were  an  interior  one;  as  if  he  had  not  become  man — as 
if  in  consequence,  the  question  at  issue  were  not  about  an  external  tes- 
timony, an  outward  authority,  to  impart  to  us  the  certainty  as  to  what 
he  taught.  Hence,  the  respect  for  tradition  in  the  Catholic,  and  the 
rejection  of  it  in  the  Protestant  Church.  By  Luther,  the  outward 
authority  of  the  Church  is  converted  into  an  interior  one,  and  the  ex- 
terior Word  authenticated  as  divine  into  the  internal  voice  of  Christ 
and  of  his  Spirit. 

Had  he  wished,  from  his  idea  of  the  Church,  to  draw  a  consistent  in- 
ference in  respect  to  Christ,  so  he  might  very  well  have  given  up  an 
outward,  historical  Christ,  and  an  external  revelation  ;  nay,  he  would 
have  been  compelled  to  reject  the  latter  as  incongruous.  But  all  Chris- 
tianity rests  on  the  incarna'e  Son  of  God  :  hence,  by  an  appeal  to  the 
outward,  and   written  Word,  Luther  attempted  to  maintain  an  unison 


100  KXPOSITION  OF  DOCTRINAL  DIFFERENCES 

with  an  external  revelation.  Yet,  the  impossibility  of  clearing  his  doC' 
trine  of  all  reasonable  doubts,  and  well-founded  objections,  which  might 
bo  adduced,  even  from  the  Scriptures  themselves,  urged  him,  in  his  con- 
troversy with  Catholics,  to  accord  the  final  decision,  in  religious  mat- 
ters, to  the  internal  Word.*  But,  when  arguing  with  the  fanatics,  who 
themselves  appealed  to  the  voice  of  the  Spirit,  he  then  held  fast  to  the 
outward  Word,  and  even  entrenched  himself  within  the  authority  of  the 
perpetually  visible  Church. f     Hence,  from  this  essential  perversion  of 


*  A3  a  proof  of  this,  wc  may  cite  the  Conference  of  Ratisbon,  in  the  year  1541, 
at  which  the  speakers,  on  both  sides,  had  agreed  on  the  article,  that  to  the  Church 
alone  belongeth  the  interpretation  of  Scripture.  When  now  the  notion  of  the  Church 
came  to  be  discussed,  and  the  Catholics  understood  by  it  the  outward,  visible  Church, 
Melancthon  declared  at  the  end,  that  by  the  Church  were  to  be  understood,  the 
saints,  that  is  to  say,  those  in  whom  God  alone  had  begotten  faith. 

+  Luther,  in  a  letter  to  Albert,  elector  of  Prussia,  writes  as  follows  : — "  This  arti- 
cle," says  he  (the  real  prese-nce  of  Christ  in  the  sacrament  of  the  altar,)  "  is  not  a 
doctrine  or  opinion  invented  by  men,  but  clearly  founded  and  laid  down  in  the  Gospel 
by  the  plain,  evident,  undoubted  words  of  Christ,  and,  from  the  origin  of  the  Chris, 
tian  Churches,  down  to  the  present  hour,  hath  been  unanimously  believed  and  held 
throughout  the  whole  v/orld.  This  is  proved  by  the  dear  Fathers,  books,  and  wri- 
tings,  both  in  the  Greek  and  the  Latin  tongues ;  and,  moreover,  by  the  daily  use  and 
practice  of  this  Institution,  down  to  the  present  day.  This  testimony  of  all  the  holy 
Christian  Churches  (had  we  even  nothing  more,)  should  be  alone  sufficient  to  make 
us  adhere  to  this  article,  and  not  to  listen  to,  or  be  led  by  any  fanatical  spirit ;  for,  it 
is  dangerous  and  frightful  to  hear  and  believe  any  thing  contrary  to  the  unanimous 
testimony,  belief,  and  doctrine  of  all  the  holy  Christian  Churches,  as  from  the  begin- 
ning, and  with  one  accord  they  have  now  taught,  for  upwards  of  fifteen  hundred 
years,  throughout  the  whole  world.  Had  it  been  a  new  article,  and  not  from  the 
foundation  of  the  holy  Christian  Churches ;  or,  had  it  not  been  so  unanimously  held 
by  all  Churches,  and  throughout  all  Christendom  ;  then  it  were  not  dangerous  or 
frightful  to  doubt  it,  or  to  dispute  whether  it  be  true.  But  since  it  hath  been  believed 
from  the  very  origin  of  the  Church,  and  so  far  as  Christendom  extends;  whosoever 
doubts  it,  doth  as  much,  as  if  he  believed  in  no  Christian  Church,  and  not  only  con- 
demns the  whole  Christian  Church,  as  a  damned  heretic  ;  but  condemns  even  Christ 
himstir,  with  all  the  apostles  and  the  prophets,  who  have  laid  down  this  article,  which 
we  utter,  "  I  believe  in  one,  holy  Christian  Church,"  and  liave  vehemently  proclaim. 
ed  (as  Christ  hiinsiclf  in  Matthew,  c.  xxviii.  20) — "  Behold,  I  am  with  ye  all  days, 
even  to  the  consummation  of  the  world;"  and,  (as  St.  Paul,  in  1  Tim.  iii.  1.))-^ 
"  The  Church  is  the  pillar  and  the  ground  of  the  truth."  If  Gud  cannot  lie,  then 
the  Church  cannot  err.  And  let  not  your  Highness  think  that  this  is  my  counsel,  as 
if  it  sprang  from  me;  it  is  the  counsel  of  the  Holy  Ghost,  who  kiioweth  all  hearts 
and  things  better  than  we  do  ;  for,  such  He  hath  declared  by  His  chosen  instrument, 
St.  Paul,  when  the  latter  says  to  Titus  (c.  iii.  10-11.)  ''An  heretical  man,  thou  must 
know,  s  subverted,  and  sinneth,  being  condemned  by  his  own  judgment." — The  fol. 
lowing  passage,  too,  from  the  same  Reformer,  is  well  worthy  of  remark : — "  Wc  con- 
fees,  that  under  the  Papacy  there  is  many  a  Christian  blessing — nay,  every  Christian 


BETWEEN  CATHOLICS  AND  PROTESTANTS.  401 

view,  sprang  the  constant  vacillation  between  the  adoption  of  a  visible 
and  an  invisible  Church,  an  outward  and  an  internal  Word,  as  the  ul- 
timate ground  for  the  profession  or  the  rejection  of  any  doctrine ;  so 
that,  sometimes,  the  visible  Church  is  made  to  judge  the  invisible,  some- 
times vice  versd.  Hence,  in  the  succeeding  history  of  the  Lutherans, 
the  constant  uncertainty,  whether  and  how  far  the  symbolical  books 
were  to  be  received  as  binding,  and  in  what  relation  the  Scripture  stood 
to  them.  Hence,  the  contest,  whether  Luther  had  willed,  or  not,  a  vis- 
ible or  an  invisible  Church  ;  he  willed  both,  and  taught  what  was 
inconsistent  with  either.  But  Luther's  true  spirit  gradually  gained,  in 
this  respect,  the  most  decided  victory,  yet  only  in  an  inverted  course  : 
Luther  followed  a  mystical  impulse,  and  what  in  the  dark,  tumultuous, 
irresistible  rush  of  his  feelings,  appeared  to  him  as  the  truth,  he  firmly 
maintained  ;  whereas,  his  later  followers  have  given  themselves  up  to 
the  rational  element  predominant  in  man  ;  and,  in  consequence,  what- 
ever seems  rational  to  them,  whatever  they  can  most  easily  and  most 
conveniently  master  by  the  understanding,  they  immediately  hold  to  be 
Scriptural  doctrine.  As  subjectivity  must  decide,  what  is  matter  of 
history,  we  see  the  numberless  variations  of  the  doctrine  of  Christ ; 
and  what  seemeth  true  to  each  individual,  he  forthwith  places  in  his 
Saviour's  mouth.  So  it  came,  at  length,  to  such  a  pass,  that  among 
Christians  themselves,  the  revelation  of  God  in  Christ  was  doubted,  de- 
nied, and  even  ridiculed ;  for,  a  revelation  which  leaves  us  in  the 
dark,  as  to  its  own  purport,  and  can  establish  among  its  own  followers 
no  common,  settled,  and  lasting  understanding  of  the  same,  reveals  on 
that  account  nothing,  and  thereby  contradicts  and  refutes  itself. 

We  again  repeat  it ;  the  meaning  of  the  doctrine,  the  Word  is  be- 
come flesh,  the  Word  is  become  man,  was  never  clear  to  Luther's  mind. 
For,  otherwise  he  would  have  seen,  in  the  first  place,  that  it  signified 
far  more,  than  that  for  thirty  years  and  upwards,  the  Divine  Word  had 
visibly  and  palpably  worked  among  the  Jews  in  Palestine :  secondly, 
that  it  intimated  far  more,  than  that  the  Word  had  therewith  ended, 
that  happily  before  its  extinction,  it  had  been  recorded  on  paper.  Had 
Luther  been  able  to  rise  to  the  true  notion  of  the  incarnation  of  the 
Logos,  he  certainly  would  have  conceived  the  Church  to  be  an  institute 
of  education ;  but  this  was  never  clearly  stated  by  him,  and  still  less 
from  his  point  of  view  were  it  intelligible,   had  he  even  most  clearly 


blessing — a  true  baptism— a  true  sacrament  of  the  altar — true  power  of  the  keys  for 
the  forgiveness  of  sins — true  office  of  preaching — a  true  catechism.     I  say,  that  un- 
der the  pope,  there  is  the  true  Christianity — yea,  the  right  pattern  of  Christianity," 
<fec.     Then  he  goes  on  to  enforce  this  truth  against  his  opponents. 
26 


402  EXPOSITION  OF  DOCTRINAL  DIFFERENCES 

expressed  himself  on  the  subject.  We  cannot  perceive  in  his  system^ 
how  man  really  cometh  by  Holy  Writ,  nor  even  indeed,  why  he  needetb 
instruction  and  human  education,  to  attain  to  true  knoidedge ;  since 
God  alone,  and  by  interior  means,  teacheth  him.  As  little  can  we  con- 
ceive, wherefore  human  exhortation,  menace,  and  instruction  should 
be  necessary,  to  induce  him  to  loill  what  is  good,  since  this  God  alone 
worketh. 


(j  xLix. — The  truth  and  the  falsehood  in  Luther's  doctrine  on  the  Church. 

Luther's  notion  of  the  Church  is,  however,  not  false,  though  it  is 
one-sided.  If  he  found  it  impossible  to  conceive  the  Church  as  a  living 
institute,  wherein  man  becometh  holy  ;  so  he  still  retained  the  view, 
that  it  should  consist  of  saints,  whereby  its  ultimate  and  highest  object 
is  declared.  In  more  than  one  place,  he  says,  he  attaches  great  weight 
to  the  definition  of  the  Church,  as  a  community  of  saints  ;  because  each 
individual  can  thence  infer  what  he  should  be.  In  his  system,  the  inte- 
rior part  of  the  Church,  which  is  yet  the  most  important,  is  everywhere 
put  forward  ;  and  that  no  one  in  the  Divine  kingdom  can  enjoy  the 
true  rights  of  citizenship,  when  he  belongs  only  outwardly  to  the  Church, 
and  hath  not  entered  into  the  true  spu-it  of  Christ,  is  in  a  praiseworthy 
manner  pointed  out.  Moreover,  it  is  not  to  be  doubted,  that  Christ 
maintains  his  Church  in  the  power  of  victory,  by  means  of  those,  who 
live  in  his  faith,  belong  to  him  in  heart  and  spirit,  and  rejoice  in  his  se- 
cond coming.  It  is  also  not  to  be  doubted,  that  these  are  the  true  sup- 
porters of  his  truth  ;  that  without  them  it  would  soon  be  forgotten,  turn 
into  pure  error,  or  degenerate  into  an  empty,  hollow  formalism.  Yes, 
without  doubt,  these — the  invisible,  who  have  been  changed  and  glori- 
fied into  the  image  of  Christ,  are  the  supporters  of  the  visible  Church  : 
the  wicked  in  that  Church,  the  unbelievers,  the  hypocrites,  the  dead 
members  in  the  body  of  Christ,  would  be  unable  for  a  single  day  to  pre- 
serve the  Church,  even  in  her  exterior  forms.  Nay,  as  far  as  in  them 
lies,  they  do  all  to  distract  the  Church,  to  sacrifice  her  to  base  passions, 
to  pollute  her,  and  abandon  her  to  the  scorn  and  mockery  of  her  ene- 
mies. With  never- failing  profusion  doth  the  Lord  raise  up,  in  the  ful- 
ness of  His  strength,  men,  through  whom  He  sheds  over  His  Church, 
light  and  the  newness  of  life  ;  but,  because  after  a  human  fashion,  they 
cannot  be  infallibly  recognized  as  his  disciples,  and  even  ought  not  to 
be  so,  in  order  not  to  promote  confidence  in  mere  man,  and  because  his 
followers  are  to  be  called  after  no  man,  be  he  Athanasius,  or  Arius, 
Augustine,  Luther,  or  Calvin,  we  are  by  him  referred  to  his  own  insti- 


BETWEEN  CATHOLICS  AND  PROTESTANTS.  403 

tut  ion,  wherein  the  truth  can  never  fail,  because  he,  the  truth  and  the 
life,  ever  abideth  in  it. 

Luther,  moreover,  has  rightly  seen  the  necessity  of  admitting,  that  a 
revelation,  emanating  immediately  from  God,  requireth  a  divinely  insti- 
tuted Church,  and  the  Christian  faith  a  far  higher,  than  a  mere  human 
guarantee.  But  his  fault  was,  that  he  did  not  seriously  weigh  what  was 
signified  by  the  words,  the  immediate  revelation  in  Christ  is  external ; 
for,  otherwise,  he  would  have  understood,  that  a  divinely  instituted 
Church  is  necessarily  visible,  founded  as  it  is  by  the  word  of  God  be- 
come visible,  and  that  the  warranty  of  faith  must  needs  be  external. 
Vast  were  the  consequences  of  this  want  of  perception.  In  the  religious 
community,  which  owes  its  existence  to  Luther,  the  so-called  invisible 
revelation  in  the  human  mind,  has  since  determined  the  conception  of 
the  visible,  nay,  even  the  written  revelation  ;  and,  according  as  each 
one  believes,  God  reveals  himself  to  him  in  his  interior,  he  explains  and 
distorts  the  outward  Word,  and  against  such  arbitrary  interpretations, 
no  Lutheran  can  allege  any  solid  objection,  since  from  the  inward  ema. 
nates  the  external  Church. 

Lastly,  the  proposition,  that  the  internal  Church  is  to  be  first  estab- 
lished, and  then  the  exterior  one,  is,  in  one  respect,  completely  true,  and 
hereby  Luther  was  deceived.  We  are  not  living  members  of  the  ex- 
ternal Church,  until  we  belong  to  the  interior  one.  What  hath  been 
imparted  to  us  from  without,  must  be  reproduced  by  and  within  us  ;  the 
objective  must  become  subjective,  ere  we  be  entitled  to  consider  our- 
selves true  members  of  the  Christian  Church.  Thus  far,  certainly,  the 
invisible  is  to  be  ranked  before  the  visible  Church  ;  and  the  latter  is 
eternally  renovated  out  of  the  former.  But  this  kingdom  of  God  bemns, 
grows,  and  ripens  within  us,  after  it  has  first  externally  encountered  us, 
and  made  the  first  steps  to  receive  us  into  its  bosom.  The  act  of  exte- 
rior excitement,  instruction  and  education,  is  ever  the  first  condition  of 
life  to  what  is  internally  excited,  taught,  and  educated ;  but,  as  soon 
as  the  exterior  hath  passed  into  the  interior,  then  the  inward  becometh, 
in  its  turn,  the  outward  ;  and  the  image,  which  from  without,  was  im- 
pressed upon  the  interior,  is  reflected  from  the  interior  on  the  exterior. 
But,  as  Luther  wished  to  break  with  the  existing  outward  Church,  he 
was  obliged  to  give  the  ahsnlute  precedence  to  the  invisible  Church,  and 
consider  himself  as  the  immediate  envoy  of  God.*     But,  by  exalting, 


*  After  his  journey  from  the  Wartburg,  Luther,  as  is  well  known,  wrote  from  Bor- 
na  to  the  elector  Frederick,  as  follows  : — "  He  had  received  his  Gospel,"  said  he, 
"  notfrom  men,  but  from  heaven  alone,  from  Jesus  Christ;  and,  therefore  is  he  a 
Christian  and  an  evangelist,  and  such  he  wished   o  be  called  in  future."     Even  Cal- 


404  EXPOSITION  OF  DOCTRINAL   DIFFERENCES 

into  a  general  principle,  his  view  of  the  relation  of  the  internal  to  thd 
external  Cliurch,  he  fell  into  the  greatest  embarrassments.  On  one 
hand,  he  desired  (and  in  perfect  consistency  with  the  view  he  entertain- 
ed of  himself,  as  a  divinely  inspired  evangelist,)  that  the  doctrine,  which 
coming  forth  from  his  interior  as  the  voice  of  God,  he  had  announced 
abroad,  should  be  merely  re-echoed  by  his  disciples  :  and,  thus  from 
him,  too,  the  visible  should  again  bring  forth  and  absolutely  determine 
the  invisible  Church :— a  condition,  which  utterly  annihilated  his  own 
principle.*     But,  if  he  held  to  the  latter  principle,  and  considered  each 


vin,  in  his  answer  to  Sadolct's  Epistle  to  the  Genevans,  appeals  to  this  immediate 
mission :  Opusc.  p.  106.  "  Ministerium  mcum,  quod  Dei  vocatione  fundatum 
ac  sanctum  fuissc  non  dublto."  P.  107.  "  Ministerium  meum,  quod  quidem  ut  k 
Christo  esse  novi,"  etc. 

*  In  modern  times  it  has  often  been  denied,  that  Luther  had  desired  to  lay  down 
lor  all  future  ages  dogmatic  decisions.  But,  the  sort  of  proof,  which  is  adduced, 
would,  in  all  cases,  where  personal  interests  were  not  concerned,  be  declared  to  be 
anything  but  satisfactory.  Men  cannot,  in  the  least  degree,  have  transported  them- 
selves into  the  spirit  of  those  ages,  and,  least  of  all,  have  attended  to  the  character  of 
the  Reformers,  and  particularly  of  Luther,  when  they  advance  such  a  statement.  If 
the  doctrinal  uncertainty  of  the  greater  part  of  his  present  worshippers,  had  been 
one  of  Luther's  peculiarities,  it  would  be  difficult  to  account  for  his  constancy  and 
perseverance  in  his  career,  nay,  for  the  very  origin  of  his  reformation.  Yet,  in  proof 
of  what  has  been  asserted  in  the  text,  we  may  cite,  though  briefly,  the  words  of  the 
reformer  himself.  In  his  reply  to  Erasmus  (Adv.  Erasm.  Roterod.  lib.  I.  p.  182,  b.) 
belays  down  the  principle  :  "  fidei  est  non  falli,"  which  he  applies,  in  the  passage  fol- 
lowino-,  to  particular  articles.  Erasmus  had  said,  "  if  the  doctrine  of  free-will  had 
been  an  error,  God  would  certainly  not  have  tolerated  it  in  his  Church,  nor  have  re- 
vealed  it  to  any  saint."  To  this  Luther  answers :  "  Frimum  non  dicimus,  errorem 
hunc  esse  in  ecclsia  sua  toleratum  k  Deo,  nee  in  ullo  suo  sancto  ;  ecclesia  enim  Spi- 
ritd  Dei  rcgitur,  sancti  aguntur  Spiritu  Dei,  Rom.  viii.  Et  Christus  cum  ecclesia 
sua  manet  usque  ad  consummationem  mundi.  Matt,  xxviii.  Et  ecclesia  est  firma- 
mentum  et  columna  veritatis.  2  Tim.  iii.  Hasc,  inquam,  novimus,  nam  sic  habet  et 
Symbolum  omnium  nostrum  :  credo  ecclesiam  sanctam  Catholicam,  ut  impossibile 
sit,  ill ain  errare  etiam  in  minimo  articulo."  Nay,  Luther  adds  :  "  Atque  si  etiam 
donemus,  aliquos  clectos  in  errore  teneri  in  tot  a.  vita,  tamen  ante  mortem  necesse  est, 
ut  redeant  in  viam,"  etc.  In  his  opinion  on  the  imperial  decree  of  the22d  Septem- 
ber, 1530,  he  sa}'s  to  the  same  effect :  "  Whoso  professeth  the  Augsburg  Confession, 
will  be  saved  ;  although  its  truth  shouldbccomc  manifest  to  him  only  later  :  this  con- 
fession must  cndvre  until  the  end  of  the  world,  and  the  day  of  judgment."  See  Bti- 
cholz's  History  of  the  reign  of  Ferdinand  I,  vol.  iii.  Vienna,  1832,  p.  576  (in  Ger- 
man,)— a  work  where  the  history  of  the  diet  at  Augsburg,  with  all  the  ecclesiastical 
negotiations,  is  most  copiously  and  instructively  detailed.  Hence,  we  can,  by  no 
means,  agree  with  Baumgartcn  Crusius,  when,  in  his  "  Manual  of  the  History  of 
Christian  Dogmas,"  he  thus  blames  the  more  precise  definitions  of  the  Lutheran  doc- 
trine, in  the  Formulary  of  Concord :  "  These  thoughts  were  rendered  matters  of  dog. 
ma,  while,  at  the  origin  of  the  reformation,  they  had  in  their  higher,  more  spiritual 


BETWEEN  CATHOLICS  AND  PROTESTANTS.  4^'5 

one  like  himself,  as  internally  and  immediately  taught  by  God  alone  ; 
then  the  most  opposite  doctrines  were  proclaimed,  and  the  internal 
voice  of  God  contradicted  and  belied  itself.  From  this  dilemma,  his 
disciples  to  this  day  have  never  been  able  to  extricate  themselves. 

§  L. — Negative  doctrines  of  the  Lutherans  in  regard  to  the  Church. 

If  we  would  now  point  out  more  accurately,  the  negative  doctrines  of 
the  Lutherans,  in  regard  to  the  Church  ;  it  is  easy,  in  the  first  place, 
to  conceive  wherefore  the  papal  supremacy  was,  and  must  necessarily 
have  been,  rejected  by  them.  The  opinion,  that  Christ  had  founded 
only  an  invisible  Church,  is  absolutely  incompatible  with  the  other,  that 
he  had  given  to  it  a  visible  head  :  the  one  notion  destroys  the  other. 
Luther  looking  on  every  determination  of  belief,  through  human  media- 
tion, as  equivalent  to  what  was  diabolical,  the  idea  of  the  papal  supre- 
macy, wherein  the  doctrine  of  the  dependence  of  each  member  on  the 
whole  body  is  most  distinctly  expressed,  must  (independently  of  the 
faults  of  individual  pontiffs,  which  not  unfrequently  cast  a  shade  on  the 
history  of  the  Papacy,)  have  appeared  to  his  mind  as  anti-Christian,  and 
the  Pope  himself  as  Anti- Christ.  For  the  Papacy  is  quite  inconsistent 
with  the  idea  of  a  purely  internal,  and  invisible,  and  so  far  exclusively 
divine  Church,  and  encroaches,  according  to  this  system,  on  the  otfice 
of  Christ,  the  sole  and  invisible  head  of  the  Church,  who  alone,  and  by 
internal  means,  teacheth  his  disciples,  and  without  any  intermediate 
agency,  draweth  them  to  himself  When  Protestants  so  often  repeat, 
Christ  is  alone  the  head  of  the  Church  ;  the  assertion  has  exactly  the 
same  sense,  as  when  Luther  says,  Christ  is  the  sole  teacher,  and  should 
accordingly  be  estimated  in  precisely  the  same  manner.  Moreover,  if 
the  Protestants,  of  the  present  day  especially,  find  the  idea  of  the  Pa- 
pacy objectionable,  this  aversion  is  still  more  conceivable.  Of  what 
could  the  Popedom  exhibit  the  unity  ?  Of  the  most  palpable,  decided, 
and  irreconcileable  contradictions ;  this,  indeed,  would  be  an  utter 
impossibility  ; — it  could  only  be  the  representative  of  what  was  in 
itself  a  thousandfold  and  most  radically  opposed,  and  this  anti-Christ, 
Satan  himself  alone  could  be.  Of  what  body  could  the  Pontiff  be  the 
head  ?  A  body,  whose  members  declare  themselves  independent  one 
of  the  other  :  a  thing  which  is  inconceivable.  The  fault  of  Protestants 
is  this,  that  what  with  them  is  impracticable,  what  from  their  point  of 

sense,  been  opposed  to  the  worldly  spirit  of  the  ruling  Church,  and  had  been  meant 
to  express  only  the  idea  of  human  helplessness,  and  of  the  devotion  of  human  life  to 
God."     See  his  Lehrbuch  der  Dogmengeschichte,  part.  i.  p.  595.     Jena,  1832. 


406  EXPOSITION  OF  DOCTRINAL  DIFFERENCES 

view  may  with  indisputable  consistency  be  rejected,  they  would  refuse 
to  the  Christian  Church  also,  which  is  anything  but  a  distracted,  self, 
contradictory,  self-annihilating,  self-belying  thing,  that  ever  at  the  same 
moment  utters  the  affirmative  and  the  negative.  If  a  considerable  por- 
tion of  Protestants,  instead  of  naming  Christ  their  invisible  head,  would 
designate  him  as  their  unknown  head,  concealed  from  their  view,  they 
would  at  least  give  utterance  to  an  historical  truth.  The  same  judg- 
ment, moreover,  which  Protestants  must  form  of  the  Papacy,  they  na- 
turally pass  on  the  Catholic  view  of  Episcopacy. 

Lastly,  in  respect  to  tradition,  it  is  sufficiently  evident  from  what 
has  been  said,  and  it  has  already  been  explicitly  shown,  why  in  the 
twofold  signification  above  pointed  out,  Protestants  cannot  concede  to 
it  the  same  place,  which  it  occupies  in  the  Catholic  system.  It  has 
occasionally  been  said,  however,  that  the  Reformers  had  not  rejected 
Tradition  "in  the  ideal  sense;"  but  only  Traditions.  It  is  certainly 
not  to  be  doubted,  that  still  partially  subdued  by  that  old  ecclesiastical 
spirit,  which,  on  their  secession  from  the  Church,  they  had  uncon- 
sciously carried  away  with  them,  they  believed  in  the  same,  and  read  the 
Holy  Scriptures  in  its  sense.  Though  materially,  they  did  not  reject 
every  portion  of  Tradition,  yet  they  did  so  formally.  For,  if  indeed, 
they  acknowledged  the  doctrinal  decisions  of  the  Church,  as  embodied 
in  the  first  four  oecumenical  Councils,  they  did  so,  not  on  account  of 
their  ecclesiastical  objectivity,  but  because,  according  to  their  own  suh. 
jective  views,  they  found  them  confirmed  by  Holy  Writ.  But  the  Gos- 
pel truth,  which  hath  been  delivered  over  to  the  Church,  for  preser- 
vation and  for  propagation,  remaineth  truth,  whether,  in  consequence  of 
a  subjective  inquiry,  or,  of  a  pretended  internal  illumination,  it  be  ac- 
knowledged or  be  rejected.  Hence,  the  ecclesiastical  traditionary 
principle  is  this  :  such  and  such  a  doctrine, — for  instance,  the  divinity 
of  Christ, — is  a  Christian  evangelical  truth,  because  the  Church,  the 
institution  invested  with  authority  from  Christ,  declares  it  to  be  his  doc- 
trine ; — not  because  such  or  such  an  individual  subjectively  holds  it, 
as  the  result  of  his  Scriptural  reading,  for  a  Christian  truth.  The 
Bible  is  ever  forced  to  assume  the  form  of  its  readers  :  it  becomes  little 
with  the  little,  and  great  with  the  great,  and  is,  therefore,  made  to  pass 
through  a  thousand  transformations,  according  as  it  is  reflected  in  each 
individuality.  If  that  individuality  be  shallow,  flat,  and  dull,  the  Scrip- 
ture is  so  represented  through  its  medium  :  it  is  made  to  take  the  colour 
of  the  most  one-sided  and  perverse  opinions,  and  is  abused  to  the  sup- 
port of  every  folly.  In  itself,  therefore,  and  without  any  other  medium, 
the  Bible  cannot  be  considered,  by  the  Church,  as  a  rule  of  faith  :  on 
the  contrary,  the  doctrine  of  the  Church  is  the  rule,  whereby  the  Scrip- 


BETWEEN  CATHOLICS  AND  PROTESTANTS.  407 

ture  must  be  investigated.  Tlie  Reformers  failing  to  acknowledge  this 
great  truth,  their  partial  agreement  with  Tradition  was  purely  acciden- 
tal ;  as  is  most  clearly  evidenced  by  the  fact,  that,  in  the  sequel,  nearly 
all  those  positive  doctrines  of  Christianity,  which  Luther  and  the  first 
Reformers  still  maintained,  have  been  cast  off  by  their  disciples,  with- 
out their  ever  ceasing  to  profess  themselves  members  of  the  Protestant 
Church.  On  no  point  did  the  Reformers  recognize  Tradition  for  the 
sake  of  its  objectivity  ;  and,  therefore,  they  rejected  it,  wherever  it  ac- 
corded not  with  their  own  subjective  caprices.  What  doctrine  doth 
tradition  more  clearly  attest,  than  that  of  free-will  ?  Yet,  this  they  re- 
jected. In  short,  they  entirely  merged  the  objective  historical  Chris- 
tianity into  their  own  subjectivity,  and  were  consequently  forced  to 
throw  off  Tradition. 

Accordingly,  they  refused  obedience  to  the  Church — deeming  it 
ignoble  and  slavish.  They  forgot  that,  a  divine  authority  impresses 
upon  the  obedience  also,  which  pays  homage  to  it,  the  stamp  of  divinity, 
and  exalts  it  as  much  above  servitude,  as  the  spirit  is  raised  above  the 
flesh.  It  is  remarkable,  that  no  one  any  longer  doubts,  but  that  an 
outward,  fixed,  eternally  immutable  moral  law,  though  not  in  all  its 
parts  first  established  by  Christ,  yet  hath  been  by  Him  confirmed  and 
brought  to  greater  perfection.  This  rule  of  will  and  of  action,  every 
Christian  recognizes ;  and,  however  far  short  of  it  he  may  fall  in  his 
own  conduct,  yet,  he  never  thinks  of  changing  it,  according  to  his  sub- 
jective moral  point  of  view  ;  nor,  in  the  commission  of  his  faults,  flat- 
tering himself,  that  the  standard,  according  to  which  he  should  act,  and 
that  according  to  which  he,  in  reality,  doth  act,  perfectly  correspond. 
But,  the  necessity  of  a  like  fixed  and  unchangeable  standard  for  the 
intelligence  is  disputed.  Here  each  one  is  to  give  himself  up,  to  the 
guidance  of  his  own  subjective  feelings  and  fancies,  and  to  be  certain, 
that  what  he  feels  and  thinks,  is  truly  felt  and  thought ;  although  any 
individual,  who  has  only  attended  for  some  weeks  to  his  own  train  of 
thoughts,  may  easily  perceive,  that  in  this  field  he  is  not  a  whit  stronger 
than  in  the  sphere  of  morals.  That  the  Bible  alone  cannot,  in  itself, 
constitute  such  a  settled,  outward  rule,  nor  was  ever  so  intended 'by 
Christ,  no  one  surely,  after  the  awful  experience  which,  in  our  times 
especially,  has  been  made,  and  is  still  daily  made,  will  feel  any  longer 
disposed  to  deny. 

§  LI. — Doctrine  of  the  Calvinists  on  the  Church. 

The    Calvinists    adopted  Luther's   general  views,    respecting   the 
Church,  without  alteration,  and  solemnly  confirmed  them  in  their  Sym- 


408  EXPOSITION  OF  DOCTRINAL  DIFFERENCES 

bolical  writings.*  But  Calvin  is  distinguished  by  many  peculiarities, 
which  deserve  to  be  mentioned.  The  phenomena,  which  in  the  whole 
compass  of  ecclesiastical  life,  from  the  commencement  of  the  revolution 
attempted  by  Luther,  down  to  the  flourishing  period  of  Calvin,  had 
presented  themselves  to  the  attention  of  the  observer,  had  not  passed 
by,  without  making  the  deepest  impression  upon  the  mind  of  the  Gene- 
van Reformer.  He  had  observed  the  boundless  tyranny,  which  had 
followed  in  the  train  of  the  new  principles  :  nor  had  he  overlooked  the 
fact,  that  the  idea  of  a  Christian  put  forward  by  his  predecessor,  as  an 
independent,  all-suthcing  being,  capable,  from  the  fulness  of  his  own 
spirit,  of  satisfying  all  his  higher  wants,  is  a  mere  fiction,  which  all 
experience  belies. f  He  had  been  struck  with  the  fact,  that  the  rulers 
of  the  new  Church  were  devoid  of  all  influence  and  respect ;  that  the 
people,  which  had  been  taught  to  look  on  them  as  the  mere  work  of  its 
own  hands,  denied  them  frequently  the  most  indispensable  obedience  ; 
and  that,  if  temporal  princes  had  not  interposed  their  authority,  all  order 
and  discipline  would  have  been  subverted.  ^  As  at  Geneva,  the  prin- 
cipal  scene  of  Calvin's  activity,  the  ecclesiastical  reformation  was  con- 
nected with  a  civil  revolution,  the  wildest  anarchy  had  broken  through 
the  restraints  of  public  morals,  and  matter  for  the  most  earnest  reflec- 
tion was  thus  offered  in  abundance. 

Hence,  Calvin   thought  it  necessary  to  straiten  the  bonds,  which 
united  the  individual  with  the  general  body,  to  excite  a  new  reverence 


*  Zwingl.  Commentar.  de  vera,  et  falsa  Relig.  0pp.  torn.  ii.  fol.  197,  where  he  com- 
prises, in  ten  short  propositions,  his  whole  doctrine  on  the  Church.  Calvin  Instit.  I. 
iv.  c.  1.  fol.  190,  scq.  ;  Confess.  Helvet.  i.  c.  xvii.  ed.  Augs.  p.  47;  Helvet.  ii.  Art. 
xiv ;  Anglic.  Art.  xix.  p.  133  :  which,  however,  very  clearly  points  out  the  visible 
character  of  the  Church  :  "  Ecclesia  Chrisli  visibilis  est  coetus  fidelium,  in  quo  ver- 
buin  Dei  purum  praedicatur,  et  sacramenta,  quoad  ea,  quae  neeessario  exigantur,  juxta 
Christi  institutuni  recte  administrantur."  Very  different  from  this,  on  the  other 
hand,  is  the  Confessio  Scotoruin,  Art-  xvi-  p.  156.  The  Hungarian  Confession  has 
nothing  to  say  respecting  the  Church ;  but,  on  the  other  hand,  it  has  a  section  de  ves- 
titu  pastoru7n,  p.  251. 

t  Calvin.  Instit.  1.  iv.  c.  1.  §  v.  fol.  572.  "Etsi  extemis  mediis  alligata  non  est 
Dei  virtus,  tamen  ordinario  doccndi  modo  alligavit :  quern  dum  recusant  tenere  fana- 
tici  homines,  multis  se  exitialibus  laqueis  involvunt.  Multos  impellit  vel  superbia, 
vel  fastidium,  vel  a-mulatio,  ut  sibi  persuadeant  privatim  legendo  et  mcditando  se 
posse  satis  proficere,  atque  ita  contemnant  publicos  ccEtus  et  prsedicationem  superva- 
cuam  ducant.  Quoniam  autem  sacrum  unitatis  vinculum,  quantum  in  se  est,  sol- 
vunt  vel  abrumpunt,"  etc. 

t  Loc.  cit.  ()  ii.  fol.  375  ••  Ejus  (Satanse)  arte  factum  est,  et  pura  verbl  prsedica- 
tio  aliquot  saeculis  evanucrit :  et  nunc  cadem  improbitate  incumbit  ad  labefactanduin' 
mmisterium ;  quod  tamen  sic  in  ecclesia  Christus  ordinavit,  ut  illo  sublato  hujus 
sedificatio  pereat,"  etc. 


BETWEEN  CATHOLICS  AND  PROTESTANTS.  409 

for  the  Church,  (of  which  Luther  had  always  spoken  in  such  terms  of 
disparagement,  and  whereof,  indeed,  he  had  never  formed  a  clear  con- 
ception,) as  well  as  to  establish,  on  a  more  solid  basis,  the  authority 
of  its  rulers.  He  carefully  collected  all  that  had  ever  been  said  upon 
the  Church,  in  any  wise  good  or  useful  for  his  object ;  and  did  not  even 
hesitate  to  transplant  into  his  garden,  many  a  flower  from  the  so-much- 
detested  Corpus  Juris  canonici;  taking  care,  however,  not  to  name  the 
place  of  its  extraction.  So  he  preferred,  to  adopt  in  his  "  Institutes  of 
the  Christian  Religion,"  propositions,  which,  in  the  Protestant  system, 
are  utterly  untenable  and  baseless,  than  consistently  to  enforce  the 
principles  that  he  had  inherited  from  Luther.  At  the  very  commence- 
ment of  his  Treatise  on  the  Church,  he  points  out  the  natural  igno- 
rance, indolence,  and  frivolity  of  man,  and  the  consequent  necessity  of 
certain  institutions  to  implant,  cherish,  and  mature  the  doctrines  of  faith. 
In  the  Church,  hath  the  treasure  of  the  Gospel  been  deposited,  he  pro- 
ceeds to  say  ;  pastors  and  teachers  have  been  instituted  by  God,  and 
been  invested  with  authority,  to  the  end,  that  preaching  might  never 
fail,  and  a  holy  concord  in  Faith,  and  a  right  order,  might  constantly 
obtain.* 

But  when  his  reason  made  him  the  reproach,  how,  if  the  Church 
were  really  so  constituted,  he  could  feel  himself  justified  in  severing  all 
ties  of  connexion  with  the  one  in  existence  ;  he  then  stunned  his  con- 
science with  the  most  violent  invectives  against  her  ;  satisfied  as  he 
was,  that  the  generation  which  had  once  begun  to  swear  by  men,  and 
to  revere  their  opinions,  as  the  Word  of  God,  would  easily  take  such 
sallies  of  furious  passion,  as  a  substitute  for  solid  argument. f 

After  these  introductory  observations,  Calvin  speaks  first,  of  the  in- 
visible Church,  and  requires  his  disciples,  in  the  first  place,  to  be  firmly 
convinced,  that  such  a  Church  doth  in  reality  exist — namely,  a  host 
of  elect,  who,  though  they  do  not  see  each  other  face  to  face,  yet  are 
united  in  one  faith,  in  one  hope,  in  one  charity,  and  in  the  same  Holy 
Spirit,  as  members  under  the  one  Christ,  their  common  head.  In  the 
second  place,  he  requires  them  to  believe,  with  undoubting  assurance, 
that  they  themselves  belong  to  this  invisible  Church,  which  can  be  only 
one,  since  a  division  of  Christ  is  impossible.  Then,  he  adds  :  though  a 
desolate  wilderness  on  all  sides  surrounds  us,  which  seemeth  to  cry  out, 


*  Calvin.  Instil,  lib.  iv.  c.  i.  fol.  370.  "  Quia  autem  rudit^s  nostra  et  segnities 
(addo  etiam  ingenii  vanitatemj  extcmis  subsidiis  indigent  ....  pastores  instituit  ac 
doctorcs  (Deus,)  quorum  ore  suos  docere  ;  eos  auctoritate  instruxit ;  niliil  denique 
omisit,  quod  ad  sanctum  fidei  consensum  et  rectum  ordincm  faceret." 

t  Loc.  cit.  c.  ii.  fol.  381.86. 


410  EXPOSITION  OF  DOCTRINAL  DIFFERENCES 

the  Church  is  vanished  ;  yet,  let  us  be  assured,  that  the  death  of  Jesus 
is  not  unprofitable,  and  that  God  knows  how  to  preserve  his  followers, 
even  in  the  obscurest  corners.  The  reader  will  not  fail  to  observe, 
that  together  with  the  reasons,  which  are  to  be  looked  for  in  his  doc- 
trine of  absolute  predestination,  there  was  an  especial  motive,  that 
induced  Calvin  to  enforce  on  his  disciples  the  conviction,  that  they 
belonged  to  an  invisible  Church.  This  was  the  general  demoralization, 
which  he  saw  prevailing  among  them,  and  which  threatened  to  under- 
mine the  belief,  that  the  so-called  Reformation,  had  in  reality  been 
brought  about.*  So  he  diverts  their  view  from  the  world  of  reality,  and 
turns  it  to  the  obscurity  of  the  invisible  world,  in  order  to  afford,  to  that 
eternal  longing  of  the  Christian  soul  after  communion,  a  satisfaction 
which  the  visible  Church  evidently  denied.  He  immediately  passes 
over  to  the  latter,  to  impart  to  it  a  more  solid  and  beautiful  form,  to 
insure  its  efficacy  and  its  influence  in  the  training  up  of  believers,  to 
~make  the  visible  Church  appear  as  the  reflection  of  the  invisible,  and, 
in  this  way,  to  attempt  to  reconcile,  by  degrees,  the  members  of  the 
latter  with  those  of  the  former. 

How  salutary,  nay,  how  indispensable,  is  this  view  of  the  nature  of 
the  visible  Church,  says  he,  is  evident  alone,  from  her  glorious  appella- 
tion of  "  mother."  There  is  no  coming  into  life,  unless  she  conceives 
us  in  her  womb,  unless  she  brings  us  forth,  nourishes  us  at  her  breasts, 
and  finally  watches  over  and  protects  us,  until  we  throw  off  this  mortal 
coil,  and  become  like  unto  the  angels.  For,  as  long  as  we  live,  our 
weakness  will  not  admit  of  our  being  discharged  from  school.  Let  us 
consider,  moreover,  he  continues,  that  out  of  the  pale  of  the  Church, 
there  is  no  forgiveness  of  sins,  and  no  salvation :  Isaiah  and  Joel  attest 
it,  and  Ezechiel  concurs  with  them.  We  see  from  hence,  that  God's 
paternal  grace,  and  the  especial  testimony  of  the  spiritual  life,  are  con- 
fined to  his  flock ;  so  that  separation  from  the  Church  is  ever  per- 
nicious. 

Calvin  appeals  to  Ephesians,  c.  iv.  11,  where  St.  Paul  says,  "that 
Christ  gave  some  apostles ;    and  some  prophets  ;   and  some  others, 

t  Loc.  cit.  §  xiii.  fol.  376.  "Dum  enim  apud  eos,  quibus  Evangelium  annuntia- 
tur,  ejus  doctrinae  non  respondere  vitae  fructum  vident,  nullam  illic  esse  ecclesiam 
statim  judicant.  Justissima  quidem  est  ofFensio,  cui  plus  satis  occasionis  hoc  miser- 
rimo  sfficulo  prBeberaus ;  nee  excusare  licet  maledictam  ignaviam,  quam  Dominus 
impunitam  non  sinet :  uti  jam  gravibus  flagellis  castigare  incipit.  Vse  ergo  nobis, 
qui  tarn  dissoluta  flagitioram  licentia  committimus,  ut  propter  nos  vulnerentur  imbe. 
cilles  conscientia;. — Quia  enim  non  putant  esse  ecclesiam,  ubi  non  est  solida  vitae 
puritas  et  integritas,  scelerum  odio  a  legitimS.  ecclesia  disccdunt,  dum  a  factione 
improborum  declinare  se  putant.     Aiunt  ecclesiam  Christi  sanctam  esse,"  etc. 


BETWEEN  CATHOLICS  AND   PROTESTANTS.  411 

evangelists;  and  some  others,  pastors  and  doctors;  for  the  perfecting 
of  the  saints,  for  the  work  of  the  ministry,  for  the  edifying  of  the  body 
of  Christ;  until  we  all  meet  in  the  unity  of  the  faith,  and  of  the  know- 
ledge of  the  Son  of  God  unto  a  perfect  man,  unto  the  measure  of  the 
age  of  the  fulness  of  Christ :" — a  passage  which  the  Catholic  Church 
adduces  in  support  of  the  view  that  she  takes  of  herself.  After  this 
quotation,  the  Reformer  adds  :  "  We  see  that  God,  though,  in  one  mo- 
ment He  could  render  Hvi  own  followers  perfect,  yet,  would  have  thera 
grow  up  to  maturity  only  by  means  of  an  education  by  the  Church. 
We  see,  moreover,  the  way  marked  out,  wherein  these  plans  of  God 
are  to  be  unfolded  ;  for,  to  the  pastors  is  the  preaching  of  the  Divine 
Word  intrusted :  all  must  conform  to  this  precept,  so  that,  with  a  mild 
and  docile  spirit  (mansueto  et  docili  spiritii)  they  give  themselves  up  to 
the  guidance  of  the  teachers  selected  for  that  purpose.  Long  before 
had  the  prophet  Isaiah  characterized  the  Church  by  this  sign,  when 
he  said,  "  The  spirit  which  is  in  thee,  and  the  words,  which  I  have 
placed  in  thy  mouth,  will  never  depart  from  thy  mouth,  nor  from  the 
mouth  of  thy  seed's  seed,  saith  the  Lord."  Hence,  it  follows,  that 
those  deserve  to  perish  of  hunger  and  misery,  who  despise  the  celestial 
food  of  the  soul,  which  is  administered  from  above  through  the  hands  of 
the  Church.  That  we  may  know  that  in  earthly  vessels,  an  incom- 
parable treasure  is  presented  to  our  acceptance,  God  Himself  appears, 
and  as  far  as  He  is  the  Founder  of  this  order  of  things,  desires  to  be 
acknowledged  as  ever  present  in  His  institution.  In  like  manner,  as 
He  referred  not  His  chosen  people  of  old  to  angels,  but  raised  up  on 
earth  teachers,  who  performed  truly  the  office  of  angels  :  so  He  de- 
sires now  to  instruct  us  after  a  human  fashion.  And  in  like  manner, 
as  in  ancient  times,  He  was  not  content  with  merely  revealing  his  law, 
but  appointed  as  interpreters  of  the  same,  the  priests,  from  whose  lips 
the  people  were  to  hear  its  true  sense  explained :  so  it  is  now  His  will, 
that  we  should  not  merely  be  engaged  with  the  reading  of  Holy  Writ ; 
nay,  He  hath  instituted  teachers,  that  we  may  be  supported  by  their 
aid.  From  hence  a  two-fold  advantage  springs.  On  one  hand,  the 
Almighty  best  tries  our  obedience,  when  we  so  hearken  to  His  ministers, 
as  if  He  spake  himself;  and,  on  the  other  hand.  He  condescends  to  our 
weakness,  by  choosing  rather  to  address  us  after  a  human  manner, 
through  the  medium  of  interpreters,  in  order  to  draw  us  to  Himself, 
than  to  repel  us  by  the  voice  of  His  thunders.  Calvin,  after  remarking, 
that  in  all  apostasies  from  the  Church,  arrogance  or  jealousy  ever  lies 
at  the  bottom,  and  that  he,  who  severs  the  sacred  bonds  of  unity,  will 
not  fail  to  incur  the  just  chastisement  for  this  godless  adultery — to  wit, 
spiritual  blindness  through  the  most  poisonous  errors  and  the  most  de- 


412  EXPOSITION  OF  DOCTRINAL  DIFFERENCES 

testable  illusions  ;  proceeds  to  say,  "  the  more  abominable  therefore  are 
the  apostles,  who  aim  at  a  division  in  the  Church  :  it  is  as  if  they 
chased  the  sheep  away  from  the  fold,  and  delivered  them  up  to  the  jaws 
of  the  wolf."* 

Calvin  is  as  inexhaustible  in  his  own  self-refutation,  as  he  is  unsha- 
ken in  his  confidence  in  the  thoughtlessness  of  the  men,  from  whom  he 
seriously  expects,  that  the  grounds,  which  condemn  his  own  disobedi- 
ence  against  the  Catholic  Church,  they  will  good-naturedly  take  for 
proofs,  that  they  owe  submission  to  him  and  to  his  institutions.  As  we, 
he  says  in  another  place,  profess  an  invisible  Church,  which  is  seen  by 
the  eye  of  God  alone  ;  so  are  we  bo'ind  to  revere  a  Church,  which  is 
perceptible  to  men,  and  to  persevere  in  its  communion. f  He  neyer 
forgets  to  point  out  as  a  mark  of  a  true  Chistian  community,  its  vene- 
ration for  the  ministry,  and  for  the  office  of  preaching  ;J  and,  if  Luther 
said,  the  true  Church  is  there  to  be  found,  where  the  Gospel  is  rightly 
announced  ;  so  Calvin  adds,  it  is  there  to  be  found  where  the  preaching 
of  the  Divine  Word  is  heard  with  obedience.  "  Where,"  as  he  express- 
es himself,  "  the  preaching  of  the  Gospel  is  received  with  reverence, 
there  neither  a  deceptious,  nor  a  doubtful  image  of  the  Church  is  pre- 
sented ;  and  no  one  will  go  unpunished,  who  contemns  her  authority, 
or  despises  her  exhortations,  or  rejects  her  counsels,  or  mocks  her  chas- 
tisements, still  less  who  apostatizes  from  her,  and  dissolves  her  unity. 
For  such  value  doth  our  Lord  attach  to  communion  with  His  Church, 
that  he  is  held  for  an  apostate  and  an  unbeliever,  who  obstinately  secedes 
from  any  [particular  reformed]  community,  should  it  otherwise  revere 
the  true  ministry  of  the  Word  and  of  the  sacraments.  It  is  certainly  no 
slight  thing,  that  it  is  called  '  the  pillar  and  the  ground  of  the  truth,'  as 
well  as  the  '  House  of  God.'  Hereby,  St.  Paul  means  to  say,  the  Church 
is  the  faithful  preserver  of  the  truth,  that  it  may  never  be  lost  in  the 
world  ;  for,  by  her  ministry  and  her  aid,  God  wished  to  preserve  the 
pure  preaching  of  His  Word,  and  show  himself  a  kind  parent,  who 
nourishes  us  with  spiritual  food,  and  provides  all  which  can  minister  to 
our  salvation.  Even  this  is  no  mean  praise  that  the  Church  is  called 
the  '  chosen  one,'  the  bride  elect,  who  must  be  without  spot  and  without 
wrinkle,  the  body  of  the  Lord.     Hence,  it  follows,  that  separation  from 


*  Loc.  cit.  c.  i.  §  V.  fol.  372. 

+  Calvin,  lib.  iv.  c  1.  n.  7.  fol.  374.  "  Quemadmodum  ergo  nobis  invisibilem, 
Bolius  Dei  oculis  conspicuam  ecclcsiara  credere  necesse  est,  ita  hanc,  quae  respectu 
hominum  ecclesia  dicltur,  obsorvarc,  ejusquc  coram unionem  colore  jubeinur.'' 

i  Loc.  cit.  §  ix  fol.  374.  "  Quqb  (multiludo)  si  ramisterium  fiabet  verbi,  et  hono- 
rat,  SI  sacramentorum  admiaistrationcm,  ecclesia  procul  dubio  baberi  et  censeri  me- 
retur." 


BETWEEN  CATHOLICS  AND  PROTESTANTS.  413 

the  Church  is  tantamount  to  a  denial  of  God  and  of  Christ ;  and  we 
ishoulJ  guard  the  more  against  the  hcinousness  of  schism,  for  awhile,  as 
faf  as  in  us  lies,  we  thus  labour  for  the  destruction  of  Divine  Truth,  we 
deserve  to  call  down  upon  ourselves  the  full  weight  of  God's  wrath. 
And  no  more  detestable  crime  can  be  imagined,  than  by  a  sacrilegious 
infidelity  to  violate  the  marriage,  which  the  only-begotten  Son  of  God 
hath  deigned  to  contract  with  the  Church."* 

Lastly,  Calvin,  for  good  reasons,  endeavours  to  enforce  on  his  read- 
ers  the  conviction,  that  no  magnitude  of  moral  corruption  can  ever  de- 
prive the  Church  of  its  inherent  character,f  and  that  those,  who,  on  this 
point  are  too  rigid,  and  in  consequence  incite  to  defection,  are  general- 
ly swollen  with  arrogance,  and  impelled  by  a  malicious  self-compla- 
cence. He  even  adds,  that  a  certain  obscuration  of  the  true  faith  should 
not  be  overrated. J 

From  these  principles  of  Calvin,  we  can  understand  why  he  retained 
Ordination,  and  even  under  the  condition,  that  it  should  be  administer- 
ed not  by  the  people,  but  by  the  Presbytery.  §     He  even  evinced  an  in* 

•  Loc.  cit.  §  X.  fol.  374.375. 

t  Loc.  cit.  c.  ii.  ()  i.  fol.  381.  "Ubicunque  integrum  exstat  et  illibatum  (verbi  et 
sacramentorura  ministerium)  nullis  monim  vitiis  aut  morbis  impediri,  quominus 
ecclcsiae  nomen  sustineat."  C.  i.  §  xvi.  fol.  377.  "  Hoc  tamen  reperimus  nimiam 
morositatern  ex  superbia  magis  et  fastu  falsaque  sanctitatis  opinione,  quara  ex  ver4 
sanctitate  veroquc  ejus  studio  nasci.  Itaque  qui  ad  faciendam  ab  ecclesi&.  defec- 
tioncm  sunt  aliis  audaciores,  et  quasi  antcsignani,  ii  ut  plurimum  nihil  aliud  causae 
habent,  nisi  ut  omnium  contemptft  ostendant  se  aliis  esse  meliorcs." 

t  Loc.  cit.  §  xii.  fol.  374.  "  Quin  etiam  poterit  vel  in  doctrinfi,,  vel  in  sacraraeii- 
torum  administratione  vitii  quippiam  obrepere,  quod  alienare  nos  ab  ejus  communione 
non  debeat."  We  could  wish  that  space  permitted  us  to  cite  some  passages,  from 
the  writings  of  Theodore  Beza,  upon  the  Church.  What  Calvin  teaches,  Beza  ex* 
cellently  applies.  We  need  only  peruse  Beza's  Epistle  to  a  certain  Alamannus, 
"  ecclesiae  Lugdunensis  turbatorcm,"  m  order  to  learn  how  Calvin's  maxims  were 
practically  enforced.  See  Theodori  Bezae  Vezclii  epist.  theolog.  liber  unus,  Genev. 
1573,  p.  48.  May  we  not  consider  it  as  a  result  of  Calvin's  deeper  conception  of  the 
Church,  surviving  to  this  day,  that  even  now  the  German  Calvmistic  theologians 
have,  on  this  subject,  furnished  far  more  excellent  matter  than  the  Lutheran  ones  ? 
It  is  Schleiermacher  and  Marheineke  (and  the  latter,  in  his  book  of  rehgious  instruc* 
tion  for  the  Higher  Gymnasia,  still  more  than  in  the  Manual  of  dogmatic  Theolocy, 
destined  for  University  Lectures,)  who,  among  the  modem  Protestants,  have  by  far 
the  best  treated  this  subject.  Marheineke  had  already  written  much  that  was  excels 
lent  on  the  Church,  before  he  attached  himself  to  the  Hcgehan  school,  from  which 
certainly  a  better  spirit  has  emanated. 

^  Loc.  cit.  lib.  iv.  c.  3.  §  11.16.  fol.  389.392  ;  lib.  iv.  c.  14.  §  20.  fol.  418.  "  Sa. 
cramenta  duo  instituta,  quibus  nunc  Christiana  ecclesia  utitur.  Loquor  autem  de 
Us,  qu(B  in  usum  totius  ecclesia  sunt  instituta.  Nam  impositionem  manuum,  qua 
ecclesice  ministri  in  suum  munus  initiantur,  ut  non  invitus  patior  vocari  sacramen» 


414  EXPOSITION  OF  DOCTRINAL  DIFFERENCES 

,clinatioii  to  ackiiowledgo  Holy  Orders  as  a  sacrament.  Certainly  from 
this  point  of  view,  the  remarkable  fact,  that  in  the  English  Calvinistic 
Church  episcopacy  was  retained,  finds  liere  its  deepest  motive  ;  although 
it  is  not  to  be  denied,  that  various  other  circumstances  also  concurred 
to  this  retention.  With  Luther's  first  opinions,  no  episcopacy  could 
have  existed  ;  and  the  Danish  and  Swedish  episcopal  system,  is  essen- 
tially different  from  the  Anglican.*  But,  hereby  in  the  Anglican 
Church,  the  internal  self-contradiction  was  carried  to  the  extremest  pitch. 
A  Catholic  hierarchy,  and  a  Protestant  system  of  faith  in  one  and  the 
same  community  !  The  Anglican  bishops  boast,  that  by  means  of 
Catholic  ordination,  they  descend  in  an  unbroken  succession  from  the 
apostles ;  and  are,  accordingly,  in  a  most  intimate  and  living  connec- 
tion with  the  ancient  Church  ;  and  yet,  by  their  participation  in  the 
ecclesiastical  revolution,  they  broke  off  the  chain  of  tradition. 

How  great,  therefore,  must  be  our  astonishment,  when  Calvin  makes 
belief  in  the  divinity  of  the  Scriptures,  depend  on  the  testimony  of  the 
Holy  Spirit  in  the  interior  man,  and  when  he  could  descend  to  such  a 
pitiable  misinterpretation  of  the  true  proposition  of  St.  Augustine's : 
"  I  would  not  believe  in  the  Sacred  Scriptures,  if  the  authority  of  the 
Church  did  not  determine  me  thereto."!  Here  again  that  eflTort  was 
relaxed,  which  had  so  earnestly  endeavoured  to  oppose  an  objective  mat- 
ter to  subjective  caprice  ;  and  evidently,  in  order  to  obviate  the  possible 
consequences,  which,  from  the  undeniable  fact,  that  in  and  by  the  Catho- 
lie  Church,  the  canon  of  the  Bible  had  been  settled,  and  its  several 
books  preserved  in  their  integrity,  might  be  deduced  in  favour  of  that 
Church.J 


turn,  ita  inter  ordinaria  sacramenta  non  numero  "  If,  by  sacramentum  ordinarium, 
Calvin  understands,  quod  in  usum  totiua  ecclesiee  (omnium  fidelium)  institutum  est, 
8o  the  Catholic  Church  quite  agrees  with  him. 

*  Confess.  Anglic   Art.  xxxvi. 

t  Calvin  Inslit.  lib.  i.  c.  7.  ()  3.  fol.  15.  "  Maneat  ergo  fixum,  quos  Spiritus  sanc- 
tus  intus  docuit,  solide  acquiescere  in  Scriptura.,  et  banc  quidem  esse  etvrovKrTev, 
nequc  demonslrationibus  et  rationi  subjici  earn  fas  esse  :  quam  tamcn  meretur  apud- 
nos  certitudincm  spiritus  testimonio  consequi.  Talis  ergo  est  persuasio,  qufe  rationes 
non  rcquirat :  talis  notitia,  cui  optima  ratio  constat,  nempe  in  qua  securius  constan- 
tiusqae  mems  acquiescit,  quam  in  ullis  rationibus-;  talis  denique  sensus,  qui  nisi  ex 
coelesti  revelationc  nasci  nequeat  " 

t  Loc.  cit.  §  1,  fol  14.  "  Sic  enim  raagno  cum  ludibrio  Spiritda  sancti  quaerunt: 
ecquis  nobis  fidem  faciat,  hcec  a  Deo  prodiisse  ?  Ecquis  salva  ac  intacta  ad  nostram 
usque  ajtatem  pcrvenisse  certiorcs  rcddat  ?  Ecquis  porsuadeat,  librum  hunc  rcveren- 
ter  cxcipiendum.  alterum  numero  expungendum,  nisi  certam  istorum  omnium  regu- 
lam  ecclesia  praescnberet  ?  Pendet  igitur,  inquiunt,  ab  ecclesia?  determinatione  et 
quae  scripturae  reverentia  debeatur,  et  qui  libri  in  ejus  catalogo  ccnsendi  sint.     Ita 


BETWEEN  CATHOLICS  AND  PROTESTANTS.  415 

Yet  these  principles  of  Calvin,  emanated  from  the  thoroughly  subjec- 
tive nature  of  Protestantism  ;  and,  it  must  be  admitted,  that  his  views,  on 
the  Church,  are  far  more  inconsistent  with  the  inmost  spirit  of  the  refor- 
mation, than  his  opinion,  as  to  the  mode  of  assuring  ourselves  of  the 
divine  origin  of  any  sacred  writing,  is  with  his  doctrine  on  the  Church. 
But  at  all  events,  it  is  highly  honourable  to  his  perspicacity,  as  well  as 
to  his  Christian  spirit,  that  he  saw,  or  at  least  felt,  that  by  means  of 
mere  learned  investigation,   the  believer  could  obtain  no  satisfactory 
result :  that  on  account  of  the  obscurity,  which  involves  the  origin  of 
many  of  the  sacred  writings,  and  the  formation  of  the  canon  itself,  and 
which  spreads  in  general  over  the   first  two  centuries  of  the  Church, 
doubts  as  to  the  genuineness  of  one  or  other  Canonical  Scripture  may 
ever  be  raised — doubts  on  the  final  solution,  whereof  faith  cannot  re- 
main suspended  :  and  that  accordingly,  some  higher  guarantee  must  be 
sought  for.     Such  he  found,  following  out  earlier  indications  ;  and  what 
he  found  was  not  false,  but  one-sided,  unsatisfactory,  and  cheerless  for 
the  Church.     That  through  such  principles  an  opening  was  made  to  the 
desolation  of  the  sanctuary,  proceeding  from  a  one-sided  culture  of  the 
religious  spirit,  Calvin  might  have  learned  from  Luther's  views  touching 
the  Biblical  canon.     Where  the  latter  "  did  not  perceive  the  Spirit,"* 
that  is  to  say,  did  not  find  the  reflection  of  his  own  spirit,  he  forthwith 
believed  the  suspicion  of  spuriousness  to  be  well  founded.     But  who 
can  ultimately  decide  on  this  test  of  the  Spirit,  which  a  book  of  Scrip- 
ture doth  abide  or  not,  when  that  book  is  rejected  by  one  party,  and 


sacrilegi  homines,  dum  subecclesiae  prsetextft  volunteffraenatam  tyrannidem  evehere, 
nihil  curant.  quibus  se  et  alios  absurditatibus  illaqueent,  modo  hoc  unum  extorqueant 
apud  simplices,  ecclesiara  nihil  non  posse."     Moreover,  no  Catholic  so  expresses  him- 
self, that  it  depends  on  the  Church  to  determine  what  veneration  be  due  to  the  sacred 
writings,  and  what  books  are  to  be  held  as  canonical;  but  Catholics  have  at  all  times 
asserted,  that  the  Church   is  only  a  witness  and  a  guarantee,  that  the  canonical 
Scriptures  are  really  what  they  are  considered  to  be.     Calvin,  however,  expresses 
himself  still  more  honestly  than  Luther,  who,  in  his  Commentary  on  the  Epistle  to 
the  Galatians,  c.  i.  p.  3l)  (Wittenberg,  1556,  part  i.,)  says  :  "  So  the  Church  should 
have  power  and  authority   over  Holy    Writ  ;  as  the  canonists  and  the  scntentiarii 
(schoohnen;  have  written  against  God,   and  in  the  most  shameless  manner.     The 
ground  which  some  assign  for  this  opinion  is,  the  Church  hath  not  approved  of  and 
adopted  more  than  four  gospels;  therefore  there  are  only  fom-,  and  had  the  Church 
adopted  more,    there   would  have  been   more.     But  now,   if  the  Church  hath  the 
power,  according  to  her  good  will  and  pleasure,  to  adopt  and  to  approve  of  gospels, 
what  and  how  many  she  chooses,  so  it  thence  follows  that  the  authority  of  the  Church 
is  above  the   Gospel."     This  was  now,  indeed,  easy  to  be  refuted,  as  even  Luther 
himself  refutes  his  own  fiction. 

f  "  Den  Geist  verspurte."     These  are  Luther's  own  words. — Trans. 


416         EXPOSITION  OF  DOCTRINAL  DIFFERENCES,  ^c. 

defended  by  another.  Neither  can  be  refuted,  because  each  exalts  in* 
dividual  sentiment,  as  the  highest  and  the  ultimate  criterion  of  certainty ; 
and  will  not  let  its  religious  faith  be  moulded  according  to  the  objective 
doctrine  of  the  Bible,  but  will  itself,  according  to  its  own  pleasure,  de- 
termine what  is,  or  is  not  Scripture.  Accordingly,  from  the  language 
of  the  Spirit,  it  can  never  be  decided,  whether  Matthew,  Mark,  Paul, 
Peter,  and  the  rest,  have  written  any  book ;  at  most,  it  declares  that  a 
Christian  is  the  author  of  such  a  writing.  But  when  the  question  turns 
on  the  canonicity  of  the  Scriptures,  it  is  the  former,  and  not  merely  the 
latter  fact,  which  we  desire  to  know ;  for  the  apostles  only  we  hold  to 
be  unerring,  but  no  one  besides.* 


*  Confcssio  Gallica  (c.  iv.  lib,  i.  p.  Ill)  agrees  with  Calvin  when  it  says:  "Hob 
libros  agnoscimus  esse  canonicos,  id  est,  ut  fidei  nostrae  norman  et  regulam  habemus, 
atquc  non  tantumex  communi  ecclcsiae  consensfi,  sed  etiam  multo  magis  ex  testimo- 
nio  ct  intrinsica  Spiritds  sancti  pcrsuasionc  :  quo  suggerente  doccmur,  illus  ab  aliis  li- 
bris ecclesiasticis  discemere,  qui  ut  sint  ulcs  (utiles?)  non  sunt  tamen  ejusmodi,  utex 
iis  constitui  possit  aliquis  fidei  articulus." 


CHAPTER  VI. 

!fttB5  CttUKCU  IN  THE  NEXT  WORLD,  AND  ITS  CONNEXION  WITH  THE 
CHURCH  MILITANT. 


§  Lii. — Doctrine  of  Catholics  on  this  matter^ 

Hitherto  we  have  considered  the  Church  only  in  her  terrestrial  being 
and  essence  ;  and  her  supermundane  part  remains  still  to  be  described. 
The  faithful,  who  summoned  away  from  hence,  have  quitted  their  visi- 
ble communion  with  us,  and  have  passed  into  another  state  of  existence, 
do  not  (so  the  Catholic  Church  teaches,)  thereby  sever  the  bonds  of 
connexion  with  us.  On  the  contrary,  holy  love,  which  was  transferred 
from  a  higher  order  of  existence  to  this  lower  world,  perpetually  enfolds 
in  her  sacred  bands,  all  those  whom  she  hath  once  held  in  her  embraces, 
(provided  only  they  have  not  wilfully  torn  themselves  from  her),  and 
amid  the  dissolution  of  all  earthly  energies,  still  retains  her  eternal 
power.  All  now,  who,  with  the  hallow  of  love,  have  departed  hence 
as  also  those  higher  created  spiritual  beings,  who,  though  they  never 
lived  with  us  in  the  relations  of  space  and  time,  yet,  like  us,  stand  un- 
der the  same  head  Christ  Jesus,  and  are  sanctified  in  the  same  Holy 
Spirit,  form  together  one  Church — one  great  and  closely  united  con- 
federacy with  us.*  But,  not  all  believers,  who  have  been  members  of 
this  terrestrial  Church,  and  have  departed  from  it,  with  the  sign  of  the 
covenant  of  love,  enter  immediately,  on  their  passage  into  eternity,  into 
those  relations  of  bliss,  destined,  from  the  beginning,  for  those  who  love 
God  in  Christ.  According  as  they  quit  this  earthly  life,  either  slightly 
touched  by  divine  love,  or  by  it  e/Tectually  freed  from  the  stains  of  sin, 


*  Cardinal  Sadoletus,  in  his  letter  to  the  Genevans,  admirably  expresses  the  pith 
of  the  doctrine  of  the  Catholic  Church:  ''  Sin  mortalis  anima  sit,  edamus,  et  biba- 
mus,  inqiiit  aposfofus,  paulo  enim  post  moriemur  :  sin  autem  sit  immortalis,  ut  certo 
est,  unde,  qurrso,  tantum  et  tarn  repente  factum  est  corporis  morte  dissidium,  ut  et 
viventium  et  mortuorum  animae  inter  se  nihil  congruant,  nihil  communicent,  omnis 
cogiiationis  nobiscum  et  communis  humanae  societatis  oblitae  ?  Cum  prx'scrtim  cha- 
ntas,  qua;  praecipuuin  SpiritCis  sancti  in  Christianogenere  est  donum:  quae  nunquam 
non  benigna,  nunquam  non  fructuosa  est,  et  in  eo,  in  quo  inest,  nunquam  inutiliter 
consistit,  salva  semper  et  efficax  in  utr^que  vita,  permaneal." — Jacob.  Sadolet.  Card, 
opp.  torn.  ii.  p.  181. 
27 


418  EXPOSITION  OF  DOCTRINAL  DIFFERENCES 

they  pass  into  different  forms  of  a  new  existence.  The  former  afe 
transferred  to  a  state,  suited  to  the  still  defective,  moral,  and  religious 
life  of  their  souls,  and  which  is  destined  to  bring  them  to  perfection  s 
the  latter  to  a  state  of  happiness,  corresponding  to  their  consummate 
sanctification.  The  first,  like  the  members  of  the  Church  terrestrials 
are  with  reason  included  in  the  suffering  Church ;  for  their  peculiar 
existence  must  be  considered  as  one,  not  only  still  passing  through  the 
fire  of  purification,*  but,  as  also  subjected  to  punishment ;  for,  it  de- 
pended only  on  themselves,  by  the  right  use  of  their  free-will,  during 
their  earthly  career,  to  have  established  themselves  in  a  perfect,  inti- 
mate, and  untroubled  union  with  God.f  Those,  however,  admitted 
into  the  ranks  of  happy  spirits,  form,  together  with  these,  the  Church 
triumphant — a  denomination  which  sufficiently  explains  itself. 

That  the  dcctrine  of  an  ulterior  state  of  purification,  of  a  purgatory 
in  fine,  is  involved  in  the  Catholic  dogma  of  justification,  and  is  ab- 
solutely inseparable  from  the  same,  we  have  already,  in  a  former  part 
of  this  work,  demonstrated.  We  shall,  accordingly,  speak  here  only  of 
the  peculiar  mode  of  communion,  which  is  kept  up  between  us  and  the 
poor  souls  that  are  delivered  over  to  the  cleansing  fire.  We  arc  taught, 
and  are  even  urged  by  the  strongest  impulse  of  our  hearts,  to  put  up 
for  them  to  God  and  Jesus  Christ,  our  most  earnest  supplications.  We 
present  to  God,  more  especially,  the  sacrifice  of  Christ  upon  the  cross, 
and  beseech  him,  that  for  his  Son's  sake,  he  would  look  down  with 
graciousness  and  compassion  upon  our  suffering  brothers  and  sisters, 
and  deign  to  quicken  their  passage  into  eternal  rest.  J     This  custom, 


*  In  the  Missal,  one  of  the  prayers  for  the  dead,  runs  thus  :  "  Suscipc,  Domme, 
preces  nostras  pro  animii  famuh  tui  N.  ut  si  qucB  ei  macula  de  terrenis  contagiis  ad. 
htBserunt,  remissionis  tuae  misericordia,  deleantur.  Per  Dominum  nostrum  Jesum 
Christum." 

+  In  the  Florentine  formulary  of  reunion  (which  expresses  the  unity  of  belief  of 
the  Greek  and  Latin  Church,)  it  is  ssvid :  "  Item  si  vere  pcenitentes  in  Dei  caritate 
decesscrint,  antequam  dignis  pa5nitenti8e  fructibus  de  commissis  satisfecerint  et  om- 
issis,  eorum  animas  poenis  purgatoriis  post  mortem  purgari  {x.'j.Biprmct'i;  rt/xupiat;  xad- 
Ai^tiT^cit  fAira.  fiavsiTov :)  et  ut  a  poenis  hujusmodi  revelentur,  prodesse cis fidelium  vivo- 
ram  suffragia,  Missarum  scilicet  sacrificia,  orationes,  et  ele<3mosynas,  et  alia  pictatis 
officia,  qurp.  a  fidelibus  pro  aliis  fidclibus  fieri  consueverunt,  secundum  ecclesiaj  insti- 
tuta  Harduin."     Acta  concil.  tom.  ix.  p.  422. 

t  Concil.  Trid.  Sess.  xxv.  decret.de  Purgator.  "Cum  Catholica  ecclesia do- 

cuerit,  purgatoriura  esse  :  animasque  ibi  detentas  fidelium  suffiagiis, potissimum  vero 
acceptabili  altaris  sacrificio  juvari,  prEecipit  sancta  synodus  episcopis,  ut  sanam  de 
Purgatorio  doctrinam,  a  Sanctis  patribus  et  a  sacris  conciliis  traditam,  a  Christi  fide- 
libus credi,  teneri,  doceri,  et  ubique  prajdicari  diligenter  studeant.  Apud  rudem  vero 
plebem  difficiUores  ac  subtihorus  quaestiones,  quiE  ad  aedificationem  non  faciunt,  et  ex 


BETWEEN  CATHOLICS  AND  PROTESTANTS.  419 

which  we  cannot  absokitoly  abandon,  for,  we  are  impelled  to  its  exer" 
cise,  by  all  the  power  of  faith  and  of  love,  is  not  only  confirmed  by  the 
usages  of  the  most  ancient  nations,  and  of  the  chosen  people  of  God  in 
particular,  but  may  be  proved  to  have  been  authorized  by  the  prac- 
tice of  the  primitive  Church  ;  and  is,  accordingly,  revered  by  us  as  an 
apostolic  tradition.  But,  moreover,  as  to  the  mode  of  punishment,  and 
the  place,  which  purgatory  occupies,  the  Church  teaches  nothing  fur- 
ther  ;  for,  she  has,  on  this  point,  received  no  special  revelations  ;  and 
when  we  use  the  expression,  "  purifying  fire,"  we  employ  it  only  in  the 
usual  figurative  sense. 

Of  a  difTt^rent  kind  is  the  intercourse  subsisting  between  us  and  the 
triumphant  Church.  Let  us  turn  our  view,  more  particularly,  to  those 
of  its  members  who  were  once  incorporated  with  the  Church  on  earth. 
Not  only  do  they  work  among  us  by  the  sacred  energies  which,  during 
their  earthly  pilgrimage,  they  displayed,  and  whereby  they  extended 
God's  kingdom,  and  founded  it  more  deeply  in  the  hearts  of  men ;  en- 
ergies, whose  influence,  acting  at  first  on  those  within  their  immediate 
sphere,  spread  thence  ever  wider  and  wider,  and  will  extend  to  all 
future  times.  Not  only  are  they  permanent  models  of  Christian  life, 
in  whom  the  Saviour  hath  stamped  his  own  image,  in  whom  he,  in  a 
thousand  ways,  reflects  himself,  and  in  whom  exhibiting  to  us  patterns 
for  all  th(i  relations  of  life  ;  he  brings  vividly  before  our  view,  the  whole 
compass  of  virtues  rendered  possible  through  him.  But,  they  also  min- 
ister for  us,  (such  is  our  fij-m  and  confident  belief,)  in  a  still  more  ex» 
alted  degree  ;  and  this  their  ministration  requires  from  us  a  correspond- 
ing conduct.  The  purer  their  love,  and  the  fuller  their  share  in  that 
ineffable  bliss,  whereof  they  have  become  partakers  in  Christ ;  the  more 
they  turn  their  affections  towards  us,  and  amid  all  our  efforts  and 
struggles,  remain  by  no  means  passive  spectators.  They  supplicate 
God  in  behalf  of  their  brethren ;  and  we  in  turn,  conscious  that  the 
prayer  of  the  righteous  man  availeth  much  with  God,  implore  their  in- 
tercession. The  act,  whereby  we  do  this,  is  called  invocation  {invo- 
catio  ;)  and  that,  wherein  they  respond  to  this  call,  is  termed  interces- 
sion (intercessio.)* 


quibus  nulla  fit  pietatis  accessio,  a  populanbus  concionibus  secludantur.  Incerta  item, 
Yel  quoe  specie  falsi  laborant,  evulgari  ac  tractari  non  permittant.  Ea  vera,  qufe  ad 
curiositatem  quandam,  aut  superstitionem  spectant,  vol  turpe  lucrum  spcctant,  tan- 
quam  scandala,  et  fidelium  offendicula  prohibeant,"  etc.  Sess.  xxii.  c.  11.  "  Quare 
non  solum  pro  fidelium  vivorum  peccatis.  .  .  .  sed  et  pro  defimctis  in  Christo  non- 
dum  pleniter  purgatis  offertur."     Sess.  vi.  can.  xxx. 

*  Concil.  Trid.  Sess.  xxv.  "  Mandatsancta  synodus  omnibus  episcopas..X.utfideles 
diligenter  instruant,  docentes  eos,  Sanctos  un&,  cum  Christo  regnantes,  orationes  Buas 


420  EXPOSITION  or  DOCTIllNAL  mFFERENCES^ 

The  setting  up  of  the  saints  by  the  Church,  as  patterns  for  religiocs' 
and  moral  imitation,  connected  with  the  doctrine  of  their  intercessionr 
in  our  behalf  with  God,  and  of  the  corresponding  invocation  of  their  aid 
on  our  parts,  constitutes  the  principle  of  the  veneration  of  saints,  whick' 
is  in  the  aarrre  way  related  to  the  su])reme  worship,  as  the  mutual  rela- 
tion existing  between  creatures,  is  to  the  state  of  dependence  of  themr 
all  on  their  common  Creator  and  Lord.  Virtuous  creatures  look  with: 
love  and  reverence  on  those  of  their  body,  who  were  eminently  endow° 
ed  by  God,  and,  in  virtue  of  the  love  implanted  within  them,  they  wish- 
each  other  all  good,  and  lift  up  their  hands  in  each  other's  behalf  unto 
God,  who,  rejoicing  in  the  love  that  emana'tes  from  himself,  and  binds 
his  creatures  together,  hears  their  mutual  supplications,  in  case  they  be 
worthy  of  his  favour,  and  out  of  the  fulness  of  his  power  satisfies  them  ; 
and  this  no  creature  is  able  to  accomplish.  Moreover,  if  we  are  to 
worship  Christ,  we  are  forced  to  venerate  his  saints.  Their  brightness 
is  nought  else,  than  an  irradiation  from  the  glory  of  Christ,  and  a  proof 
of  his  infinite  power,  who,  out  of  dust  and  sin,  is  able  to  raise  up  eter- 
nal spirits  of  light.  He  who,  therefore,  revereth  the  saints,  glorifieth 
Christ,  from  whose  power  they  have  sprung,  and  whose  true  divinity 
they  attest.  Hence  the  festivals  of  the  Lord,  whereby,  the  commemo^ 
ration  of  the  most  important  events  in  the  Redeemer's  history  is,  in  the 
course  of  the  year,  with  the  most  living  solemnity  renewed,  the  Churcb 
hath  encircled  with  the  feasts  of  the  saints,  who,  through  the  whole 
progressive  history  of  the  Church,  testify  the  fruitful  effects  of  the  com- 
ing of  the  Son  of  God  into  this  world,  of  his  ministry  and  his  sufferings^ 
his  resurrection  and  the  outpouring  of  the  Spirit  j  so  that,  accordingly,- 
in  the  lives  of  the  saints,  the  effects  of  the  life  of  Christ,  and  its  unde.^ 
niable  fruits,  are  brought  home  at  once  to  our  contemplation,  and  to  our 
feelings.  And  with  reason  may  we  say,  that  as  God  is  no  God  of  the 
dead,  but  of  the  living  ;  so  Christ  is  no  God  of  a  generation,  tarrying 
in  the  sleep  of  death,  but  of  a  people  truly  awakened  in  the  Spirit,  and 
growing  up  to  sanctification,  and  to  bliss.  Lastly,  it  is  to  be  borne  in 
mind,  that  the  doctrine  of  the  Church  does  not  declare,  that  the  saints 


pro  hominibus  offerre,  bonum  atque  utile  esse  supplicitcr  eos  vocare  ;  et  ob  beneficia 
impctranda  ii  Deo  per  fillum  ejus  Jcsuin  Christum  Dominum  nostrum,  qui  solus  nos- 
ter  redemptor  et  salvator  est,  ad  eorum  orutioncs,  opem  auxiliumque  confugere." 
Scss.  xxii.  c.  1 11.  "  Et  quamvis  in  honorem  et  memoriam  sanctorum  nonnullas  in- 
terdum  missasacclesia  celcbrare  con«ueverit ;  non  tamenillis  sacrificium  offere  docet, 
Bcd  Deo  Bo!i,  qui  illos  coronavit,  unde  ncc  sacerdos  dicere  solet,  offcro  tibi  sacrificium, 
Pctrc  vel  Paule,  sed  Deo  de  illorum  victoriis  gratias  agens  eorum  patrocinia  implorat, 
ut  ipsi  pro  nobis  intercedere  dignentur  in  coelis,  quorum  memoriam  facimus  in  terria." 


BETWEEN  CATHOLICS  AND  PROTESTANTS.  421 

must,  but  only  that  they  can  be  invoked  ;  since  the  Council  of  Trent, 
in  the  passage  we  have  cited,  says,  "  only  that  it  is  useful  and  salutary^ 
to  invoke  with  confidence  the  intercession  of  the  saints."  Of  faith  m 
the  divinity  of  Christ,  and  in  his  mediatorial  office,  or  in  his  sanctifying 
grace,  and  the  like,  the  Church  by  no  means  teaches  that  it  is  merely 
useful  and  salutary,  but  that  it  is  absolutely  necessary  to  salvation. 


§  Liii. — Doctrine  of  Protestants  on  this  subject- 
To  these  principles  of  the  Catholic  Church,  Protestants  oppose  but 
mere  empty  negations,  and  a  dead  criticism.  In  the  first  place,  as  re- 
gards purgatory,  Luther,  at  the  outset,  denied  this  doctrine,  as  little  as 
that  of  prayers  for  the  dead.  But,  as  soon  as  he  obtained  a  clear  ap- 
prehension of  his  own  theory  of  justification,  he  recognized  the  neces- 
sity of  giving  way  here  likewise  to  the  spirit  of  negation.  In  the  Smal- 
cald  Articles,  composed  by  him,  he  expresses  himself  in  the  strongest 
manner  against  the  doctrine  of  purgatory,  and  characterizes  it  as  a  dia- 
bolical invention.*  Calvin  also,  with  the  most  furious  violence,  de- 
clares against  this  dogma,  and  the  symbolical  writings  of  his  party 
coincide  with  him  on  this  subject.f  At  the  same  time,  with  the  clearest 
conviction,  they  avow  the  motive,  which  incited  them  on  to  this  violent 
opposition  ;  and  disguise  not  the  feeling,  that  the  adoption,  or  even  the 
toleration  of  the  doctrine  of  purgatory,  in  their  religious  system,  would 
admit  a  principle  destructive  to  the  whole.  Reconciliation  and  forgive- 
ness of  sins,  they  allege,  is  to  be  sought  for  only  in  the  blood  of  Christ. 
It  would  be,  therefore,  a  denial  of  his  merits,  and  of  the  rights  of  faith, 
which  alone  saveth,  if  it  were  to  be  maintained,  that  the  believer  in  the 
other  world  had  still  to  endure  punishment,  and  were  not  unconditionally 


*  Artie.  Snaalcald.  p.  ii.  e.  2.  §  9.  "  Quapropter  purgatorium,  et  quidquid  ei  so- 
lemnitatis,  cultils  et  quasstds  adhaeret,  mera  diaboli  larva  est.  Pugnat  enim  cum 
primo  articulo,  qui  docet,  Christum  solum  et  non  hominum  opera,  animas  liberare." 

t  Calvin.  Instit.  Lib.  Hi.  c.  5.  (}  6.  fol.  241.  "  Demus  tamen  ilia  omnia  tolerari 
aliquantisper  potuisse  ut  res  non  magni  momenti,  at  ubi  peccatorum  espiatio  alibi, 
quam  in  Christi  sanguine  qu^'ritur,  ubi  satisfactio  alio  transfertur,  periculosissimum  si- 
lentiam.  Clamandum  ergo  non  modo  vocis  sed  gutturis  ac  laterum  contentione,  pur- 
■gatorium  exitiale  Satanse  esse  commentum,  quod  Christi  crucem  evacuat,  quod  con- 
tumeliam  Dei  misericordise  non  ferendam  irrogat,  quod  fidcm  nostram  labefacit  et 
evertit."  etc.  Confess.  Helvet  i  art.  xxvi  p.  86.  "  Quod  autem  quidam  tradimt  de 
ogne  purgatorio,  fidei  Christianie  :  credo  remissionem  peccatorum  ct  vitam  ffiternam, 
jpurgationique  plenae  per  Christum  adyersatur." — Anglic,  xxii.  p.  134. 


4S2  EXPOSITION  OF  DOCTRINAL  DIFFERENCES 

to  be  admitted  into  Ijeavcn.*  The  misconceptions,  which  these  asser- 
tions betray,  have  been  aheady  pointed  out  elsewhere. 

As  regards  the  kingdom  of  saints  made  perfect,  and  our  relation  to 
them,  the  Lutheran  opinions  on  this  matter,  stand  in  the  closest  con- 
nexion with  their  doctrine  on  the  Church,  and  are  only  a  transfer  of 
their  maxims,  respecting  the  ecclesiastical  communion  of  believers  in 
this  world,  to  that  of  the  next.  They  deny  not  the  communion  of  be- 
lievers in  the  Church  militant  ;  but,  they  reject  the  conditions,  under 
which  it  can  become  real,  living,  and  effectual.  The  believers  indeed, 
stand  all  in  a  spiritual  communion  between  each  other,  but  we  know 
not  why  :  the  whole  doth  not  govern  the  individual — there  is  no  mutual 
action  between  both,  so  that  the  member  can  well  dispense  with  the 
body  ;  the  idea  of  communion  remains  completely  idle,  powerless,  and 
ineffective.  In  the  same  manner,  they  question  not  the  existence  of  a 
communion  existing  between  us  and  the  saints  ;  but,  they  rest  satisfied 
with  the  bare  representation  of  it — a  repi  esentation  devoid  of  all  truth ; 
because  it  either  hath  no  reality,  or  at  best,  but  an  imperfect  one» 
The  angels  must  be  devils,  and  the  saints  wicked  demons,  if  they  could 
only  be  conceived  to  be  in  a  state  of  cold,  stiff  indifference  towards  us; 
and  their  love  of  God  would  be  idle  in  itself,  did  it  not  extend  to  ra- 
tional creatures,  equally  susceptible  of  love,  and  were  not  active  in  our 
behalf.  It  was  this  idea  which  partly  induced  the  German  reformers 
not  to  offer  a  direct  opposition  to  the  Catholic  doctrine. 

In  the  first  place,  they  concede  that  the  lives  of  the  saints  are  worthy 
of  imitation,  and  that  they  should  be  honoured  by  our  imitation.  They 
even  deny  not  that  the  saints  pray  for  the  Church  ait  large,  but  they 
assert,  that  the  saints  must  not  be  prayed  to   for  their  intercession.* 


*  The  mere  attention  to  the  prayers  of  the  Church,  for  instance,  of  the  following 
prayer  (in  die  obitOs  seu  dcpositionis  dcfuncti,)  might  have  shown  to  the  Reformers 
the  utter  groundlessness  of  their  reproaches.  "  Deus,  cui  proprium  est  misereri 
semper  et  parcere,  te  supplices  exoramus  pro  anima  famuli  tui  N.  quam  hodie  de  hoc 
sajculo  migrare  jussisti :  ut  non  tradas  earn  in  manus  inimici,  ncque  obliviscaris  in 
finem  ;  sed  jubcas  cam  a  Sanctis  angelis  suscipi,  et  ad  patriam  paradisi  perduci :  ut 
quia  in  te  speravit  et  credidit,  non  pcenas  infemi  sustineat,  sed  gaudia  aetema  possi- 
deat.     Per  Dominum  nostrum  Jesum  Christum." 

*  Confess.  August.  Art.  xxi.  "  De  cultfi  sanctorum  docent,  quod  mcmoria  sane- 
torum  proponi  potest,  ut  imitemur  fidem  eorum,  et  bona  opera  juxta  vocalionem.  .  .  . 
Sed  Scriptura  non  docet  invocarc  sanctos,  seu  pctcre  auxilium  Ji  Sanctis.  Quia  unum 
Christum  proponit  nobis  mediatorem,  propitiatorem,  pontificem.  et  intercessorera." 
Apolog.  ad  Art-  xxi.  §  3-4.  p.  201.  "  Prasterea  et  hoc  largimur,  quod  Angeli  orent 
pro  nobis.  De  Sanctis  etsi  concedimus,  quod  sicut  vivi  orant  pro  ecclesia,  univcrsi 
in  genere,  ita  in  coelis  orent  pro  ecclesia,  in  genere.  Porro  ut  maxime  pro  ecclesia 
orent  Sancti,  taraen  non  scquitur,  quod  sint  invocandiJ'' 


BETWEEN  CATHOLICS  AND  PROTESTANTS.  423 

The  reason  which  they  adduce,  is  the  same  that  brought  about  the  dis- 
solution of  the  ecclesiastical  communion — namely,  that  Christ  is  our 
only  Mediator !  We  must,  however,  examine  the  coherency  of  these 
ideas.  It  is  indeed  passing  strange,  that  the  saints  should  pray  to  God 
for  us,  without  apprehending  that  they  encroach  on  the  mediatorial 
office  of  Christ ;  and  God  and  Christ  should  even  permit  these,  their 
functions,  in  our  behalf,  and,  accordingly,  find  them  free  from  all  pre- 
sumption :  and  yet,  that  we,  on  our  parts,  should  not  beseech  the  exer- 
cise of  these  kindly  offices,  because  our  prayer  would  involve  an 
offence,  whereas,  the  thing  prayed  for  involves  none.  But  the  prayers 
of  the  saints  must  surely  be  termed  culpable,  if  our  requests,  for  such 
prayers,  be  culpa  )le.  But,  should  their  supplications,  in  our  behalf,  be 
laudable  and  pleasing  unto  God;  wherefore  should  not  the  prayer  for 
such  supplications  be  so  likewise  ?  Accordingly,  the  consciousness  of 
their  active  intercession  necessarily  determines  an  affirmation  of  the 
same  on  our  part,  and  excites  a  joy  which,  when  we  analyze  it,  already 
includes  the  interior  wish  and  prayer  for  these  their  active  aids.  For 
all  communion  is  mutual,  and  to  the  exertions  of  one  side,  the  counter- 
exertions  of  the  other  mast  correspond,  and  vice  versa.  Certes,  our 
indifference  for  the  intercession  of  the  saints  would  annihilate  the  same, 
and  completely  destroy  all  communion  existing  between  the  two  forms 
of  the  one  Church.  But,  if  it  be  impossible  for  us  to  be  indifferent  on 
this  matter,  then  the  doctrine  of  the  Catholic  Church  remains  un- 
shaken. 

The  intercession  of  the  saints,  as  well  as  the  corresponding  invoca- 
tion of  that  intercession  on  our  part,  is  so  far  from  impairing  the  merits 
of  Christ,  that  it  is  merely  an  effect  of  the  same  ;  a  fruit  of  his  all- 
atoning  power,  that  again  united  heaven  and  earth.  This  our  ecclesi- 
astical prayers  very  beautifully  and  strikingly  express ;  as  they  all, 
without  exception,  even  such  wherein  we  petition  the  benign  influence 
of  the  celestial  inhabitants  on  our  earthly  pilgrimage,  are  addressed  in 
the  Redeemer's  name.  Moreover,  if  the  intercession  of  the  saints  in- 
terfere with  the  mediatorial  office  of  Christ,  then  must  all  intercession, 
and  prayer  for  intercession,  even  among  tha  living,  be  absolutely  re- 
jected. It  should  be  borne  in  mind,  that  Catholics  say  of  no  saint,  he 
hath  died  for  us  ;  he  hath  purchased  for  us  redemption  in  his  blood,  and 
hath  sent  down  the  Holy  Spirit  !  But,  by  communion  with  Christ,  all 
glorified  through  him,  partake,  as  well  in  his  righteousness,  as  in  all 
things  connected  therewith  ;  and  hence,  the  power  of  their  intercession  ; 
hence  also,  the  right  of  petitioning  for  that  intercession  from  the  living, 
as  well  as  from  the  departed  just. 

The  opinions,  which,  according  to  Calvin's  example,  his  disciples  in 


424  EXPOSITION  OF  DOCTRINAL  DIFFERENCES 

France,  and  the  Remonstrants  in  Holland,  have  formed  on  this  matter, 
have  the  merit  of  entire  consistency.  They  declare  the  idea  of  an  in- 
tercession of  saints  for  mortals,  to  be  an  absolute  imposture  and  de- 
hision  of  Satan,  since,  thereby,  the  right  manner  of  praying  is  prevent- 
ed, and  the  saints  know  nothing  of  us,  and  are  even  quite  unconcerned 
as  to  all  that  passes  under  the  Sun.*  From  this  point  of  view,  in  which 
it  is  imagined,  that  the  saints  resemble  the  gods  of  the  Epicureans, 
and  live  joyous  and  contented  in  heaven,  without  being,  in  the  least, 
concerned  about  our  insignificant  actions,  or  suffering  themselves  to  be 
thereby  disturbed  in  their  enjoyments,  the  prohibition  to  solicit  the  suf- 
frage of  the  saints,  is  alone  tenable.  Such  an  idea  of  blessed  spirits,  as 
only  the  most  obtuse  selfishness  could  imagine,  possesses  certainly  no- 
thing to  invite  to  a  friendly  intercourse  with  them ;  and  God  forbid, 
that  in  heaven  a  felicity  should  be  reserved  for  us,  to  which  the  con- 
dition of  any  earthly  being,  in  whose  breast  the  spark  of  a  loving  sen- 
sibility is  yet  alive,  would  be  infinitely  to  be  preferred  ! 


*  Confess.  Gall.  Art.  xxrv.  p.  119.  "  Quidquid  homines  de  mortuorum  sanctorum 
i  nterccssione  commenti  sunt,  nihil  aliud  esse,  quam  fraudem  et  fallacias  Satanse,  ut 
homines  a  recta,  prccandi  forma,  abducerct."  Remonstrant.  Conf.  C.  xvi.  §  3.  ''Quip- 
pe  de  quibus  (Sanctis)  Scriptura  passam  affirmat  (I)  quod  res  nostras  ignorent,  et  ea, 
quae  sub  sole  fiunt.  minime  curent."  A  deeper  view  into  the  connexion  of  ideas, 
which  induced  the  ancient  Protestants  to  hold,  here  also,  a  negative  course,  isafTorded 
us  by  Theodore  Beza,  who  says  of  the  veneration  of  saints,  that  it  destroys  the  unity 
of  God.  In  his  epistle  to  Andrew  Dudith  in  order  to  dispel  his  doubts,  that  in  the 
end  Catholics  might  yet  be  right, — he  observes,  that  these  had  not  left  a  single  article 
of  religion  unfalsified,  and  he  continues :  "  Unum  scilicet  Deum  reipsS.  profitentur 
(verbo  enim  id  eos  profiteri  ac  etiam  vociferari  non  inficior,)  qui  quod  unius  Dei  tam 
proprium  est  ac  dx-oivJivxTW,  atquo  est  ipsa  Deitas,  ad  quoscunque  suos,  quos  vocant 
eanctos,  transferunt."  See  his  Epist  theol  lib.  i.  Geneva,  1573,  n.  1,  p.  15.  Car- 
tainly  ;  for  Catholics,  doubtless,  assert  that  the  saints  have  helped  God  to  create  the 
world  !  In  his  writing  on  Divine  Providence,  Zwinglius,  as  we  have  in  a  former  part 
of  the  work  observed,  adduces  among  other  things,  this  argument  against  human 
freedom,  that  thereby  a  sort  of  polytheism  would  be  introduced,  and  the  true  God  set 
aside,  since  the  notion  of  freedom  involves  independence,  and  therefore,  every  one,  to 
whom  free-will  was  attributed,  would  be  converted  into  a  God.  The  same  argument 
is  now  alleged  against  the  veneration  of  saints;  whence  we  may  also  see,  how  closely 
are  interlinked  all  the  doctrines  of  Protestants. 


PART  11. 
THE   SMALLER   PROTESTANT  STATES. 


§  Liv. — Introduction. 


We  have,  already,  often  had  occasion  to  observe,  that  the  principles 
of  the  German  Reformation,  were  not  on  all  points  consistently  carried 
out  by  the  German  Reformers  ;  nay,  that  they  frequently  resisted,  with 
their  utmost  energy,  what  comprised  nothing  more  than  a  very  natural 
inference  from  their  own  principles,  or  a  continuance  and  development 
of  the  views  laid  down  by  themselves.  We  here  by  no  means  allude  to  the 
so-called  Rationalist  theology,  which,  in  modern  times,  has  been  often 
represented  by  Catholics  as  well  as  by  Protestants,  as  a  mere  continuance 
and  further  prosecution  of  the  work  begun  by  Luther.*  It  is  difficult 
to  explain,  how  the  notion  could  ever  have  obtained  such  easy,  un- 
qualified, and  often  implicit  credence,  that  a  doctrine,  which  denies  the 
fall  of  the  human  race  in  Adam,  is  to  be  looked  upon  as  a  farther 
development  of  that,  which  asserts,  that  in  Adam  we  are  all  become 
incurable  ;  or  that  a  system,  which  exalts  human  reason  and  freedom 
above  all  things,  must  be  considered  as  an  ulterior  consequence  of  the 
doctrine,  that  human  reason  and  freedom  are  a  mere  nothingness;  in 
short,  that  a  system,  which  stands  in  the  most  pointed,  general  con- 
tradiction with  another,  should  be  admired  as  its  consummation.  Re- 
garded from  one  point  of  view,  the  modern  Protestant  theology  must 
be  acknowledged  to  be  the  most  complete  reaction  against  the  elder 
one.  In  the  modern  theology,  Reason  took  a  fearful  vengeance  for 
the  total  system  of  repression,  practised  upon  her  by  the  Reformers, 
and  did  the  work  of  a  most  thorough  destruction  of  all  the  opinions  put 


*  We  presume  to  suggest,  that  Catholic  theologians,  in  asserting  that  the  modem 
rationalism  is  a  necessary  consequence  of  the  Reformation,  mean  not  to  deduce  it 
from  all  the  peculiar  theological  tenets  professed  by  Luther  and  the  first  Reformers. 
They  only,  thereby,  mean  to  assert,  that  the  doctrine  of  the  Supremacy  of  Reason  in 
matters  of  religion  proclaimed  by  Luther  and  other  Reformers,  more  boldly  and  une- 
quivocally than  by  all  former  heresiarchs,  necessarily  led  to  the  introduction  of  ration- 
alism.  The  doctrine  of  Private  Judgment  is  the  common  parent  of  all,  even  the  most 
discordant  and  opposite  heresies. — Trant. 


426  EXPOSITION  OF  DOCTRINAL  DIFFERENCES 

forth  by  the  latter.  Tliere  is,  however,  it  cannot  be  denied,  another 
point  of  view  from  which  the  matter  may  be  considered  (see  §  27  ;)  but 
this  wo  must  here  pass  over  unnoticed. 

When,  accordingly,  we  speak  of  an  incomplete  development  of 
the  principles  of  primitive  Protestantism  ;  or,  when  we  say  that  the 
consistent  development  of  the  same  was  even  rejected  and  assailed  by 
the  Reformers  ;  we  advert  to  those  doctrines,  which  could  and  must  be 
deduced  from  their  one-sided  supcrnaturalism  ;  if  we  be  justified  in 
supposing,  that  a  doctrine  once  put  forth,  being  in  itself  pregnant  and 
important,  is  sure  to  find  some  souls  ready  to  devote  themselves  to  it, 
with  all  their  energy,  and  own  its  sway  without  reserve.  The  funda- 
mental principle  of  the  Reformers,  was,  that  without  any  human  co- 
operation, the  Divine  Spirit  penetrates  into  the  soul  of  the  true  Chris- 
tian, and  that  the  latter,  in  his  relation  to  the  former,  is  with  respect  to 
all  religious  feeling,  thought,  and  will,  perfectly  passive.  If  this  prin- 
ciple led  the  Reformers,  in  tlie  first  instance  only,  to  the  rejection  of 
Church  authority  and  Tradition,  and  to  the  adoption  of  Scripture  as 
the  only  source  and  rule  of  faith  ;  it  must,  when  rigidly  followed  up, 
be  turned  against  the  position  and  the  importance  of  Holy  Writ  in  the 
Protestant  system  itself.  Is  written  tradition  not  in  itself  a  human 
mean  for  propagating  doctrines  and  precepts?  For  the  understanding 
of  the  Bible,  which  has  come  down  from  ages  long  gone  by,  and  from 
a  people  so  utterly  different  from  ourselves,  is  not  very  great  human 
exertion  requisite,  such  as  the  learning  of  languages,  the  study  of  anti- 
quities, the  investigation  of  history  ?  In  what  connexion,  therefore, 
stands  the  proposition,  that  Scripture  is  the  only  source  of  faith,  with 
the  other  proposition,  that  independently  of  all  human  co-operation,  the 
Divine  Spirit  conducts  to  God  ?  If  such  an  overruling  influence  of 
the  Deity  on  man  really  exist,  wherefore  doth  God  still  need  Scripture 
and  the  outward  word,  in  order  to  reveal  His  will  to  man  ?  In  such  a 
way,  and  by  such  an  intermediate  train  of  thought,  men  deduced,  from 
the  fundamental  principle  of  the  Reformation  adverted  to,  the  erroneous 
opinion,  that  independently  of  all  human  forms  of  communication,  the 
Deity  by  immediate  interior  revelations,  makes  himself  known  to  each 
individual,  and  in  such  a  shape  communicates  his  will  to  man.  From 
which  it  follows,  that  Holy  Writ  itself  must  be  held  as  a  subordinate 
source  of  knowledge  for  the  Divine  decrees,  or  as  one  that  may  be 
entirely  dispensed  with.  If  the  Christian  Religion,  by  the  severance 
of  Scripture  from  the  Church,  had  bben  already  menaced  with  an  utter 
absorption  into  mere  individual  opinions  ;  so  now  even  the  written 
Word,  in  the  writings  of  the  Evangelists  and  the  Apostles,  was  no 
longer  asserted  to  be  the  first  and  the  only  fountain  of  religious  truth ; 


BETWEEN  CATHOLICS   AND  PROTESTANTS.  427 

and  everything,  accordingly,  was  given  up  to  the  most  unlimited  caprice. 
Returning  from  this  its  extrcmest  point  of  development,  (though  in  an 
erroneous  way,)  Protestantism  passed  into  a  formal  system  of  visions. 
And  this  was  effected  hy  the  instrumentality  of  Count  Swedenborg, 
who  believed  himself  elected  by  God,  to  hold  a  real  intercourse  with, 
and  receive  real  instruction  from,  celestial  spirits,  who  appeared  to  him 
in  outward,  locally  determined  forms,  to  enable  him  to  oppose  to  vague, 
mere  inward  inspirations,  and  to  subjective  feelings,  a  fixed,  outward, 
objective  standard,  and  to  prevent  the  complete  dissolution  and  evapora- 
tion of  all  Christianity.  In  Swedenborg's  system,  accordingly,  the 
one-sided  mysticism  became  plastic,  and  false  spiritualism  took  an  out- 
ward bodily  shape,  whereby  the  fantastic  spirit  of  the  Protestant  sects, 
was  pushed  to  its  farthest  extreme  ;  as  subjectivity,  striving  after  objec- 
tivity, became  to  itself  an  outward  thing,  in  order  to  replace  the  exter- 
nal, visible  Church  founded  by  Christ.  In  other  words,  the  mere 
irripressions  and  feelings  of  the  other  Protestant  sects,  receive,  through 
the  plastic  phantasy  of  Swedenborg,  visible  forms  ;  about  the  same  as 
if  a  man  were  to  take  for  realities  the  images  of  his  dreams ! 

The  false  spiritualism  of  these  Protestant  sects,  to  which  everything 
imparted  from  without  appeared  like  death  and  petrifaction  itself, 
directed  its  assaults  more  particularly  against  ecclesiastical  institutions. 
And  a  distinct  order  of  sacred  ministry,  even  in  the  Lutheran  and 
Calvinistic  guise,  it  considered  as  an  abomination,  whereby  the  spirit 
was  fettered  ;  and  the  forms  of  outward  worship,  even  the  few  which 
the  Reformers  had  retained  or  new-modelled,  it  looked  upon  as  heathen- 
ish idolatry.  Thus  grew  up  the  conviction  of  the  necessity  of  reform- 
ing the  Reformation  itself,  or  rather  of  consummating  it ;  for  this  had 
not  yet  delivered  the  spirit  from  all  outward  works,  nor  brought  it 
back  to  itself,  to  its  own  inmost  sanctuary. 

However,  in  more  than  one  respect,  these  new-sprung  sects  approxi- 
mated to  the  Catholic  Church,  from  which  they  appeared  to  be  still 
further  removed,  than  even  the  Lutheran  and  the  Calvinistic  communi- 
ties. It  was  almost  always  in  the  doctrine  of  justification,  which, 
though  they  made  use  of  unwonted  forms  of  expression,  they  mostly 
conceived  in  the  spirit  of  Christ's  Church,  this  approximation  was  per- 
ceptible. They  represented  the  inward,  new  life,  obtained  by  fellow- 
ship with  Christ,  as  a  true  and  real  renovation  of  the  whole  man,  as  a 
true  deliverance  from  sin,  and  not  merely  from  the  debt  of  sin  ;  and 
their  feelings  revolted  at  the  doctrine  of  a  mere  imputed  righteousness. 
Even  in  the  Pietism  of  Spener,  which  receded  the  least  from  the  formu- 
laries of  the  orthodox  Protestantism,  this  tendency  is  manifest.  There 
is  no  difficulty  in  discovering  the  connexion  of  this  phenomenon  with 


428  EXPOSITION  OF  DOCTRINAL  DIFFERENCES,  &.c. 

the  rulintT,  fnndanicnlal  principle  of  these  sects.  The  stronger  the 
sway  of  the  Divine  Spirit  over  the  human  heart,  as  asserted  by  them  ; 
the  less  could  they  understand,  how  its  cleansing  fire  would  not  con- 
sume and  destroy  all  the  dross  of  sin  ;  and  hence,  in  the  harshest  terms, 
thev  often  censured  the  Lutheran  and  Calvinistic  doctrine  of  justification 
by  faith  alone,  which  they  depicted  as  a  carnal,  nay,  diabolic  principle. 
This  hostility  appears  most  violent  in  Swedenborgianism,  whose  author, 
in  conformity  with  the  mode,  in  which  he  believed  he  arrived  at  the 
knowledge  of  all  his  doctrinal  peculiarities,  sees  Calvin  descend  into 
hell,  and  finds  Melancthon  totally  incapable  of  rising  up  to  heaven ; 
as  in  the  proper  place,  we  shall  have  occasion  to  recount  this  vision  in 
connexion  with  his  whole  system.  Hence,  in  fine,  the  very  rigid 
ecclesiastical  discipline,  and  the  seriousness  of  life,  which  mostly  cha- 
racterize these  sects ;  hence,  too,  the  maxim  that  even  the  visible 
Church  should  consist  only  of  the  pure  and  the  holy  ;  a  maxim,  which 
connects  them  with  the  ancient  Montanists,  Novatians,  and  Donatists. 
With  the  ecstatic  Montanists,  especially,  they  have  great  affinity. 


CHAPTEli  I 

tilfi  ANABAPTISTS,   OR  MENNONItfig; 


FIRST    PEltlOD    OF   THE    ANABAPTISTS. 

§  Lr.— Fundamental  principle  of  the  Anabaptists. 

The  Reformation  had  scarcely  boasted  an  existence  of  five  years^ 
when,  from  the  midst  of  its  adherents,  men  arose,  who  declared  it  to 
be  insufficient.  Luther  was  at  the  castle  of  Wartburg,  when  from 
Zwickau,  Nicholas  Stork,  Mark  Thomas,  Mark  Stubner,  Thomas 
Muncer,  Martin  Cellarius,  and  others,  came  to  Wittenberg,  to  enter  in- 
to a  friendly  conference  with  the  theologians  of  that  city.  They  spoke 
of  revelations  which  had  been  imparted  to  them,  without,  however, 
at  first  exciting  attention,  by  any  singularity  of  opinion,  save  the  re- 
jection  of  infant  baptism.  Writers  have  occasionally  expressed  their 
astonishment,  how  the  above-named  men,  (two  only  of  whom  possessed 
any  tincture  of  learning,  the  rest  belonging  to  the  class  of  workmen) 
were  able  to  bestow  reflection  upon  the  subject  adverted  to,  which 
had  not  then  been  agitated.  This  phenomenon,  however,  can  only 
then  afford  matter  for  surprise,  when  we  would  cull  in  question  the 
active  intercourse  between  these  men  and  the  Reformers  of  Witten- 
berg— an  intercourse  which  it  is  vain  to  deny  ;  for  when  Melancthon 
conversed  with  them  about  their  faith,  he  found  it  in  exact  conformity 
with  that  of  the  new  Saxon  school.  And  why  should  Luther's  maxims 
and  writings  not  have  reached  their  ears,  more  especially  as  the  lead- 
ing preacher  at  Zwickau  was  among  the  number  of  his  confidants  ?  If 
such  be  the  case,  then  nothing  is  easier  than  to  account  for  their  re- 
jection of  infant  baptism.  Luther  having,  as  we  observed  in  a  former 
place,  connected  the  efficacy  of  the  sacraments  with  faith  only,  it  is 
not  possible  to  understand  why  infants  should  be  baptized :  and  from 
the  reformer's  point  of  view,  it  was  not  difficult  for  any  one  to  discov- 
er the  utter  want  of  an  adequate  ground  for  this  ecclesiastical  rite. 
From  Meiancthon's  inclination  to  recognize  the  gospellers  of  Zwick- 
au, as  well  as  from  the  embarrassment  Luther  experienced  in  refuting 
their  arguments,  without  totally  abandoning  his  theory,  respecting  the 
mode  of  sacramental  efficacy,  men  might  long  ago  have  inferred  the 


430  EXPOSITION  OF  DOCTRINAL  DIFFERENCES 

close  affinity  between  the  Anabaptists  and  the  Saxon  Reformers,  and 
should  utterly  have  disregarded  the  pretence  of  any  extraction  from  the 
Vaudois. 

Undeniable  as  is  the  original  affinity,  between  the  Anabaptists  and 
the  Lutherans,  yet,  this  affinity  soon  changed  into  a  mutual  opposition 
the  most  decided.  An  indescribable  confusion  prevailed  in  the  minds  of 
the  new  sectaries,  and  a  fearful  fanaticism  drove  them  on  to  every 
species  of  extravagance  and  violence  ;  and  as  they  had  the  inmost  con* 
viction  of  doing  all  things  by  the  impulse  of  the  Divine  Spirit,  all  hope 
of  opposing  their  errors  by  rational  instruction  was  utterly  fruitless.* 
Muncer  was  deeply  implicated  in  the  war  of  the  peasants  ;  and  the 
very  tragic  history  of  Miinster,  must  have,  at  last,  opened  the  eyes  of 
the  most  indulgent  and  impartial  observer.  From  this  time  forward, 
especially,  the  Anabaptists  encountered  every  where  the  most  determin- 
ed adversaries  ;  and  hundreds  in  their  community,  under  Catholics  as 
well  as  Protestants,  had  to  forfeit  their  lives  for  their  principles. 

In  unfolding  to  view  the  doctrines  of  the  Anabaptists,  we  may  right* 
ly  assign  the  most  prominent  place  to  their  Millenarian  expectations. 
After  foretelling  the  utter  extirpation  of  all  the  ungodly,  they  announc- 
ed the  kingdom  of  Christ  as  immediately  thereupon  to  be  established 
on  earth.  A  new,  perfect  life,  in  common  among  Christians,  would 
then  be  founded,  which  was  to  subsist  without  external  laws,  and  with- 
out magistracy  ;  for,  in  all  its  members  the  moral  law  written  on  every 
man's  heart  would  revive,  and  be  powerfully  exhibited  in  life.  Even 
Holy  Writ  would  be  abolished  ;  for,  the  perfect  children  of  God  no 
longer  need  the  same  (and  its  contents  would  be  no  longer  an  outward 
object,  but  rather  the  inmost  portion  of  their  being.)  Then  perfect 
equality  among  all  would  be  established ;  and  every  thing  would  be  in 
common,  without  any  individual  calling  any  thing  his  property,  or  lay- 
ing claim  to  any  privilege.  Wars  and  hostilities  of  every  kind  would 
cease  to  exist.  Even  marriage  would  no  longer  be  contracted,  and 
without  marrying  or  giving  in  marriage,  "  some  pure  and  holy  fruit 
would  yet  be  produced,  without  any  sinful  lust  and  wicked  desire  of 
the  flesh."t 

Thus  it  was  an  ideal  state  of  the  Christian  Church,  that  floated  be- 


«  Melancthon's  History  of  Thomas  Mftncer,  (In  German.)  Luther's  works, 
ed.  Wittenberg,  part  ii.  p.  473.  "  Hereby  he  imparted  to  thc&e  doctrines  an  illusive 
appearance; — he  pretended  he  had  received  a  revelation  froiii  hcaveu,  and  taught 
nothing  else,  commanded  nothing  else,  but  what  God  had  approved." 

t  Justus  Mcnius's  "  Doctrine  of  the  Anabaptists  refuted  froiii  Holy  Writ,"  with  a 
preface  by  Luther :  included  in  the  works  of  the  latter,  Willciiberg,  ed.  part  ii,  p. 
309,  b.     (In  German.) 


BETWEEN  CATHOLICS  AND  PROTESTANTS.  431 

fore  the  imagination  of  the  Anabaptists — the  confused  representation 
of  a  joyful  kingdom  of  holy  and  blessed  spirits,  which  inspired  these 
sectaries  with  such  deep  enthusiasm,  gave  them  such  power  and  con* 
stancy  of  endurance  under  all  persecutions,  and  caused  them  to  exert 
on  all  sides  so  contagious  an  influence.*  The  more  exalted,  pure,  and 
innocent,  the  vital  principle  of  the  sect  appeared,  the  more  easily  could 
its  adherents  inflame  the  souls  of  their  contemporaries.  We  cannot  re- 
fuse to  these  fanatics  an  infantine  originality  in  their  view  of  human 
society ;  and  the  impetuous  desire  after  a  complete  realization  of  the 
idea  of  God's  kingdom — the  impatient  haste  which  prevented  them  from 
awaiting  the  development  of  time,  and  with  which  they  panted  for  a 
sudden  irruption  of  the  relatione  of  the  next  world  into  the  present, — a 
sudden  unveiling  of  that  state,  that  only  in  the  course  of  ages  could  be 
gradually  revealed,  announces  something  magnanimous,  and  rejoices 
the  heart  amid  all  the  aberrations  we  encounter  in  their  history,  and 
which  were  quite  inevitable.  In  fact,  they,  in  part  at  least,  only  anti- 
cipated a  future  state  of  things  ;  and  all  they  strove  to  realize,  was  not 
the  mere  invention  of  an  unbridled  phantasy.  Social  life  rests  on  a 
spiritual  and  bodily  community  of  goods  ;  all  the  thought  and  re- 
flection—all the  learning  and  knowledge  of  the  individual  become  the 
common  property  of  the  social  body,  to  which  he  belongs  ;  and  what- 
ever he  acquires  for  himself,  he  acquires  ultimately  for  others  also.  For,  \ 
an  indomitable  propensity  to  communicate  his  acquirements  is  inher- 
ent  in  every  man  ;  and  we  think  we  know  nothing,  if  our  knowledge 
be  not  for  the  benetit  of  those,  with  whom  we  live.  Whoever  hath 
brought  forth  some  original  idea,  is  urged  by  a  mysterious  inward  im- 
pulse to  submit  it  to  the  judgment  of  intelligent  men  ;  for,  the  peculiar 
constitution  of  our  intellectual  nature,  will  not  permit  us  to  trust  our 
own  thoughts,  if  they  meet  not  with  approval.  There  is,  perhaps,  no 
other  more  certain  criterion  of  madness,  than  the  clinging  to  some  idea, 
which  every  one  holds  to  be  a  mere  idle  fancy.  In  a  word,  all  men 
form,  as  it  were,  but  one  man  ;  and  herein,  among  other  things,  con- 
sists the  truth  in  the  Neo-Platonic  doctrine  of  an  universal  soul ; — a 
doctrine  by  which  the  followers  of  that  philosophy  even  sought  to  ex- 
plain the  sympathy  existing  between  men.  But  if  a  man  will  have  his 
thoughts  and  ideas  recognized,  he  must  of  necessity  communicate  them 

to  others. 

*^ ^ _^ 

*  Melancthon's  History  of  Thomas  Muncer,  loc.  cit.  p.  474.  "  With  such  idle 
talk  he  made  the  populace  gape  ;  then  people  ran  to  him,  and  every  one  desired  to 
hear  something  now  ;  for,  as  Homer  says,  'The  new  song  is  ever  the  favourite  with 
the  populace  !'  "  Hmw  could  Melancthon  thus  speak  against  the  Anabaptists  I  Ab 
if  the  song  which  he  sung,  were  an  old  one  ! 


433  EXPOSITION  OF  DOCTRINAL  DIFFERENCfigi 

In  the  Catholic  Church,  this  idea  of  the  community  of  spiritual  lifb 
is  most  fully  expressed  ;  since,  in  what  regards  religion^  the  individual 
submits  all  his  productions  to  the  judgment  of  the  whole  body,  and 
foregoes  the  pleasure  of  having  discovered  any  truth,  if  his  lucubrations 
be  considered,  by  the  community,  as  containing  aught  inconsistent  with 
its  fundamental  principles. 

It  is  nearly  the  same  with  corporeal  goods.     Man  enters  into  civil 
society,  not  only  with  the  view  of  securing  his  property  by  the  union 
into  which  he  has  entered,  but  also  with  the  resolution  of  sacrificing  it, 
in  case  of  necessity,  to  the  exigencies  of  the  commonweal.     What  are 
hospitals,  poor-houses,  infirmaries ;    what  are  all  public  establishments 
for  education  and  instruction,  but  a  special  reflection  of  the  idea  of  the 
community  of  goods  among  all  ?     The  greater  the  progress  which  so- 
cial life,  under  the  influence  of  Christianity,  makes,  and  the  greater  in 
consequence  the  civilization  of  the  human  race  ;    the  more  do  special 
associations  for  special  objects  arise,  wherein  a  multitude  of  members 
go  security  for  the  individual,  in   order  to   guarantee  and   insure  his 
earthly  existence.     Insurance  establishments  become  ever  more  nume- 
rous, and   more  comprehensive  in  their  objects  ;    and  these  also,  we 
hold  to  be  evermore  significant  expressions  of  the  idea  of  a  community 
of  goods, — an  idea,  indeed,  which,  like  all  others,  can   never  be  com- 
/  pletely  realized  in  this  finite  life.     Who  doth  not  here,  too,  recall  to 
mind  the  first  Christian  community  of  Jerusalem  ?     The  consumma- 
tion of  the  Christian  period  will  doubtless,  though  in  a  freer  and  milder 
form,  lead  us  back  to  the  state  of  its  primitive  age.     Moreover,  we  here 
stand  on  ethical  ground  ;  for  external  existence  possesses  value  only  as 
it  is  the  expression  of  inward  life,  and  the  work  of  spontaneous  resolu- 
tion.    But  the   Anabaptists  wished  to  realize  at   once  and  by  violence, 
one  of  the  highest  moral  ideas  ;  and  this  is  ever  impossible.     Nay,  they 
wished  to  introduce  it  among  men  such  as  they  are,  who,  by  their  en- 
tire education,  are  as  unsusceptible,  as  they  are  unworthy,  of  such  an 
idea,  and  they  made  its  introduction  into  life  the  prop  for  their  own  in- 
dolence, yea,  for  every  possible  wickedness.     The  greater  the  contra- 
dictions, accordingly,  between  the  idea  of  the  Anabaptists  and  the  real- 
ity of  life,  the  more  the  difficulties  increased,  when  they  wished  to  re* 
alize  that  idea  in  society.     The  more  undoubted,  amid  all  these  obsta- 
cles, their  belief  in  their  own  divine  mission  ;  the  more  infuriated  must 
they  become,  and  the  more  convulsive  must  be  all  their  efforts.     Hence, 
in  the  first  Anabaptists  we  discern,  beside  the  simplicity  of  the  child, 
the  fury  of  the  wildest  demagogue  ;  who,  to  create  a  holy  and  happy 
world,  destroyed  in  the  most  unholy  and  calamitous  manner,  the  actu- 
al one ;  and,  as  a  blind  instrument,  ministered  to  the  ambition,  the  av- 


BETWEEN  CATHOLICS  AND  PROTESTANTS.  433 

firice,   and  aU  the  basest  passions  of  the  reprobate  men,  whom  we  so 
frequently  meet  with  in  the  early  history  of  the  sect,* 

§  Lvi. —  Initiation  iito  the  Sect.     Signs  and  confirmation  of  covenant. 

The  Anabaptists  believed  themselves  authorized,  by  an  injunction 
from  above,  to  prepare  the  way  on  earth,  for  the  approaching  establish- 
ment of  the  above-described  perfect  kingdom,  of  God.  They  travelled 
about,  accordingly,  in  every  direction,  to  announce  the  liberty  of  God's 
children,  and  to  make  a  preliminary  election  of  all  those,  whom  the 
Lord  M'^ould  use  as  instruments  for  the  rooting  out  of  all  tares,  and  the 
extirpation  of  all  the  ungodly.  The  community  about  to  be  gathered 
together  by  them,  was  to  consist  exclusively  of  saints,  and  typically  to 
represent,  in  every  way,  the  celestial  Church,  which  was  expected. 
Hence,  all  who  wished  to  be  taken  into  the  new  community,  were  bap- 
tized anew  ;  for,  they  had  before  recieved  only  the  powerless,  watery 
baptism  of  John  ;  whereas,  they  now  would  be  cleansed  with  Christ's 
baptism  of  fire  and  of  the  Spirit,  By  this  baptism,  they  understood 
the  real  regeneration  of  the  spirit  out  of  the  Spirit — the  complete  sur- 
render of  the  whole  man  unto  God — the  disengagement  of  the  will  from 
all  creatures — the  renunciation  of  every  attempt  to  wish  to  be  any  thing 


*  The  idea  of  the  absolute  community  of  goods  is  far  m.ore  ancient  than  Plato's 
Republic,  and  all  the  institutions  of  his  time,  which  he  might,  perhaps,  have  had  in 
view.  When  the  golden  age,  the  period  of  Saturn's  rule,  was  to  be  portrayed  ;  when 
the  Goddess  Justitia,  (who  is  something  far  more  than  the  idea  of  the  suum  cuiqite) 
still  dwelt  on  the  earth  ;  the  poet  connects  the  words : 

*'  Nondum  vesanos  rabies  nudaverat  enses, 
Nee  consunguineis  (such  all  men  are)  fuerat  discordia  nata, 
Flumina  jam  lactis,  jam  flumina  nectaris  ibant, 
With  Ne  signare  quidem,  aut  partiri  limite  campum." 

Even  the  freedom  allotted  to  slaves  during  the  Saturnalia,  called  to  mind  the  ori- 
ginal absence  of  aU  distinction  among  men.  But  the  happy  period  ceased,  since  "  de. 
seruit  propere  ten-as  justissima  virgo."  Plato,  as  well  as  Aratus,  Macrobius,  and 
others,  drew  from  the  same  cycle  of  sages.  It  is  worthy  of  remark,  that  the  idea  of 
the  absolute  community  of  goods  appears,  almost  always,  connected  with  that  of 
community  of  wives.  Such  is  the  case  in  Plato,  in  Epiphanes,  the  son  of  Carpo- 
crates,  and  very  clearly  among  the  Anabaptists,  and  the  elder  Gnostic  sects ;  and 
when  the  latter  are  so  frequently  charged  with  the  libido  promiscua,  this  accusation 
ought  not,  as  often  happens,  to  be  so  slightly  called  in  question.  Hence,  also,  it  fol- 
lows, that  an  absolute  community  of  goods  would  annihilate  the  whole  civilization  of 
the  human  race :  because  it  is  incompatible  with  the  existence  of  marriage  and  the 
family :  domestic  life  absolutely  presupposes  property. 
28 


434  EXPOSITION  OF  DOCTRINAL  DIFFERENCES 

in  one-self — lastly,  the  being  filled  Avith  the  power  from  above.  This 
notion  of  the  effects  of  baptism  is  essentially  the  same,  as  the  Catholic 
Church  has  ever  set  forth.  And  it  was  partly  the  perception,  that  so 
many  rest  satisfied  with  the  mere  outward  work,  and  confound  the 
water  with  the  Spirit,  and  the  bodily  ablution  with  the  internal  purifi- 
cation of  the  soul  ;  and  partly,  the  guilty  and  wilful  ignorance,  that 
such  a  conceit  was  condemned  by  the  Church  itself,  which  could  have 
persuaded  the  Anabaptists,  that  their  doctrine  on  baptism  was  a  new 
revelation  from  God.  At  all  events,  we  clearly  see,  from  this  fact,  that 
some  lofty  idea  animated  and  impelled  them. 

According  to  the  baptismal  formula  of  Hans  Denk,  every  candidate 
renounced  seven  evil  spirits  ;  namely,  man's  fear,  man*s  wisdom,  man's 
understanding,  man's  art,  man's  counsel,  man's  strength,  and  man's  un- 
godliness, and  in  return  received  fear  of  God,  wisdom  of  God,  and  so 
forth.  Melchior  Rink  made  use  of  the  following  formula  : — "  Art  thou 
a  Christian  ?  Yes. — What  doft  thou  believe,  then  1  I  believe  in  God, 
my  Lord  Jesus  Christ. — For  what  wilt  thou  give  roe  thy  works  ? — I  wil! 
give  them  for  a  penny. — For  vv^hat  wilt  thou  give  me  thy  goods ;  for  a 
penny  also  1  No.— For  what  wilt  thou  give  then  thy  life  ;  for  a  penny 
also  ?  No. — So  then  thou  seest,  thou  art  as  yet  no  Christian,  for  thou 
hast  not  yet  the  right  faith,  and  art  not  resigned,  but  art  yet  too  much 
attached  to  creatures  and  to  thyself;  therefore  thou  art  not  rightly  bap- 
tized in  Christ's  baptism  with  the  Holy  Spirit,  but  art  only  baptized 
with  water  in  John's  baptism." 

"  But  if  thou  wilt  be  saved,  then  thou  must  truly  renounce  and  give 
up  all  thy  works,  and  all  creatures,  and  lastly,  thy  own  self,  and  must 
believe  in  God  alone.*  But  now  I  ask  thee,  dost  thou  renounce  crea- 
tures ?  Yes.— I  ask  thee  again,  dost  thou  renounce  thy  own  self  ? — 
Yes. — Dost  thou  believe  in  God  alone?  Yes. — Then  I  baptize  thee  in 
the  name,"  etc.f  This  action,  the  Anabaptists  called  the  sealing  and 
the  sign  of  the  covenant. 

It  must  here,  however,  be  observed,  that  these  sectaries  by  no  means 
connected  with  the  outw'ard  act  the  communication  of  the  Holy  Spirit.. 
On  the  contrary,  they  accurately  distinguished  between  both,  as  Calvin, 
from  the  same  motives,  afterwards  did  ;  and  they  regarded  the  exterior 
act  in  baptism,  only  as  the  symbol  of  suffering  in  generaf,  and  of  the 
mortification  of  wicked  lusts  in  particular.^     The  members  of  this  sect, 


*  From  these  ma.xims  it  is  clear,  that  the  justifying  faith  held  by  the  Anabaptists, 
was  the  fides  forma ta  of  the  Catholic  Church. 
t  Justus  Menius,  loc.  cit.  p.  31)9,  b. 
J  Philip  Melancthon's  Instruction  against  the  Anabaptists,  in  Luther's  works. 


BETWEEN  CATHOLICS  AND  PROTESTANTS.  435 

moreover,  did  not  baptize  their  new-born  children,  as  not  understanding 
the  signification  of  this  holy  act ;  and  they  administered  the  sacred 
rite  to  them  only  on  their  attaining  to  riper  years.  Hence,  the  name 
of  "  Anabaptists,"  is  characteristic  of  the  proceedings  of  the  sect  only 
in  reference  to  its  initiation  of  strangers,  but  by  no  means  denotes  their 
principles  in  relation  to  their  own  members ;  as  they  never  twice  bap. 
tized  those  of  their  own  body,  who  were  to  be  initiated  into  their 
Church. 

Of  the  holy  eucharist,  the  Anabaptists  taught,  in  like  manner,  that 
it  has  only  a  figurative  signification.  "  Eating  and  drinking  in  com- 
mon," said  they,  is  throughout  the  whole  world  a  si^n  of  mutual  love  ; 
the  same  holds  good  of  "  the  supper  "  of  Christians.  As  wine,  more- 
over, is  extracted  from  the  grape  only  by  the  wine-press  ;  so,  they 
taught,  it  is  only  by  the  pressure  of  sufferings,  the  Christian  is  prepared 
for  the  kingdom  of  God,  and  the  felicity  it  insures.  The  corn  must 
first  be  ground,  before  it  can  be  converted  into  bread ;  so  man  must  first 
be  ground  down  by  misfortune,  before  he  can  be  qualified  for  entering 
into  the  kingdom  of  heaven.  So  we  see,  that  baptism,  and  the  eucharist, 
were,  in  their  estimation,  rites  pre-eminentl}^  figurative,  denoting  the 
necessity  of  sufferings,  and  of  unshaken  constancy  under  persecution. 
Their  very  afflicted  condition,  forced  these  sectaries  to  look  out  every 
where  for  a  source  of  solace  and  of  fortitude  under  their  trials  ;  and 
therefore,  in  the  above-named  sacraments,  they  saw  only  the  properties, 
whereof  they  stood  in  such  especial  need.  Hence,  whosoever  among 
them  felt  himself  at  any  moment,  not  sufficiently  strong  to  stand  the 
combat  courageously,  was  exhorted  to  abstain  from  communion  ;  for 
it  was  more  particularly  fear  and  despondency,  which  they  loved  to 
set  forth  as  those  sins,  whereby  a  man  "  eateth  and  drinketh  judgment 
to  himself."* 


§  LVii. — These  sectaries  assail  the  Protestant  doctrine  of  Justification. 
With  peculiar  bitterness   did    these  sectarians    declare  themselves 


Part.  ii.  p.  292,  ed.  Wittenbergr,  1551.  (In  German.)  "  Baptism  is  a  sig;n  that  Chris, 
tians  in  the  world  must  let  themselves  be  oppressed,  and  bear  and  suffer  every  kind  of 
danger  and  persecution.  This  is  signified  by  the  outpouring  of  water  upon  them." 
Compare  p.  299.  "  In  the  third  place,  baptism  is  a  covenant,  exclaim  the  Anabap- 
lists,  whereby  man  engages  to  mortify  his  wicked  lusts,  and  to  lead  a  rigid  life,  and 
exercise  patience  under  sufferings  :  but  this  infants  do  not  yet  understand  orpractise." 
*  Melancthon,  Instruction,  loc.  cit.  p.  292.     Justus  Menius,  loc.  cit.  p.  339. 


436  EXPOSITION  OF  DOCTRINAL  DIFFERENCES 

agaiust  Iho  Lulhcran  doctrine  of  Justification,  and  in  this  respect, 
almost  conic  round  to  the  Catholic  point  of  view.  Their  notion,  respect- 
ing the  justifying  faith  of  Protestants,  is  very  well  expressed  in  the 
following  passage,  from  the  work  of  the  Lutheran  Justus  Mcnius  :— 
•'  They  mightily  boast,"  says  he,  "  they  have  in  their  doctrine  the  true 
power  of  (jJod,  and  that  ours  is  an  idle,  weak,  unfruitful  husk  ;  that 
we  can  do  nothing  more  than  cry  out,  faith,  faith  alone ;  but  this  cry 
remaineth,  in  every  respect,  an  idle  and  dead  cry."  It  strikes  us,  at 
the  first  glance,  that  it  was  only  to  faith,  as  united  with  good  works, 
that  the  Anabaptists  ascribed  the  power  of  justification  :  whereas,  how- 
ever, according  to  the  above-cited  formula  of  baptism,  they  declared 
themselves  ready  to  give  up  their  works  for  a  penny.  This  is,  however, 
only  a  coarse  expression  for  the  great  truth,  that  the  Christian  should 
ever  think  humbly  of  himself,  and  not  be  proud  of  his  moral  endeavours 
— it  is  only  a  condemnation  of  the  deadliest  foe  to  all  Christian  piety— 
to  wit,  arrogance  and  confidence  in  one's  own  works.  The  following 
reasoning  of  Justus  Menius  against  the  Anabaptists,  will  set  this  mat- 
ter in  the  clearest  light ;  while,  at  the  same  time,  it  is  of  importance,  as 
determining  the  notion,  which  the  Lutherans  attached  to  justification 
by  faith  alone.  He  says, — "  The  fanatics  cannot  here  get  out  of  this 
difficulty ;  though  they  often  repeat,  that  we  are  not  to  put  faith  in  the 
merit  of  works  and  sufl^erings  ;  yet,  they  insist,  that  we  ought  to  have 
them,  however,  as  things  necessary  to  salvation.  That  is  nonsense,  for 
if  works  he  necessary  to  salvation,  then  we  cannot  certainly  obtain  saha- 
lion  without  ihern,  and  then  consequently,  faith  alone  doth  not  save  ;  hut 
that  is  false." 

This  memorable  passage,  in  a  writing  which  Luther  accompanied 
with  a  preface,  by  no  means  signifies  that  the  principle,  whereby  salva- 
tion is  obtained,  consists  in  faith,  and  not  in  the  works  to  be  wrought 
besides  ;  but  that  faith,  even  when  it  should  not  produce  the  fruit  of 
good  works,  yet  insures  salvation.  The  Pastor  of  Eisenach  will  also 
discover  a  contradiction  in  the  doctrine,  that,  on  one  hand,  works  are 
necessary  to  salvation  ;  and,  on  the  other  hand,  that  the  Christian 
should  not  attach  importance  to  the  same.  But  here  the  self-same  ob- 
jection recurs,  which  the  Lutheran  theology  also  raised  against  the 
Catholic  doctrine  of  justification,  to  wit,  that  it  leads  to  self-righteous- 
ness, and  obscures  the  glory  of  God.  Menius  observes,  "  Only  see  how 
consistent  is  their  system  :  man,  they  say,  must  renounce  his  own  works, 
and  yet  they  contend  and  urge,  with  all  their  might,  that  he  7nust  have, 
together  with  faith,  rcorks  also,  or  he  will  not  he  saved.  But  what  is  the 
meaning  of  this  ?  Works  are  necessary  to  salvation  ;  and  yet  he,  who 
will  be  saved,  must  renounce  his  works.     Ergo,  he,  Avho  will  be  saved. 


BETWEEN  CATHOLICS  AND  PROTESTANTS.  437 

must  himself  renounce  what  is  necessary  to  salvation,  and  without  which 
he  cannot  be  saved.  Make  this  tally.*  rebel !  Remember,  that  men- 
dacem  oportet  esse  memorem,  that  is,  he  who  will  He,  ought  to  have  a  good 
memory ;  otherwise,  when  in  what  he  afterwards  says,  he  will  contra- 
dict himself,  people  will  observe,  how  he  hath  lied  in  what  he  had  before 
spoken ;  this  should  make  the  lying  spirit  more  heedful. "■]■ 

The  theology  of  the  good  Justus  Menius,  finds  the  inculcation  of 
good  works,  absolutely  incompatible  with  the  idea  of  humility.  And, 
accordingly,  he  thinks  the  doctrine,  that  we  must  "renounce"  such 
works — that  is  to  say,  acknowledge  ourselves  useless  servants,  even 
when  we  have  done  all,  to  be  perfectly  irreconcilable  with  the  other 
tenet,  that  works  are  a  necessary  condition  to  salvation.  Whereupon, 
in  his  opinion,  there  remains  no  other  alternative,  than  to  believe,  that 
faith,  even  without  ever  evincing  its  efficacy  in  works,  can  render  us 
acceptable  to  God ! 

§  Lviii. — Continuation.     Concurrence  of  the  most  various  errors  in  the  sect. 

Among  the  Anabaptists,  considered  as  a  sect,  we  discover  not  other 
doctrinal  peculiarities,  though  we  find  a  considerable  multitude  of  errors 
professed  by  individuals,  or  even  larger  parties  among  them.  Justus 
Menius  had  learned,  that  even  original  sin  was  denied  by  the  Anabap- 
tists ;  probably,  it  would  seem,  to  give  a  broader  basis  to  their  doctrine, 
respecting  the  unlawfulness  of  infant  baptism.  On  this  subject,  they 
were  wont  to  appeal  to  the  language  and  conduct,  which  the  Saviour, 
on  several  occasions,  had  manifested  in  respect  to  children.  From  a 
misunderstanding,  they  attached  especial  importance  to  the  text,  where- 
in children  are  held  up  by  him  as  models  for  adults,  if  they  would  enter 
into  the  kingdom  of  heaven.  J  That,  however,  only  a  few  of  the  Anabap- 
tists rejected  the  doctrine  of  original  sin,  although  Justus  Menius 
charges,  without  restriction,  the  whole  body  with  such  a  denial,  is  evi- 
dent from  the  fact  of  another  accusation  being  preferred  against  them  ; 
to  wit,  that  they  held  the  body,  of  Christ  to  have  been  created  by  the 
Holy  Spirit,  and  merely  fostered  in  the  womb  of  the  Blessed  Virgin  ; 
so  that,  thereby,  the  Saviour  would  not  have  taken  flesh  and  blood  from 
Mary.     They  feared  that,  in  conceding   more,   they  would  have  been 


*  In  the  German,  the  word  hundschuh  (a  buckled  shoe)  is  used;  this  Menius  em- 
ploys as  a  term  of  reproach,  because  such  was  painted  on  the  banners  of  the  rebellious 
peasants  under  Miincer. 

+  Justus  Menius,  loc.  cit.  p.  319-20. 

t  Justus  Meinus,  loc.  cit.  p.  332. 


438  EXPOSITION  OF  DOCTRINAL  DIFFERENCES 

unable  (o  uphold  the  sinlcssncss  of  Christ.  Whereas,  this  error  is  not 
even  conccivaI)Io,  except  on  the  supposition  of  original  sin;  the  kindred 
doctrine  above  adverted  to,  respecting  the  peculiar,  sinless  sort  of  gene- 
ration to  lake  place  in  Christ's  future  kingdom  on  earth,  necessarily 
involved  also  a  belief  in  an  evil  transmitted  by  the  present  mode  of 
sexual  intercourse.  And,  indeed,  that  violent  antagonism  between  the 
human  and  the  divine,  which  runs  through  the  whole  doctrinal  system 
of  these  sectaries,  were  not  possible,  without  the  conviction  of  a  deep- 
rooted  corruption  tainting  humanity  in  all  its  relations.  Moreover,  the 
doctrine  in  question,  respecting  the  conception  of  Christ,  appears  to 
have  obtained  a  very  wide  currency  among  the  Anabaptists  : — at  least, 
very  many  adversaries  take  the  trouble  of  refuting  it.*  The  greater 
the  multitude,  who  gave  in  to  this  error,  the  smaller  must  be  the  number 
of  those,  who,  to  assail  infant  baptism,  denied  original  sin. 

Many  Anabaptists  rejected  the  doctrine  of  Christ's  divinity  :  others 
taught  an  ultimate  restoration  of  all  things — the  u-ro'^ccroiTrotTK;  TrasvTwv, 
and  in  consequence,  the  final  conversion  of  Satan  ;  others  again,  that 
souls,  from  the  moment  of  death,  sleep  until  the  day  of  judgment. 
Even  an  antinomian  tendency  was  discernible  in  some  individuals 
among  them.     These,  like  the  "  brothers  and  sisters  of  the  free  spirit,""]" 


*  Melancthon :  Propositions  against  the  doctrine  of  the  Anabaptists,  loc.  cit.  p. 
282,  b.  ;  Uibanus  Regius,  ibid.  p.  402-18  ;  Justus  Menius,  p.  342.  "  Thereadermay 
also  consult  in  the  same  volume  of  Luther's  works,  the  dialogues  between  the  Hes- 
sian theologians  Corvinus  and  Rymceus,  and  John  of  Leydcn,  Krcchtingk,  and  others, 
p.  453.  It  is  clear,  moreover,  from  this,  that  the  Protestant  Church  historian, 
Schrockh,  has  fallen  into  an  error,  in  representing  this  doctrine  of  Christ's  concep- 
tion as  a  peculiarity  of  Menno  :  for,  it  was  taught  in  the  sect,  long  before  Menno 
joined  it. 

t  "  The  brothers  and  sisters  of  the  Free  Spirit,"  were  a  fanatical  sect  of  Pantheists, 
that  sprung  up  in  the  early  part  of  the  thirteenth  century.  They  probably  owed  their 
origin  to  the  philosophical  school,  which  Amalrich,  of  Bena,  and  David,  of  Dinant, 
had  founded,  and  which  was,  in  the  year  1209,  condemned  by  a  synod  at  Paris, 
whose  sentence  was  confirmed  by  the  pope.  They  derived  their  name  from  the  abuse 
they  made  of  the  texts  of  Scripture  in  Romans  viii.  2-14  ;  and  in  St.  John  iv-  23,  as. 
sorting  that  "  the  law  of  the  Spirit  of  life  in  Christ  Jesus,  had  freed  them  from  the 
law  of  sin;"  "that,  being  led  by  the  Spirit  of  God,  they  had  become  the  sons  of 
God  "  Professing  a  mystical  Pantheism,  they  held,  like  the  Paulicians,  that  every 
thing  is  an  immediate  emanation  from  the  Deity,  referring  to  themselves  the  words  of 
Christ,  "  I  and  the  Father  are  one."  Whoever  attained  to  their  view,  belonged  no 
longer  to  the  world  of  sense  (abusing,  as  they  did,  the  words  in  John  viii.  23,  "  I  am 
not  of  this  world;")  he  could  no  longer  be  contaminated  by  it,  and  therefore  he  no 
longer  needed  the  sacraments.  Separating  body  and  mind,  they  maintained  that  all 
sensual  debaucheries  could  not  affect  the  latter ;  and  hence,  some  among  them  aban. 
doned  themselves  without  scruple  to  the  grossest  vices.     In  Swabia,  particularly, 


BETWEEN   CATHOLICS  AND  PROTESTANTS.  439 

and  like  the  "libertines,"*  asserted  that  no  one,  who  had  once  receiv- 
ed the  Spirit,  could  any  longer  sin  in  any  work  whatsoever ;  and  that 
therefore,  for  them,  adultery  even  was  no  sin  ;  and  Zwingle  refors  by 
name  to  a  member  of  the  sect,  who  had  announced  this  to  him,  as  his 
personal  conviction.  For  a  time,  also,  the  opinion  that  polygamy  is  not 
forbidden  to  Christians,  was  very  general  amongst  them."]" 


about  the  middle  of  the  thirteenth  century,  they  went  about  inciting  monks  and  nuns 
to  abandon  their  rules,  and  sufler  themselves  to  be  led  entirely  by  God  and  the  "  Freo 
Spirit."     Severe  measures  were  tiien  taken  against  them. 

The  Apostolicals,  a  sect  founded  by  Scgarelli,  of  Parma,  towards  the  close  of  the 
same  century,  held  tenets  very  similar  to  those  just  described. — Trans. 

*  The  "  Libertines"  were  a  sect  of  fanatical  Pantheists,  that  sprang  out  of  the 
general  religious  ferment  of  the  sixteenth  century.  They  tirst  appeared  in  Flanders, 
in  the  year  1.547,  and  thence  spread  into  Holland,  France,  and  Geneva,  where  they 
gave  Calvin  much  annoyance.  At  Rouen,  a  Franciscan  monk,  who  had  imbibed 
the  tenets  of  Calvinism,  was  the  first  to  inculcate  the  abominable  doctrines  of  the 
new  sect  — Trans. 

t  On  the  denial  of  Christ's  Divinity,  see  Justus  Menius,  loc  cit-  p.  342 ;  and 
Zwingle's  Elenchus  contra  Catabapt.  Op.  torn,  ii  fol.  39.  "  This  account  is  per- 
feclly  credible,  as  we  know  of  Lewis  Hetzer.  for  instance,  that  he  was  at  once  an 
Unitarian  and  an  Anabnptist ;  and  at  a  later  period,  as  is  well  known,  an  Unitarian 
congregation  was  formed  in  Poland,  which  professed  likewise  Anabaptist  principles. 
On  the  opinions  which  the  Anabaptists  entertained  respecting  the  d'^roxiTas-Tas-/?,  or 
final  restoration  of  things,  compare  Justus  Menius,  p.  343;  and  Zwingle's  Elenchus, 
loc.  cit.  p  38,  b.  The  sleep  of  souls  after  death  is  there  also  attested,  p  37,  b.  For 
the  antinomianism  of  the  Anabaptists,  see  ibid  fol.  16.  On  the  polygamy  of  John 
of  Le3'den,  and  the  defence  set  up  for  the  same,  see  Luther's  works,  part  ii.  p.  455, 
ed.  Wittenberg.  Here  we  find  recorded  the  above-mentioned  dialogue,  held  by  the 
Hessian  theologians,  Antonius  Corvinus,  and  Jchn  Kymsus,  with  John  of  Loyden, 
and  Krcchtingk,  from  which  I  will  take  the  liberty  of  extracting  the  following  pas. 
sage,  in  order  to  show  at  once  the  extremely  meagre  and  mean  view  the  ancient  Lu. 
therans  entertained  respecting  marriage,  and  the  straits,  into  which,  by  their  rejection 
of  tradition,  they  were  necessarily  driven.  After  several  questions  and  answers, 
wherein,  especially,  the  Old  Testament  polygamy  was  discussed  King  John  of  Ley. 
den,  in  defence  of  his  plurality  of  wives,  observed  : — '•  Paul  says  of  a  bishop,  he 
should  be  the  man  of  one  wife.  If  now  a  bishop  should  be  the  man  of  one  wife,  it 
follows  that  in  the  time  of  St.  Paul,  it  was  permitted  for  a  man  to  have  two  or  three 
wives,  according  to  his  pleasure."  The  Lutheran  preachers  replied  : — "  We  hare  be- 
fore  said,  thai  marriage  belongs  to  civil  policy,  and  is  a  res  politica  ;  hut  as  the  civil 
policy,  on  this  matter,  is  now  very  different  from  what  it  was  in  the  time  of  St. 
Paul,  and  as  it  has  forbidden,  and  will  not  tolerate  the  plurality  of  wives,  you  can- 
not answer  for  such  an  innovation,  either  before  God  or  man.''''  To  this  King  John  : — 
"Yet  I  have  the  hope,  that  what  was  permitted  to  the  fathers,  will  not  damn  us; 
and  I  will  in  this  case  rather  hold  with  the  fathers,  than  with  you  ;  still  less  allow, 
that  I  profess  therein  any  error,  or  unchristian  innovation."  The  Lutheran  preach, 
crs  : — ''  We  would  in  this  case  much  rather  obey  the  civil  power,  because  it  is  or- 
dained  of  God,  and  in  such  external  matters,  hath  the  right  to  command  and  to  for- 


440  EXPOSITION  OF  DOCTRINAL  DIFFERENCES 

These  opinions,  however,  should  not  be  considered  as  strictly  Ana- 
baptist ;  for,  in  part,  they  were  in  direct  opposition  to  other  maxims  of 
the  sect.  It  is  on  the  contrary,  to  be  presumed,  that  at  the  commence- 
ment, amid  the  general  religious  ferment  of  the  age,  a  multitude  of  men 
joined  the  Anabaptists,  without  having  any  thing  akin  to  them,  save  a 
dark  fanaticism  and  confusion  of  ideas.  But  in  general,  the  remark 
holds  good,  that  the  first  Anabaptists  had  neither  a  compact  system  of 
theology,  nor  any  body  of  doctrines,  however  ill-connected,  which  all 
uniformly  professed.  If  we  consider,  that  their  sect  had  not  originated 
in  one  man,  as  the  common  centre  of  all ;  and  that  the  leading  idea, 
round  which  all  revolved,  though  powerful  enough  to  inspire  enthusiasm, 
was  yet,  in  a  doctrinal  point  of  view,  unproductive  ;  if  we  consider, 
moreover,  that  the  dark  feelings,  by  which  all  were  animated  and  im- 
pelled, had  not  received  a  definite  expression  in  any  public  formulary — 
a  circumstance  which  gave  occasion  to  a  general  complaint,  on  the 
part  of  their  adversaries  ;*  we  shall  feel  the  less  surprise  at  the  fact 
above-mentioned. 

§  Lix. — Continuation.    Relation  of  Scripture  to  the  inward  spirit.     The  Church.. 

It  will  be  still  more  easy  to  conceive  the  confusion  of  doctrines,  ia 
this  sect,  if  we  direct  our  attention  more  particularly  to  the  opinions 
which  they  entertained  respecting  the  office  of  preaching,  and  also  what 


bid,  than  recur  to  the  ezamplee-  of  the  fathers ;  as  for  such  a  course  we  have  not  a 
warrant  in  God's  word,  but,  on  the  contrary,  know  truly,  that  the  Scripture  eoimte- 
nances  our  opinion  respecting  marriage,  rather  than  your  view.  For  instance,  the 
Scripture  saith,  "  Therefore  shall  a  man  leave  father  and  mother,  and  shall  deave 
unto  his  wife."  Here  we  are  told,  a  man  shall  cleave  unto  his  wife,  and  not  unto 
many  wives.  And  St.  Paul  saith,  *'  Let  each  man  have  his  own  wife."  He  saith 
not,  "  Let  each  man  have  many  wives."  King  John  :  ''  It  is  true,  St.  Paul  here  doth 
not  speak  of  all  the  wives  in  general,  but  of  each  wife  in  particular  :  for  the  first  is 
my  wife,  I  cleave  to  her ;  the  second  Is  my  helpmate,  I  cleave  to  her  likewise,  and  so 
en.  Thus,  the  Scripture  remains  intact  in  all  its  dignity,  and  is  not  opposed  to  our 
opinion.  And  wherefore  should  I  waste  many  words  ?"  "  It  is  better  for  me  to 
have  many  wives,  than  many  strumpets."  The  king  finally  proposed  to  leave  to  the 
tribunal  of  God,  the  judgment  on  this  matter.  Here  we  discover  the  origin  of  the 
desire,  subsequently  expressed  by  Philip,  Landgrave  of  Hesse,  to  have  two  wives — a 
desire  which  Luther  and  Melanctlion,  together  with  Bucer,  however  reluctantly, 
complied  with. 

*  Justus  Menius,  "  Spirit  of  the  Anabaptists  ;"  loc.  cit.  p.  363.  "  If  they  taught 
only  the  right  doctrines,  they  would  not  prowl  about  so  secretly  in  the  dark,  nor  theii- 
preachers  lurk  in  holes  and  comers."  See  also  Zwingle  in  several  passages  of  his 
cited  work,  Elenchus..  Also,  "  Doctrine  of  the  Anabaptists  refuted  from  Holy  Writ,'" 
loc.  cit.  p.  31 L 


BETWEEN  CATHOLICS  AND  PROTESTANTS.  441 

was  immediately  connected  with  this,  the  relation  of  Scripture  to  the 
inward  motions  ot"  the  free,  living  Spirit.  It  was  a  principle,  with  this 
sect,  that  every  one  marked  and  sealed  with  the  sign  of  the  covenant, 
was  not  only  able,  but  was  also  bound  to  appear  as  a  prophet  and  teacher, 
as  soon  as  he  felt  himself  moved  by  the  Divine  Spirit,  and  perceived  he 
was  favoured  with  a  revelation.  To  these  inspirations  Holy  Writ  was 
made  in  such  a  degree  subordinate,  that  the  Anabaptists  did  not  long 
strive  to  bring  them  into  an  even  apparent  conformity  with  Scripture, 
but  declared  the  Bible  to  be  in  its  present  form  absolutely  falsified.* 
Hereby  every  standard,  for  the  regulation  of  subjective  opinions,  was 
rejected  ;  the  entire  system  of  Christianity  was  severed  from  all  exter- 
nal historical  basis,  and  abandoned  to  the  stormy  fluctuations  of  a 
dreaming  fancy.  With  such  errors  no  distinct  order  of  preachers  was 
at  all  compatible ;  for,  without  settled  doctrines,  such  an  institution  in- 
volves  a  self-contradiction.  Hence  also,  the  Anabaptists  strained  their 
utmost  efforts  to  subvert  the  Protestant  preachers,  to  prevent  the  conso- 
lidation of  the  new,  and  (in  their  opinion)  too  material  Church,  which 
depended  on  these  ministers ;  and  then  to  convert  it  into  a  purely  spiri- 
tual institution. f 

If  some  years  previously,  the  Lutherans  had  urged  against  the  Catho- 
lic clergy  the  ever-recurring  reproach,  that  instead  of  the  doctrine  of 
the  Bible,  they  preached  up  only  the  ordinances  of  the  Church  ;  so  they 
in  their  turn,  were  now  blamed  for  fettering  the  living  Spirit  to  a  dead 
word  of  Scripture,  and  not  allowing  men  to  follow  the  fresh,  pure,  un- 
troubled impulse  from  above  ;  "and  li'\e  the  Jewish  scribes,  they  were 
declared  to  have  no  Holy  Ghost,  but  to  be  only  conversant  with  Scrip- 
ture, and  to  chase  their  weariness  away  with  its  perusal.  ":j:     On  the 


*  Justus  Menius  "  On  the  spirit  of  the  Anabaptists,"  p.  364.  "  For  it  is  undenia. 
ble,  that  Thomas  Miincer,  and  after  him  his  disciple  Melchior  Rink,  together  with 
many  other  disciples,  had  no  regard  at  all  for  Holy  Writ,  called  it  a  mere  dead  letter, 
and  clung  to  special  new  revelations  of  the  Spirit :  nay,  they  dared  even  openly 
give  the  lie  to  Scripture,  as  I  myself  heard  from  the  lips  of  Rink,  who  had  the  ef- 
frontery to  say,  that  all  the  books  of  the  New  Testament  in  every  language,  Greek, 
Latin,  German,  etc.  were  altogether  false,  and  that  there  was  no  longer  a  genuine 
copy  on  earth."  Hereupon  follows  a  special  application  of  this  principle  to  the 
passage  in  Matthew  xxvi.  28,  where  the  words,  "  which  shall  be  shed  for  many  for 
the  remission  of  sins,"  were,  according  to  this  doctor,  inserted  by  the  devil. 

+C  alvin  (instructio  adv.  Anabapt.  opusc.  p.  485,)  accuses  them  of  only  asserting, 
that  there  shoul  d  be  no  fixed  teachers  appointed  to  any  particular  place,  but  that  all, 
like  the  apostles,  should  be  itinerant  preachers.  But  then  he  adds  :  "  Hcec  porro  phi- 
losophia  inde  manabat,  quod  serio  cuperent,  fideles  ministros  sibi  cedere,  vacuumque 
locum  sinere,  quo  Hberius  venenura  suum  ubique  effundere  possent." 

i  Justus  Menius,  Doctrine  of  Anabapt.  refuted,  etc  p.  310-13.     On  the  spirit  of 


442  KXPOSITION  OF  DOCTRINAL  DIFFERENCES 

other  hand,  the  Lutherans  prove  against  the  Anabaptists,  what,  as  com- 
ing from  the  CathoHcs,  they  would  never  themselves  assent  to  ;  they 
point  out  to  them  the  establishment  of  an  apostleship  by  Christ  himself, 
and  draw,  from  this  institution,  nearly  the  same  conclusions  as  the  Ca- 
tholics themselves.  They  allege,  with  laudable  industry,  Scriptural 
texts,  whereby  the  Holy  Ghost  had  instituted  teachers,  prophets,  and 
administrators,  and  the  disciples  of  our  Lord  had  appointed  bishops  and 
elders,  in  order  that  the  one,  true  and  pure  doctrine  might  be  preserved 
unfalsified  ;  and  they  repeatedly  enjoin,  that  teachers,  though  chosen 
by  men,  are  yet  ordained  by  the  Holy  Ghost.*  This  assertion  Melanc- 
thon  approved  even  so  far,  as  to  hold  orders  to  be  a  sacrament.  He 
says,  in  his  Instructien  against  the  Anabaptists  :  "  That  priestly  orders 
should  be  placed  in  the  number  of  the  sacraments,  affords  me  much  sa- 
tisfaction. Yet  so,  that  by  orders  be  understood  the  calling  to  the 
office  of  preaching,  and  of  administration  of  the  sacraments,  and  so  the 
office  considered  in  itself.  For  it  is  very  necessary,  that  in  Christian 
Churches,  the  function  of  preachers  should  be  regarded  and  esteemed 
as  something  most  precious,  venerable,  and  holy  ;  and  that  people  be 
instructed,  that  it  is  by  the  hearing  of  sermons,  and  the  reading  of  God's 
Word,  and  Holy  Writ,  God  will  impart  the  Holy  Spirit,  to  the  end,  that 
no  one  may  seek,  out  of  the  regular  ministry,  for  any  other  revelation  and 
illumination,  such  as  the  Anabaptis's  jjrelend  to."-\  The  Lutherans 
were  so  unkind,  as  to  torment  the  poor  fanatics  with  questions,  which, 
to  this  day,  they  have  been  unable  to  answer  themselves.  They  asked 
the  Anabaptists,  who  had  sent  them  ?  and  as  they  could  show  no  ordi- 
nary mission,  where  were  the  miracles  whereby  they  authenticated 
their  extraordinary  mission  1  The  Anabaptists,  with  reason,  retorted 
the  same  questions  upon  them.:}: 

Luther  had  once  said,  "  whoever  is  so  firmly  convinced  of  the  doc- 
trine he  announces,  that  he  can,  without  hesitation,  curse  the  opposite 
view,  furnishes  in  that  case  a  proof  of  the  verity  of  his  opinions."     In 


the  Anabapt.  p-  364,  b.  "  In  short  it  is  well  known  and  not  to  be  denied,  that  the 
Anabaptists  have  no  more  injurious  appellation  for  any  one,  than  to  call  him  a 
Scribe." 

•  Justus  Menius,  Refutation  of  doctrine  of  Anabapt.  p.  312,  b  ;  Spirit  of  the 
Anabapt.  p.  358,  b. ;  Melancthon,  Instruction  against  Anabapt.  p.  294. 

t  Melancthoii's  Instruction,  etc.  loc.  cit.  p  294. 

J  Zwingli  Elenchus,  loc.  cit.  fol.  29  ;  Menius  Anabapt.  refuted,  loc.  cit.  p.  311. 
"  Also,  how  will  they  prove,  that  they  have  been  sent  by  Christ  to  gather  together 
the  elect,  and  to  seal  them  ?  They  work  no  signs,  to  enable  us  to  discern  this  mis- 
sion with  certainty." 


BETWEEN  CATHOLICS  AND   PROTESTANTS.  443 

this  sort  of  demonstration,  the  Anabaptists  certainly  far  surpassed  all, 
who  lived  and  flourished  in  their  time. 

^  L.X. — Hatred  against  all  outward  institutions  for  promoting  edification. — Eccle- 
siastical  discipline. — Manners  and  customs. 

To  the  ideas,  which  the  Anabaptists  had  formed  respecting  the 
Church,  corresponded  their  views  as  to  the  accidental  parts  of  outward 
worship,  and  the  arrangements  having  reference  to  the  same.  If  Carl- 
stadt,  in  Wittenberg,  and  Zwingle,  in  Zurich,  had  broken  down  images 
and  altars,  and  the  latter  even  had  destroyed  organs,  the  Anabaptists, 
on  their  part,  declared  the  bared  and  despoiled  temples  to  be  still  idol- 
houses.*  Of  singing,  they  entertained  nearly  the  same  opinion,  as  in 
former  ages  Peter  de  Bruys,  who  held  it  to  be  a  worship  of  Satan.  Had 
their  loquacity  not  been  too  great,  they  would,  doubtless,  have  looked 
down  upon  the  manifestation  of  the  Christian  spirit  in  words,  as  some- 
thing too  outward  and  too  material ;  and  hereby  alone  would  they  have 
acted  with  perfect  consistency. 

As  regards  their  ecclesiastical  discipline  and  their  peculiar  customs, 
they  perfectly  bear  the  impress  of  the  ruling  principle  of  the  sect.  The 
idea  of  the  community  of  goods,  though  this  was  to  be  completely  rea- 
lized only  after  the  advent  of  Christ,  was  in  the  language  at  least  of 
the  community  provisionally  applied  ;  and,  even  prior  to  the  establish- 
ment of  the  millennium,  a  sort  of  proximate  application  of  this  princi- 
ple was  to  be  attempted  among  those,  who,  in  the  mean  time,  professed 
the  doctrines  of  the  sect.  The  authority  which  we  have  already  often 
cited,  says  among  other  things  :  "They  have  neither  father  nor  mother, 
brother  nor  sister,  wife  nor  children  in  the  flesh,  but  are  mere  spiritual 
brethren  and  sisters  among  one  another.  Each  one  says,  I  am  not  in 
mine,  but  in  our  house  ;  I  lie  not  in  mine,  but  in  our  bed  ;  I  clothe  myself 
not  with  mine,  but  with  our  coat.  It  is  not  I  and  Kate  my  wife,  but  I 
and  Kate  our  sister  keep  house  together.  In  short,  no  one  has  any 
thing  more  of  his  own,  but  every  thing  belongs  to  us  the  brethren  and 
sisters,  "f 

The}'  rigidly  maintained  excommunication,  for,  no  unholy  one  was 
to  be  in  the  Church  of  God. J     Their  prohibition  against  assuming  any 

*  Menius,  Spirit  of  the  Anabaptists,  loc.  cit.  p.  354. 

t  Menius,  Doctrine  of  Anabapt.  refuted,  loc.  cit.  p.  309,  b. 

t  Calvin  Instruct,  adv.  Anabapt.  opuscul.  p.  476.  "  Usus  excommunicationis," 
said  the  Anabaptists,  "  inter  omnes  esse  debet,  qui  se  Christianos  profitentur.  Qui 
baptizati  noxam  aliquam  imprudenter  aut  casfi  admittunt,  non  ex  industry.,  ii  secreto 
moneri  debent  semel  atque  iterum  :  tertio  publice  coram  toto  coetu  exttrminandi 
«unt.     Ut  possimus  eodem  zelo  una  panem  frangere,  et  calicem  bibere," 


444  EXPOSITION   OF  DOCTRINAL  DIFFERENCES 

function  of  magistracy,  was  in  close  connexion  with  this  persuasion. 
Rulers  there  were  to  be  none,  and  universal  freedom  and  equality  were 
to  prevail  in  all  the  relations  of  life.  But  it  is  observable,  that  we  not 
only  find  attributed  to  them  the  doctrine,  that  the  ministers  of  the  gos- 
pel should  alone  be  invested  with  civil  authority — a  proof  that  magis- 
tracy was  not  wholly  despised — but,  we  see  this  doctrine  carried  out 
into  practice.  We  see,  moreover,  laymen  also  at  the  head  of  their  political 
government.  We  need  only  remind  the  reader  of  Thomas  Muncer  in 
Orlamiinde,  and  Mulhausen,  as  also  of  John  of  Leyden  in  Munster,  who 
even  called  himself  king.  These  facts  stand  in  two-fold  contradiction 
with  the  doctrines  of  the  Anabaptists — first,  with  their  principle,  that 
the  office  of  teaching  is  common  to  all  Christians  ;  secondly,  with  their 
just  alleged  prohibition  against  undertaking  any  function  of  civil  power. 
These  facts,  moreover,  are  easily  explained  by  the  utter  impossibility  of 
their  realizing  such  theories  in  life. 

Furthermore,  that  the  Anabaptists  should  not  allow  the  sword  to  be 
wielded,  and  accordingly,  should  hold  all  warfare  to  be  unlawful,  was  a 
principle  that  immediately  followed  from  the  fundamental  tenet  of  the 
sect.  Yet  again,  we  are  not  astonished,  when  we  see  them  so  often,  in 
despite  of  their  principles,  with  arms  in  their  hands,  and  hear  them  vo- 
ciferate the  fearful  cry  against  all  princes,  nobles  and  proprietors  :  "  Strike 
Pinkebank  on  the  anvil  of  Nimrod."  Lastly,  they  declared  all  oaths 
to  be  illicit  ;  and  in  fact  among  perfect  Christians,  such  as  the  new 
kingdom  to  be  erected  by  them  presupposed,  no  oaths  need  ever  be 
taken.* 


§  Lxi. — The  Anabaptists  in  the  form  of  Mennonites ; — their  second  period. 

With  that  bold  confidence,  which  is  wont  to  characterize  fanatics,  the 
Anabaptists  had  announced  the  near  approach  of  the  thoroughly  holy 
kingdom  of  God  on  earth.  But  day  after  day,  they  saw  themselves  de- 
ceived in  their  expectations,  so  that  they  at  last  renounced  the  chimeri- 
cal hope.  They  had  not  even  succeeded  in  uniting  the  portion  of  Chris- 
tians the  most  important,  if  not  in  number,  yet  in  internal  energy,  nor 
in  bringing  about,  as  preparatory  to  Christ's  coming,  the  total  abolition 
of  all  civil  magistracy,  and  the  establishment  of  a  holy  theocracy.  Nay, 
they  encountered  such  a  mighty  opposition,  that  the  most  credulous  were 
soon  obliged  to  look  upon  the  hopes  they  had  fondly  cherished,  even  in 


*  Melancthon,   "  Refutation  of  some  unchristian  doctrines  put  forward  by  the 
Anabaptists,''  loc  cit.  p.  285.    Joannes  Calvinus,  loc.  cit.  p.  493. 


BETWEEN  CATHOLICS  AND  PROTESTANTS.  445 

this  respect,  as  idle  and  vain.  Hereby  vanished  that  idea,  which  had 
been  the  inmost,  vital  principle  of  the  sect,  and  which  had  constituted 
all  its  importance  ;  and  with  it  accordingly,  it  lost  all  historical  interest. 
Its  members  became  more  modest  and  more  tranquil,  and  more  recon- 
ciled with  the  social  relations.  But  as  the  high,  practical  object  of  their 
existence  had  been  given  up,  and  a  real  doctrinal  interest  they  had 
never  possessed  ;  the  Anabaptists,  by  degrees,  directed  the  energies,  that 
still  survived  their  first  mighty  excitement,  to  the  settlement  and  regu- 
lation of  the  most  insignificant  relations  of  outward  life,  falling  into  the 
most  whimsical  contests  on  these  matters,  and,  thereby,  exhibiting  a 
striking  contrast  to  their  earlier  history,  where  all  the  attempts  at  refor- 
mation had  been  conducted  on  a  grand  scale.  As  this  second  crisis  of 
their  existence  was  approaching,  its  introduction  was  accelerated  by 
means  of  a  Catholic  priest,  Menno  Simonis,  curate  of  Wittmarsum, 
near  Franeker  in  Friesland,  who,  in  the  year  1536,  went  over  to  the 
Anabaptists  ;*  and  who  possessed  so  little  intellect  and  literary  culture 
as  to  join  a  party,f  whose  vital  object  was  allowed  to  be  vain,  and  yet 
enough  of  these  qualities  to  pass  among  his  fellow-religionists  for  a  very 
distinguished  personage.  He  possessed,  moreover,  a  very  pious,  ener- 
getic zeal,  and  a  certain  degree  of  moderation  (which,  however,  weia 
never  evinced  towards  Catholics)  ;  so  that,  by  the  confidence  he  had 
won,  he  was  enabled  to  appease  the  contests  of  the  Anabaptists,  to  unite 
them  together,  and  to  regulate  their  social  relations.  They  took  their 
name  from  him,  and  have  since  been  usually  called  Mennonites.  He 
died  in  the  year  1561. 

It  is  worthy  of  remark,  that  the  Mennonites  call  in  question  their 
descent  from  the  earlier  Anabaptists.  When  the  first  intoxication  of 
fanatacism  was  over,  they  forgot  all  they  had  perpetrated  under  its  influ- 
ence ;  and  what  they  heard  recounted  of  themselves,  they  conceived  to 
regard  some  other  community.  Sometimes  they  deduce  their  orio-in 
from  the  first  Christians  ;|  sometimes  they  assert,  that  quite  indepen- 

*  Hermanni  Schyn,  historioe  Mennonitarum  plenoir  deductio.  Amstelodami,  1729 
c.  V.  p.  Il6. 

t  Loc.  cit.  p.  138,  we  find  a  letter  of  Menno  Simonis,  wherein  he  says,  he  had 
written  his  treatise  on  baptism  in  German,  "  nam  Latine  inscitiffi  causa  non  bene 
possem." 

t  The  good  Schyn,  in  his  Histeri®  Mennonitarum  plenior  Deductio,  c.  i.  Amst. 
1729.  "  Ex  primis  Christianis,  qui  ex  institutione  Domini  nostri  Jesu  Christi  exem- 
plisquc  Apostolorum,  per  omnia  Christiana  ssecula  in  himc  usque  diem  inter  caetera 
dogmata  adultorum  baptismum  docuerunt,  et  adhuc  docent,  descendisse  (Mennoni- 
tas.")  Immediately  thereupon,  it  is  said  :  "  Inter  hos  saeculo  undecirao  (rather  du- 
odecimo) emicuerunt  Waldenses."  What  a  leap  from  the  first  to  the  twelfth  cen- 
tury ! 


446  EXPOSITION  OF  DOCTRmAL  DIFFERENCES 

dently  of  all  outward  impulse,  Menno  Siinonis  had  arrived  at  his  pecu- 
liar opinions  through  the  exclusive  study  of  Holy  Writ  ;*  and  some- 
times again,  they  allege,  that  among  the  first  Anabaptists  of  the  six- 
teenth century,  there  were  men  of  a  calm  and  moderate  tone  of  think- 
jn",  from  whom  they  were  themselves  the  descendants  5  and  this  asser- 
tion is  not  entirely  devoid  of  foundation. "j* 

§  Locii. — Peculiar  doctrines  of  the  Mennonites.    Their  Church-diacipline. 

From  the  later  Symbolical  writings  of  the  Anabaptists,  it  is  at  the  first 
sight  evident  who  were  their  progenitors.  We  shall  now  proceed  to 
give  the  main  substance  of  these  Confessions,  taking  as  our  standard 
the  Confession  of  Waterland,:}:  composed  iu  the  year  158D,  by  John 
Ries  and  Lubbert  Gerardi,  Mennonite  preachers  ;  without,  however, 
leaving  the  other  unnoticed.  After  enlarging  first  on  God,  the  Trinity, 
and  the  incarnation  of  the  Logos,  the  Confession  comes  to  the  doctrine 
of  the  Fall,  and  says,  that  the  first  man,  by  his  transgression  of  the 
Divine  precept,  had  incurred  the  anger  of  God,  yet  had  been  again 
strengthened  by  consoling  promises,  in  consequence  whereof,  none  of 
his  descendants  are  born  with  the  debt  of  sin,  or  of  penalty. §  This,  in 
itself,  very  obscure  proposition,  derives  from  the  following  doctrines  some 
d^ree  of  light.  It  might  be  explained,  as  if  the  Mannonites  du'nied 
original  sin.  But  their  opinion  is  rathar,  that  a  sinfulness  is  transmit- 
ted from  Adam  to  all  his  descendants  ;  but  that  it  is  attended  with  no 
debt ;  since  this  is  remitted  by  God's  grace.  In  the  fifth  article,  an 
explanation  is  given  respecting  the  faculties,  which  man  in  his  fallen 
state  still  possesses ;  and  it  is  taught  with  great  propriety,  that  in  the 


*  Schyn  (loc.  cit.  p.  135)  observes,  after  citing  tiie  account  which  Menno  Simonis 
had  given  of  his  going  forth  out  of  Babylon, — "  Evidcntissimc  constant,  ipsum  sola 

sacrae  Scripturae  lecliunc,  mcditationc,  et  illuminiilionc  Spiritus  Sancti ex   Papatft 

exivisae."  But  from  the  very  narrative  of  Menno  adduced  by  Schyn  himself,  it  ap. 
pears,  that  the  former,  even  when  a  Catholic  priest,  had  been  in  connexion  with  the 
Aaabaptists,  though  he  condemned  the  extravagancies  of  the  Miinster  fanatics. 

t  Schyn  ilistoria  Mennon  p.  2ti3-5  :  here  he  appeals  with  justice  to  some  favoiira* 
ble  tc^timonies  of  Erasmus. 

t  This  Confession  is  found  in  Schyn  Hist.  INIcnn.  c<  vii.  p-  172.  See,  in  Hist. 
Menn   c-  iv  p.  78,  the  historical  notices  on  this  Confession. 

<^  Art  iv.  p.  175.  '•  Eousque  ut  nemo  posterorum  ipsius  respectCi  hujus  restitu- 
tionis  aut  peccati  aut  culpa?  reus  nascatur."  The  fourth  formulary  of  the  united 
Fries'.andeis  and  Germans,  which  is  likewise  tolerably  full,  says  in  Article  iii.  ''per 
earn  (inobedientiamj  sibi  oinnibusque  suis  posteris  mortem  consciviti,  atque  ita  ex 
praestantissima  misserrima  factus  est  creatura." — See  Hist.  Menn.  p.  90. 


BETWEEN  CATHOLICS  AND  PROTfcJSTANTS.  447 

Sfime  way  as  Adam,  before  his  fall,  had  the  power  of  giving  or  of  refu- 
sing admittance  to  the  spirit  of  evil  into  his  soul ;  so  after  the  fall,  he 
st^l  has  the  power  of  perceiving  the  Divine  influences,  and  accordingly 
of  receiving  or  rejecting  the  same  ;*  and  this  doctrine  other  formularies 
express  to  the  effect,  that  fallen  man  still  possesses  free-will. f  Hence 
it  is  clear,  that  the  Mennonites  considered  those  born  of  Adam,  to  be 
subject  to  corruption,  and  as  such,  to  be  incapable  of  producing  and 
executing  anything  acceptable  to  God  ;  yet  still  they  believed  them 
to  be  possessed  of  free-will.  In  consequence  of  this  opinion,  they  de* 
clare  themselves  explicitly  against  an  absolute  grace  of  election  :  they 
even  devote  a  special  article  to  the  doctrine  of  Providence,  and  combat 
the  Calvinistic  opinion,  that  God  worketh  evil. 

After  confessing,  moreover,  the  vicarious  atonement  of  Christ,  they 
declare,  in  terms  the  most  clear  and  unequivocal,  that  saving  failh  is 
that  which  "  worketh  by  charity,"  and  that  through  the  same  is  right- 
eousness acquired.:!:  Righteousness  they  describe  as  forgiveness  of  sins, 
on  account  of  Christ's  blood,  and  accordingly,  as  a  transformation  of 
the  whole  man  ;  so  that  from  a  wicked,  carnal,  avaricious  and  arrogant 
man,  he  becometh  a  good,  spiritual,  generous  and  humble  one  ;  in  a 
Word,  that  from  an  unrighteous  he  becometh  a  righteous  man.§  What 
they  no\V  inculcate  respecting  good  works,  follows  as  a  matter  of  course. 
They  even  teach  that  the  life  of  the  righteous  and  regenerated  man 
should  be  in  perfect  correspondency  with  the  Divine  law  ;  if,  on  his 
part,  he  anxiously  looks  forward  to  the  future  rewards  so  graciously 
promised.  II 

*  Art  V.  p  176.  "  Eidem  jam  lapsa  et  pervcrso  incrat  facultas  occurrens  et  a 
Deo  oblatum  bonum  audiendi,  admittcndi,  aut  rejicictidi." 

t  The  fourth  Formulary  of  the  united  Fricslanders  and  Germans,  Art.  iv.  p  90, 
"  Dominum  seque  post  ac  ante  lapsum  liberam  homini  reliquisse  voluntatem  acccp- 
tandi  vel  rejiciendi  gratiam  oblatam,"  etc. 

I  Art.  XX.  de  vera  fide  salvifica.  "  Omnibus  bonis  et  beneficiis,  quae  Jesus  Chris- 
tus,  per  mcrita  sua.  ad  peccatorum  salutem  acquisivit.  fruimur  gratiose  per  veram  et 
vivain  fidem,  quoe  per  charitatcm  opcratur."  The  third  symbolical  writing  of  the 
united  Frieslanders  and  GeiTnans  called  the  "Olive  Branch,"  says:  ''Hincpatet, 
fundam.entale  certumque  filiorum  Dei  criterium  et  Jesu  Christi  membrorum  esse  ve- 
ram el  salvificam  fidem  per  charitatem  operantem." 

§  Art.  xxi.  '*  Per  vivam  ejusmodi  fidem  acquirimus  veram  justitiam,  id  est  con- 
donationem  sive  remissioncin  omnium  tam  prajteritorum  quani  praesentium  peccato- 
rum,  propter  sanguinem  efFusum  Jesu  Christi,  ut  et  veram  justitiam,  quae  per  Jcsum, 
co-operanle  Spiritu  s.incto,  abundanter  in  nos  effunditur  vel  infunditur  (let  the  reader 
here  mark  the  adoption  of  Catholic  phraseology  ;)  adeo  ut  ex  malis,  camalibus,  ava- 
ris,  superbis  fiamus  boni,  spirituales,  uberales,  humiles,  atquc  ita  ex  injustis,  reverb 
justi." 

II  Art.  xxiil. 


448  EXPOSITION  OF  DOCTRINAL  DIFFERENCES 

Of  such  righteous  and  regenerated  men,  the  Church,  according  to 
them,  exclusively  consists.*  In  this  hath  Christ  appointed  a  teaching 
ministry  ;  for  although  every  believer  be  a  member  of  Christ,  he  is  not 
on  that  account  a  bishop,  priest,  or  deacon ;  for  the  body  of  Christ,  the 
Church,  consists  of  various  members.  Moreover,  the  ministers  of  the 
word,  though  called  and  elected  by  the  ministers  of  the  same,  must  be 
confirmed  through  imposition  of  hands  on  the  part  of  the  elders. f  Lastly* 
Ihey  must  set  forth  only  what  coincides  w^ith  the  written  word  in  the  Old 
and  New  Testament. 

Christ,  according  to  them,  hath  instituted  only  two  sacraments  to  be 
administered  by  the  teachers.  The  sacraments  are  outward,  sensible 
acts,  whereby  is  represented  an  inward,  divine  act,  that  transforms,  jus* 
tifies,  spiritually  nourishes  and  sustains  man  ;  while  the  person  receiving 
the  sacrament  testifies  thereby  his  religion,  his  faith,  his  penitence,  and 
his  obedience,  and  binds  himself  to  the  observance  of  the  latter.  Here, 
however,  we  must  remark  that  in  this  system,  neither  by  baptism,  nor 
by  the  Lord's  Supper,  for  these  are  the  two  sacraments  of  the  Mennon^ 
ites,  is  that  divine  power  communicated,  which  purifies,  renovates,  and 
nourishes  the  spirit  of  man.  They  merely  typify  what  perpetually 
occurs  through  the  power,  which  from  Christ  and  his  spirit  eternally 
streams  down  on  all  believers,  and  only  symbolize  this  constant  action 
of  the  Deity.  The  Mennonites,  moreover,  baptize  only  adults,  as  these 
alone  are  capable  of  faith  and  penitence.  That  their  doctrine,  respect- 
ing original  sin,  renders  infant  baptism,  in  their  opinion,  unnecessary, 
is  clear  from  what  has  been  above  stated. |  Lastly,  Menno  Simonis 
adopted  the  washing  the  feet  of  the  travelling  brethren  as  an  indispen- 
sable ceremony ;  and  the  confession  of  the  united  Frieslanders  and 
Germans  expressly  upholds  it,  and  makes  mention  of  it  after  the  article 
of  baptism. § 

On  impenitent  sinners,  excommunication,  after  some  brotherly  exhor- 
tations, is  rigidly  enforced.  || 

Obedience  to  the  civil  power  is  enjoined  as  a  religious  duty ;  yet,  sin* 
gular  enough,  it  is  asserted  that  the  exercise  of  all  functions  of  magis- 
tracy is  unbecoming  to  the  true  Christian  (aut  male  aut  plane  non  con- 
venire)  ;  and  that,  on  this  account,  he  should  forbear  undertaking  offices 
of  this  kind.  The  motive  assigned  is,  that  Christ  instituted  no  civil 
authority,  and  still  less  did  he  command  his  apostles  to  assume  the 


♦  Art.  xxiv. 

t  Alt.  XXV. — xxviii.     See  also  formulary  of  the  united  Frieslanders  and  Germans, 
Art.  X.  p.  98. 
t  Art.  XXX.— XXXV.  §  Art.  xiii.  p.  lOl.  Il  Art.  xxiv.  xxxvi. 


BETWEEN  CATHOLICS  AND  PROTESTANTS.  449 

functions  of  magistracy.  On  the  contrary,  they  were  invited  by  him 
to  imitate  his  defenceless  life,  and  to  carry  his  cross,  whereby  certainly 
nothing  of  earthly  grandeur,  secular  power,  or  the  right  of  the  sword 
was  indicated.  Moreover,  princes  and  pwblic  functionaries  are  under 
the  obligation  of  waging  war,  of  marching  against  enemies,  and  depriving 
them  of  property  and  life  ;  but  all  thi.s  is  forbidden  to  the  Christian.* 
Finally,  the  Mennonites  absolutely  proscribe  all  oaths  ;  and,  in  almost 
all  their  confessions,  declare  against  polygamy. f 


§  Lxiii. — Conclusion.     Special  controversies. 

It  is  beyond  all  doubt,  as  is  clear  from  the  preceding  statement,  that 
the  Mennonites  in  several  articles  of  doctrine  differ  considerably  from 
the  first  Anabaptists,  and  that  they  have  thrown  off  their  more  fanatical 
tenets.  The  direct  revelations  from  Heaven,  communicated  to  each 
individual,  have  here  ceased  ;  and  we  find  established  a  distinct  order 
of  ministers,  bound  by  the  written  word.  The  violent  introduction  of 
God's  kingdom  upon  earth,  associated  with  the  annihilation  of  the  estab- 
lished order  of  society,  and  of  the  rights  of  property,  has  given  way  to 
the  formation  of  a  new  inward  life,  and  to  a  concomitant  willingnjss  to 
assist  the  indigent  according  to  ability,  and  to  share  every  thing  with 
them  in  Christian  love,  without  any  external  community  of  goods  being 
required.  By  the  setting  forth  of  a  common  system  of  doctrines,  more- 
over, very  unchristian  and  demoralizing  tenets  have  been  excluded. 
But  in  other  respects,  we  clearly  discern  in  the  Mennonite  only  the 
purified  Anabaptist.  In  the  view,  especially,  entertained  respecting  the 
civil  power,  we  see  the  glimmering  of  that  earlier  fanaticism,  that  would 
fain  have  doomed  it  to  utter  destruction,  as  totally  unsuitable  to  the 
Christian.  In  the  prohibition,  likewise,  to  engage  in  war,  and  to  take 
oaths,  we  see  ever  shadowed  forth  that  ideal  kingdom  of  Christ,  which 
through  the  mediation  of  the  Anabaptists,  was  to  confer  a  sudden  feli- 
city on  the  world. 

Yet  the  establishment  of  a  definite  system  of  doctrines,  already  ad- 
verted to,  must  be  so  understood  only  in  a  very  limited  sense.  This 
will  be  apparent  from  what  follows,  wherein  the  opposition  between  the 
inhabitants  of  Waterland  and  the  united  Frieslanders  and  Germans,  to 
which  allusion  has  been  made,  will  be  more  closely  examined. 

The  Mennonites,  likewise,  soon  broke  up  into  different  parties  ;  but 


*  Art.  xxxvii.  t  Art.  xxxviii. 

29 


450  EXPOSITION  OF  DOCTRINAL  DIFFERENCES 

as  the  sect  had  lost  all  high  importance,  most  of  the  controversies  that 
sprang  up  in  its  bosom,  were  utterly  insignificant.  They  divided  into 
the  subtle,  and  the  gross  party.  Those,  who  rigidly  adhered  to  the  an* 
cient  rule  of  manners,  received  the  former  epithet ;  the  latter  was  given 
to  those,  who  allowed  themselves  various  mitigations  of  the  rule.  The 
latter  are  called  from  the  district  in  Holland,  which  they  inhabit,  Wa- 
terlanders  ;  the  former  Flemings  and  Frieslanders.  The  gross  Men* 
nonites  soon  became  by  far  the  most  numerous  ;  while  the  subtle  ones 
disputed  among  themselves  on  the  questions,  whether  or  not  a  Mennon- 
ite  may  acquire  by  purchase  a  house ;  whether  it  be  also  lawful  for  him 
to  clothe  himself  in  fine  linen,  if  he  wishes  truly  to  evince  the  austere 
spirit  of  the  sect.  These  and  the  like  differences  fall  not  within  the 
scope  of  our  inquiries  ;  though  the  first  mentioned  controversy,  as  a 
remnant  of  the  doctrine  of  the  community  of  goods,  and  of  the  prohibi- 
tion to  hold  property,  is  deserving  of  attention,  and  coincides  with  the 
fact,  that  the  rigid  Anabaptists  frequently  wish  to  be  nothing  more  than 
mere  farmers  of  lands. 

The  Ukevallists,  called  after  a  preacher  of  Friesland,  who  maintained 
the  proposition,  that  Judas,  and  the  high-priests,  who  condemned  Christ, 
as  they  only  executed  the  divine  decrees,  have  been  admitted  to  salva- 
tion, can  here  only  receive  a  passing  notice.  More  important  are  the 
differences  on  the  question,  whether  or  not  an  individual,  whatever 
may  be  his  doctrinal  views — should  he  even  be  a  Socinian — can  be  re- 
ceived as  a  member  of  the  community,  or  can  be  permanently  so  con- 
sidered ?  This  question  was  connected  with  that  respecting  the  value 
and  importance  of  public  formularies,  to  which  the  Mennonites  on  the 
whole,  though  at  different  times  they  published  several  confessions, 
were  never  very  favourably  disposed.  Those,  who  declared  for  abso- 
lute freedom,  were  called  Remonstrants,  and  also  Galenists,  from  their 
leader,  a  physician  of  that  name,  at  Amsterdam.  Their  opponents,  the 
Apostools,  were  likewise  called  after  a  physician  in  their  communion 
of  that  name,  who  resided  at  Amsterdam.  But  in  proportion  as  the 
Mennonites  unreflectingly  opened  a  door  to  foreign  influences,  their  old 
respectable,  though  often  pedantic,  earnestness,  and  the  religious  hallow 
of  life  by  degrees  declined.  Or  rather  is  not  this  phenomenon — this 
aversion  to  a  settled  definite  system  of  doctrine— a  remnant  of  that  one-i 
sided  practical  tendency,  which  characterized  the  sect  in  its  very  origin  5 
and  in  pursuance  of  which  it  tolerated  in  its  bosom  the  most  various, 
and  the  most  opposite  views  on  the  most  important  dogmas  of  faith  ? 
The  original  spirit,  accordingly,  would  here  have  only  returned. 

So  much  respecting  the  Mennonites  or  Anabaptists,     With  them  the 


BETWEEN  CATHOLICS  AND  jPROTESTANTS.  451 

^^aptists  are  not  to  be  confounded.  Such  are  those  Puritans  in  Eng- 
knd  named,  who  with  respect  to  infant  baptism  hold  opinions  similar 
to  those  of  the  Mennonites,  without,  however,  being  on  other  points 
distinguishable  from  the  English  Calvinists  of  that  party.  From  the 
year  1633  they  have  formed  a  separate  community. 


CHAPTER    It 

THE    aUAKERSo 


§  Lttv. — Some  historical  preliminary  remarks. 

Whoever  would  undertake  the  task  of  tracing  historically  the  grsi^^ 
ual  development  of  Protestant  Sectarianism,  should  after  the  Anabap- 
tists treat  of  the  Schwenkfeldians,  who  though  they  appeared  only  a  few 
years  later  than  the  former,  yet,  as  exaggerated  spiritualists,  stand  con- 
siderably higher.  He  would  next  have  to  describe  some  individual  en-* 
thusiasts,  as  well  as  larger  communities  of  this  description,  that  made 
their  appearance  in  the  latter  half  of  the  sixteenth,  and  the  former  half 
of  the  seventeenth  century  j  and  then  onty  could  he  turn  to  the  Qua- 
kers, who  went  to  the  farthest  verge  of  the  boldest  spiritualism,  and 
were  to  be  outdone  only  by  contradictions.  Among  the  first  Anabap- 
tists, the  effort  of  a  false  spiritualism  took  quite  an  eccentric  course, 
and  the  pure  spiritual  life,  which  they  would  fain  have  introduced,  rested 
on  the  expectation  of  an  extraordinary,  marvellous  introduction  of  a" 
higher  order  of  things  into  this  lower  world.  All  the  ordinary  relations' 
of  earthly  life  were  menaced  with  destruction,  and  that  delicate  subtle 
kingdom  of  the  spirit,  which  they  aimed  at,  was  in  manifold  ways  trou- 
bled by  a  very  gross  political  spirit ;  for  earthly  bonds  cannot  be,  with.' 
out  violence,  suddenly  dissevered,  nor,  at  once,  replaced  by  supermi^m- 
danities.  This  spiritual  kingdom  was  founded  in  a  very  carnal  man- 
ner, and  the  means  proved  destructive  to  the  end.  The  superscnsual 
principle,  also,  even  where  it  had  attained,  in  this  sect,  to  any  consoli- 
dation, was  not  presented  in  its  purity  and  integrity  ;  since  the  sacra- 
ment was  retained,  not  as  the  channel  and  conductor,  but  merely  as  the 
emblem  of  divine  graces.  Moreover,  among  the  doctrines  of  this  sect, 
there  were  some  which  mere  accident  had  annexed  to  its  stem,  or 
which  at  least  had  not  naturally  grown' out  of  its  root. 

Far  more  developed  appears  the  spiritualism  of  Schwenkfefd,  whose 
peculiarities,  however,  we  shall  not  be  able  to  point  out ;  as  no  remains 
of  his  sect  have  survived  down  to  our  days.  But  in  its  most  complete 
form  doth  this  false  spiritualism  manifest  itself,  as  we  before  said,  among 
the  Quakers,  who  honour  as  their  founder  George  Fox,  a  shoemaker 
and  shepherd,  born  at  Drayton,  in  Leicestershire,  in  the  year  162  J,  and 


EX1>0SITI0N  OF  DOCTRINAL  DIFFERENCES,  &c.  453 

'ivho  departed  this  life  in  the  year  1690.  Among  the  Quakers  we  dis- 
cover  an  interior  piety,  which,  when  we  can  succeed  in  forgetting,  now 
and  then,  the  utter  perverseness  of  the  whole  system,  marvellously 
cheers  and  refreshes,  and  even,  at  times,  deeply  moves  the  mind,  though 
not,  by  any  means,  in  the  same  degree  as  our  own  better  mysticism. 
Moreover,  we  find  among  them  a  conscious  and  firm  prosecution  of  the 
point  of  view  they  have  once  adopted — a  consistency  extremely  pleas- 
ing and  cheering,  which  flinches  from  no  consequences,  and  has  given 
to  Quakerism  such  an  advantage  over  the  orthodox  Protestantism, 
where  the  most  crying  dissonances  are  to  be  found.  AH  parts  stand  in 
the  most  harmonious  proportion  with  each  other,  forming  a  fine  con- 
nected whole,  whose  architectural  perfection  leaves  little  to  be  desired  ; 
and  to  the  Catholic,  especially,  who  is  forced  by  his  own  religious  sys- 
tem fo  look  every  where  for  internal  keeping  and  consistency,  appears 
entitled  to  respect.  Consistency  is  not,  indeed,  truth  itself,  and  doth 
not  even  supply  its  place  ;  but  a  system  of  doctrine  is  ever  false,  which 
includes  parts  inconsistent  with  the  whole.  In  George  Fox,  the  founder 
of  the  sect,  we  doubtless  do  not  find  this  internal  harmony  of  system, 
nor  the  transparent  clearness  of  doctrine  determined  thereby  ;  but  that 
the  system  was  capable  of  attaining  to  this  harmony,  lay  in  the  very 
nature  of  the  fundamental  idea,  out  of  which  it  sprang.  A  very  re- 
markable and  amiable  trait  of  Quakerism  is  that  avoidance  of  every 
kind  of  asperity,  which  so  frequently  shocks  us  in  the  orthodox  Protest- 
antism. The  manner,  too,  wherein  the  Quakers  treat  all  the  better 
phenomena  of  religion  and  morality  in  the  times  anterior  to  Christianity, 
evinces  great  tenderness  of  feeling;  nor  is  this  less  manifest  in  their 
rejection  of  the  Calvinistic  doctrine  of  absolute  predestination.  Here, 
also,  the  Quaker  strives  to  emulate  the  Catholic  ;  but  the  capital  error 
of  Quakerism  is,  that  though  in  itself  a  fair,  deeply  conceived  and  har- 
monious system,  it  stands  in  the  most  direct  opposition  to  historical 
Christianity,  and  as  far  as  in  it  lies,  annihilates  the  same ;  for  this  the 
following  exposition  of  its  principles  will  clearly  show.  This  task  we  will 
now  undertake,  taking  for  our  guide  the  Apology  by  Barclay — the  most 
celebrated  writer  among  the  Quakers,  and  whose  book  enjoys  an  almost 
symbolical  authority  ;  for,  thev  have  not  put  forth  a  regular  confession 
of  faith.* 


*  Roberti  Barclai  Theolo^iiE  vere  Christianas  Apologia,  edit,  sec,  Lond.  1729. 
With  Barclay,  however,  we  shall  always  compare  the  following  work,  entitled  :  "  A 
portraiture  of  Quakerism,  taken  from  a  view  of  the  moral  education,  discipline,  pe- 
culiar customs,  religious  principles  of  the  society  of  friends."  By  Thomas  Clark. 
^son,  Esq.,  in  three  vols.,  3d  edit,  Lond.,  1807.     The  author  was,  for  a  long  time,  in 


454  EXPOSITION  OF  DOCTRINAL   DIFFERENCES 

Before,  however,  we  make  our  readers  acquainted  with  the  system^ 
of  this  remarkable  rehgious  community,  we  must  lay  before  them  the 
motives,  which  induced  its  first  propagators  to  establish  a  peculiar  sect. 
Like  many  other  religious  parties,  in  the  deeply  convulsed  age  of  Crom- 
well, they  particularly  missed  in  the  High  Church  of  England,  the  free 
expansion  of  the  spirit  of  piety — religious  life,  and  interior  warmth,  and 
unction.  Every  thing  in  this  Church  appeared  to  them  torpid  and 
petrified.  The  Divine  Spirit,  which  heretofore  had  filled  the  Church, 
was  denied,  and  out  of  the  living  congregation  had  been  banished,  and 
confined  to  the  dead  word  of  Scripture  ;  and  the  boast  of  the  Reformers, 
that  this  dead  word  would  infallibly  shed  a  heavenly  light  over  its 
readers,  and  enkindle  them  with  a  holy  fire,  was  refuted  by  every  day's 
experience.  The  established  worship  appeared  void  and  meaningless 
in  the  eyes  of  the  Quakers,  and  seemed  to  consist  of  nothing  more  than 
a  dry,  cheerless  repetition  of  forms  and  hymns,  composed  though  they 
were  in  the  vernacular  tongue.  And  in  fact,  when  the  real  presence 
of  the  Saviour  had  been  rejected,  and  the  sacrifice  been  abolished, 
nothing  more  remained,  which  directly  and  by  itself  could  fill  the  sus- 
ceptible soul  with  devotion  and  sacred  awe,  or  exalt,  solace  and  bless  it. 
The  act  was  bereaved  of  its  very  soul ;  it  became  an  earthly  thing,  and 
though  rational,  yet  unspiritual  and  uninspiring.  All  now  depended  on 
the  fact,  whether  the  preacher  were  able  to  draw  words  of  life  from 
the  inmost  core  of  a  soul,  filled  with  the  Divine  Spirit,  and  were  enabled 
to  edify  by  a  heavenly  power  the  assembled  believers,  and  by  the  com- 
bined animation,  clearness,  and  depth  of  his  discourses  to  initiate  them 
more  and  more  in  the  mysteries  of  Christ's  kingdom.  But  it  was  here 
precisely  the  longings  of  the  Quakers  were  most  cruelly  deceived  ;  so 
that  not  unfrequently  they  would  interrupt  the  sermons  of  the  Anglican 
ministers,  and  in  their  revolted  feelings  would  bid  "  the  man  of  wood" 
descend  from  the  pulpit.  Even  the  most  spiritual-minded  preacher  is 
not  master  of  celestial  unction  and  illumination  ; — days  and  weeks  of 
internal  dryness  and  desolation  will  occur  ; — and  no  human  art  can 
supply  the  gift  from  above.  The  majority  of  preachers,  alas !  abound 
neither  in  divine  nor  human  energy  ; — others  possess  not  even  the 
will ;  and  thus  it  cannot  fail  to  happen,  that  the  greater  part  of  ser- 
mons attain  not  by  one-half  their  end,  and  very  many  fall  even  far  short 
of  it.  This  the  Quakers  deeply  felt ;  and  in  default  of  an  act  in  the 
public  worship,  which  by  its  intrinsic  worth  could  seize  possession  of 
the  soul,  they  rejected  the  whole  established  service,  as  an  institution 

habits  of  intercourse  with  the  Quakers ;  and  finding  them  vigorous  opponents  to  the 
slave-trade,  to  the  suppression  whereof  Clarkson  devoted  all  his  energies,  he  came  to. 
entertain  a  great  affection  for  them.    This  book  must  be  used  with  caution. 


BETWEEN  CATHOLICS  AND  PROTESTANTS.  455 

incapable  of  satisfying  the  higher  wants  of  the  rehgious  man.  To  this 
we  must  add  the  numberless  disputes,  which  then  convulsed  the  Angli- 
can Church.  Opinions  crowded  upon  opinions,  each  seeking  its  founda- 
tion in  Holy  VV^it ;  yet  not  one  being  able  to  prove  by  that  standard 
its  own  truth,  or  the  untenableness  of  the  opposite  systems  ;  and  no 
living  human  authority,  invested  with  a  divine  sanction,  was  anywhere 
recognised.  It  appeared  to  the  Quakers,  that  tlie  truths  of  Christianity 
were  in  imminent  danger  ;  and  that,  if  they  had  no  other  support  than 
Holy  Writ,  they  must  perish  in  the  struggle  of  parties.  Thus  they 
receded  from  every  external  institution — not  only  from  the  Church  and 
public  worship,  but,  in  a  great  degree,  from  Scripture  itself;  and,  for 
what  they  held  to  be  vital  truths  of  salvation,  they  sought  an  inde- 
structible basis  in  the  immediate  inspiration  of  a  creative,  inward  light, 
which,  without  any  other  medium,  was  to  be,  if  not  the  exclusive,  yet  the 
principal  source  of  nurture  to  the  spirit. 

§  Lxv. — Religious  system  of  the  Quakers.     The  Inivard  Light. 

While  avoiding  all  explanation  as  to  the  nature  of  the  Paradisaic 
man,*  the  Quakers  hold,  that  from  the  fallen  Adam,  a  germ  of  death, 
a  seed  of  sin,  has  been  scattered  over  all  his  posterity  ;  for  the  word 
"  original  sin"  they  will  not  employ,  nor  indeed  any  other  technical 
expression  unsanctioned  by  the  usage  of  Scripture.  Hereby  all  men 
were  entirely  bereaved  of  the  Divine  image,  which,  however,  the 
Quakers  do  not  particularize  ;  and  this  bereavement,  according  to  them, 
must  be  understood  by  the  menaced  death,  which  they  thus  conceive 
to  have  been  only  spiritual. f  So  long,  however,  as  the  universal  seed 
of  death,  through  a  conscious  and  active  culture  of  the  same,  beareth 
no  fruits  ;   it  constitutes,  they  continue,  no   guilt,  and   therefore  by  no 


♦  Barclaii  Apolog.  theolog.  Christ,  p.  70.  "  Cui-iosas  illas  notiones,  quas  plerique 
docent,  de  statu  Ada;  ante  lapsuni,  prsetereo,"  etc. 

t  L c  "  Hebc  mors  non  fuit  externa,  seu  dissolutio  exterioris  hominis ;  nam  quoad 
banc  nou  mortuus  est,  nisi  multos  post  annos.  Ita  oportet  esse  mortem  quoad  spiri- 
tualem  vitam  et  comraunionem  cum  Deo."  A  vahd  conclusion,  forsooth!  What  a 
betrayal,  too,  of  ignorance  in  philology  !  On  all  this  Clarkson  furnishes  us  with 
more  details.  Of  the  consequences  which  Adam's  sin  produced  first  hi  him,  and 
then  in  all  his  posterity,  Clarkson  says  as  follows  ;  "  In  the  same  manner  as  distem- 
per occasions  animal  life  to  droop,  and  to  lose  its  powers,  and  finally  to  cease ;  so  un- 
righteousness, or  his  rebellion  against  this  Divine  light  of  the  Spirit,  that  was  within 
him,  occasioned  a  dissolution  of  his  Spiritual  feelings  and  perceptions;  for  he  became 
dead,  as  it  were,  in  consequence,  as  to  any  knowledge  of  God,  or  enjoyment  of  His 
presence."     See  the  above  cited  work,  p.  115,  • 


4  56  EXPOSITION  OF  DOCTRINAL  DIFFERENCES 

means  entails  damnation.  On  this  account,  unconscious  infants  were 
not  subject  to  eternal  punishment.* 

In  a  very  remarkable  way  do  these  sectaries  represent  the  work  of 
the  atonement  after  Adam's  fall.  God  doth  not  merely  promise  a  future 
Redeemer  : — He  not  only  guideth  the  general  and  particular  destinies 
of  individuals  and  nations,  in  order  to  prepare  them  for  the  great  day 
of  the  incarnate  deity  ; — He  doth  not  merely  vouchsafe  to  raise  up 
among  all  nations  wise  men,  teachers  of  their  contemporaries  in  word 
and  deed,  great  law-givers  and  rulers.  No  !  from  the  Logos  himself, 
who  personally  appeareth  in  the  centre  of  history,  and  for  the  sake  of 
his  merits,  a  creative  vital  principle  emanates  through  all  ages,  as  from 
the  centre  of  a  circle  the  rays  are  admitted  to  every  point  of  the  cir- 
cumference ;  so  that  the  breath  of  Christ's  Spirit  blows  forward  and 
backward,  and  leaveth  no  one  untouched.  To  this  they  refer  the  passage 
in  St.  John's  Gospel :  "  He  is  the  true  Light,  which  enlighteneth  every 
man,  that  cometh  into  the  world. "f 

We  must  not  here  think  of  St.  Justin's  o-aepnx  rcZ  Xoyov  (seed  of  the 
Logos)  AoV«»  <!-~i^fJi.ct  Tixov ;  for,  by  this  is  understood  the  germ  of  rationa- 
lity, the  image  of  God,  the  copy  of  the  Logos  in  every  man — in  one 
word,  the  higher  nature  of  man  himself.  But,  under  the  aforesaid  light, 
which  emanates  from  Christ  to  every  member  of  the  human  race,  the 
Quakers  understand  a  divine  energy,  to  be  superadded  only  to  man's 
higher  nature.:}: 


*  Barclaius,  p.  70.  "  Quod  Deus  hoc  malum  infantibus  non  imputat,  donee  se 
illi  actualitcr  pecando  conjungant,"  &c.  The  whole  is  thus  summed  up  in  p  80. 
"Confitcmur  ig-itur,  semen  pcccati  ab  Adamo  ad  omncs  homines  transmitti  (licet 
nemini  imputatum,  donee  peccando  sese  illi  actualiter  jungat, )  in  quo  semine  omni. 
bus  occasionem  peccandi  preebuit,  et  origo  omnium  malarum  actionem,  et  cogitation, 
um  in  cordtbus  hominum  est;  i'p'Z,  nempe  Stvdr^,  (ut  v.  ad  Rom.  habet :)  i.  e.  in  qua 
morte  omnes  peccavere.  Hoc  enim  peccati  semen  frequenter  in  Scripture  mors  dici- 
tur,  et  corpus  mortiferum,  quum  re  verk  mors  sit  ad  vitam  justitise  et  sanctitatis; 
ideoque  hoc  semen,  et  quod  ex  eo  fit,  dicitur  homo  vctus,  vetus  Adam,  in  quo  omnes 
peccant.  Proinde  hoc  nomine  ad  significandum  peccatum  illud  utimur,  et  non  origi- 
nali  peccato,  cujus  phrasis  in  Scripturl  nulla  fit  mentio  et  sub  qua,  cxcogitata,  ct  ut 
hoc  verbo  utar,  inscripturali  barbarismo,  hcec  peccati  infantibus  imputatio  inter  Chris- 
tianos  intrusa  est." 

t  Barclaius,  p.  126.  "  Hie  locus  nobis  ita  favet,  ut  a  quibusdam  Quakerorum 
textus  nuncupetur ;  luculenter  enim  nostram  propositionem  demonstrat,  ut  vix  vel 
consequentia  vel  deductione  egeat." 

+  Clarkson  in  the  above. cited  work,  p.  117.  differs  from  Barclay.  According  to 
the  former,  "God  did  not  entirely  cease  from  bestowing  His  Spirit  upon  Adam's pos. 
terity."  According  to  the  latter,  Christianity  is  quite  a  new  manifestation  of  grace 
on  God's  part,  in  order  to  regenerate  man;  "a  new  visitation  of  life,  the  object  of 


BETWEEN  CATHOLICS  AND   PROTESTANTS.  457 

Around  this  vital  principle,  dispensed  by  Christ,  the  eternal  friend  of 
man,  and  pervading  the  human  race,  through  all  the  extent  of  space 
and  of  time,  revolve  all  the  thoughts  and  feelings  of  the  Quakers  : — to 
this  is  all  piety  and  devotional  awe  referred,  and  hence,  we  must  make 
ourselves  particularly  acquainted  with  the  description,  which  they  give 
of  it.  They  apply  to  it  various  denominations,  such  as  "spiritual, 
celestial,  and  invisible  principle  and  organ,  wherein  the  Father,  Son, 
and  Spirit  dwell ;  the  body  and  the  blood  of  Christ,  wherewith  all  the 
saints  are  nourished  to  eternal  life  ;"  "  the  internal  light,"  on  which 
account  the  Quakers  are  called  the  Friends  of  Light,  or  simply  Friends 
— (a  title  which  is  the  most  gratifying  to  them) — "the  inward  Christ," 
"  the  seed  of  Christ,"  "  grace,"  "  internal  revelation,"  and  so  forth.* 

From  the  lips  of  the  Quakers,  these  words  ever  resounded;  but  the 
Anglicans  would  by  no  means  understand  them.  Barclay  bitterly 
complains  of  this,  and  says,  that  while  formerly  those  only  were  held 
to  be  Christians,  who,  as  St.  Paul  (in  Romans  viii.  9)  teacheth,  had 
♦'  the  Spirit  of  Christ,"  or,  as  he  expresses  himself  in  the  same  place 
(viii.  14),  "  those  only  are  the  sons  of  God,  who  are  led  by  the  Spirit 
of  God  ;"  no  one  now  any  longer  recognizes  the  sovereign  necessity  of 
this  possession  by  the  Spirit. f  It  was  objected  to  the  Quakers,  that 
they  held  man  to  be  of  a  divine  essence,  or  every  individual  to  be 
Christ.     Others  again  interpreted  their  language,  as  signifying  by  the 

which  was  to  restore  men,  tlirough  Jesus  Christ,  to  their  original  innocence  or  con- 
dition." 

*  Loc-  cit.  p.  106.  "  Hoc  scmine,  gratis,  verbo  Dei  et  lumine,  quo  unumquemque 
illuminari  dicimus,  ejusque  mensuram  aliquam  habere  in  ordine  ad  salutcm,  ct  quod 
hominis  pertinacia,  et  voluntatis  ejus  inalignitate  resisti,  extingui,  vulnerari,  premi, 
occidi  et  crucifidi  potest,  minime  iiitelligimus  propriam  esscntiam  et  naturani  Dei  in 
se  prfBcise  sumtam,  quee  in  partes  et  mcnsuras  non  est  divisibilis  ....  scd  intelligi- 
mus  spirituale,  cffileste,  et  invisibile  principium  et  organum,  in  quoDeus  ut  est  Pater, 
Filius  et  Spiritus,  habitat ;  cujus  divinee  ct  gloriosae  vitae  inensura  omnibus  inest, 
sicut  semen,  quod  ex  natura  sua  omnes  ad  bonum  invital  et  inclinat,  et  hoc  voca- 
mus  vehiculum  Dei,  spirituale  Christi  corpus,  carnem  et  sanguinem  Christi,  quae  ex 
cceIo  venere,  et  de  quibus  omnes  sancti  comedunt,  ct  nutriuntur  in  vitam  setemam. 
Et  sicut  contra  omnia  facta  mala  hoc  lumen  et  semen  testatur,  ita  ab  cis  etiam  cruci- 
figitur,  extinguitur,  et  occiditur  ;  et  k  malo  fugit  et  abhorret,  quod  naturas  suae  noxium 
et  contrarium  est.  Et  quum  hoc  nunquam  separctur  k  Deo  et  Christo,  scd  ubi  est, 
ibi  etiam  Deus  et  Christus  est  in  illo  involutus  et  velatus  :  eo  igitur  rcspectu,  ubi  illi 
resistitur,  Deus  dicitur  resisti  et  deprimi  et  Christus  crucifigi  et  occidi,  et  sicut  etiam 
recipitur  in  corde,  et  efFectum  suum  naturalem  et  proprium  producere  non  impeditur, 
Christus  formatur  et  suscitatur  in  corde.  .  .  .  Hie  est  Christus  ille  intemus,  de  quo 
nos  tantum  et  tarn  saepe  loqui  et  decjarare  audunur,  ubique  prisdicantes  ilium,  et 
omnes  hortantes,  ut  in  lumen  credant,  illique  obediant,  ut  Christum  in  seraetipsis 
natum  et  exsuscitatum  noscant,  ab  omni  peccato  illos  liberantera." 

t  Loc.  cit.  p.  4. 


458  EXPOSITION  OF  DOCTRINAL  DIFFERENCES 

inward  light,  merely  the  conscience,  the  reason,  or  the  religious  feeling 
of  man.  All  these  allegations  they  denied,  in  replying  that  the  prin- 
ciple in  question  is  not  the  essence  of  the  Deity  itself,  but  an  energy 
and  an  organ  of  God  ;  whereby  divine  life,  as  from  a  grain  of  seed,  is 
expanded  in  man.  They  added,  they  did  not  even  compare  themselves 
with  Christ,  as  in  him  the  Godhead  dwelt  bodily  ;  but  they  stood  in 
the  same  relation  to  him,  as  the  vine-branch  to  the  vine-stem,  which 
diffuses  vigour  through  every  part.  Lastly,  the  inward  light,  they  said, 
is  not  a  human  faculty,  since  in  quality  it  is  distinct  from  the  nature 
of  man.*     The  real  cause  of  these  mistakes,  we  shall  point  out  below. 

§  Lxvi. — Continuation  of  the  same  subject.     Effects  of  the  Inward  Light. 

We  now  proceed  to  describe  the  workings  of  this  inward  light. 
Every  man  hath  a  day  of  visitation,  {diem  visitationis)-\  on  which  God 
graciously  approacheth  to  him,  and  will  awaken  and  enlighten  him,  in 
order  to  form  Christ  within  his  soul.  From  this  no  one  is  excepted, 
but  yet  no  one  is  forced  :  (for  predestination  there  is  none,  nor  irre- 
sistibly working  grace.):}:  The  instrument  which  God  employs  for  this 
end,  is  the  inward  revelation,  which,  without  any  sort  of  medium — 
without  outward  words  or  signs,  endeavours  to  implant  moral  and 
religious  ideas  in  the  soul  of  man,  and  hath  sufficient  power  to  make 
them  living. §     This  inward  light  our  authority  continues  to  say,  all  the 


*  Loc.  cit.  p.107-8. 

+  Loc.  cit.  p.  102.  "Prime  quod  Deus,  qui  ex  infinito  suo  amore  filium  suum  in 
mundum  misit,  qui  pro  omnibus  mortem  gustavit,  unicuique,  sive  Judaeo,  sive  Gentili, 
sive  Turcas,  sive  Scythee,  sive  Indo,  sive  Barbaro  .  .  .  certum  diem  et  visitationis 
tempus  dederit,  quo  die  et  tempore  possibile  est  illis  servari  et  beneficii  Christi  mortis 
participes  fieri.  Secundo,  quod  in  eum  finem  Deus  communicaverit  et  unicuique 
homini  dederit  mcnsuram  quandam  luminis  filii  sui,  mensurara  gratiae,  seu  manifes. 
tationcm  SpiritOs.  .  .  .  Tertio,  quod  Deus  per  hoc  lumen  et  semen  invitet  omnes,  et 
singulos  vocet,  sed  et  arguat,  et  hortetur  illos,  cumque  ilhs  quasi  disceptet  in  ordine 
ad  salutem." 

t  Barclay  says  of  Calvin's  doctrine,  p.  84:  "Quam  maxime  Deo  injuriosa  est, 
quia  ilium  peccati  authorem  efiicit,  quo  nihil  naturae  sua  magis  contrarium  esse 
potest.  Fateor  hujus  doctrinae  affirmatores  banc  consequentiam  negare ;  sed  hoc 
nihil  est,  nisi  pura  illusio,  cum,  ita  discrtc  ex  doctrina,  sua  pcndeat,  nee  minus  ridicu- 
lum  sit,  quam  si  quis  pertinaciter  negaret,  imum  et  duo  facere  tria."  Compare 
Clarkson,  vol.  ii.  c.  viii.  Relig.  p.  216.  "  This  doctrine  is  contrary  to  the  doctrines 
promulgated  by  the  Evangelists  and  Apostles,  and  particularly  contrary  to  those  of 
St.  Paul  himself,  from  whom  it  is  principally  taken." 

§  Loc.  cit  p.  19.  "  Oportet  igitur  fatcri,  hoc  esse  Sanctorum  fidei  objectum  prin. 
cipale  et  originale,  quod  sine  hoc  nulla  ccrta  et  firma  fides  esse  potest.     Et  seepe  hoc 


BETWEEN  CATHOLICS  AND  PROTESTANTS.  459 

ancient  philosophers  and  teachers  of  nations  attest — this  all  the  higher 
efforts,  which  we  meet  with  in  universal  history,  avouch  (revelatio 
objecliva.) 

This  inward  word,  whereby  God  speaketh  to  every  man,  and  mani- 
festeth  Himself  to  him,  is,  through  the  external  revelation  and  the 
communication  of  Holy  Writ,  not  rendered  unnecessary,  either  for 
mankind  in  general,  or  even  for  such  as  are  acquainted  with  God's 
outward  word.  That  that  mysterious  language  of  God  is  requisite  for 
opening  the  sense  of  Scripture,  and  for  admitting  its  contents  into  our 
soul,  ought  nev%r  to  be  doubted,  says  Barclay,  (this  is  the  revelatio  suh- 
jectiva ;)  "  for  the  things  that  are  of  God,  no  man  knoweth,  but  the 
Spirit  of  God ;  and,  therefore,  have  we  received  the  Spirit  that  is  of 
God,  that  we  may  know  the  things  that  are  given  us  from  God." — 
(1  Cor.  ii.  v.  11-12.)*  But  even  in  the  Christian  Church,  the  objective 
revelation  is  indispensable,  and  is  to  be  considered  as  the  primary 
source  of  truth,  and  Scripture  as  a  revelation  of  a  subordinate  kind? 
for  the  source,  from  which  Scripture  itself  flowed,  must  surely  stand 
higher  than  the  latter.  It  is  by  the  testimony  of  the  Spirit,  Holy  Writ 
itself  first  acquires  authority  ;  and,  therefore,  is  the  Spirit  the  first 
source  of  all  knowledge  and  truth.  In  one  word,  continue  the  Quakers, 
if  it  be  true,  that  it  is  through  the  Spirit  alone  we  are  to  arrive  at  the 
real  knowledge  of  God ;  that  through  Him  we  are  to  be  led  into  all 
truth,  and  are  to  be  taught  all  things ;  then  it  is  the  Spirit  and  not  Scrip- 


uno  fides  et  producitur  et  nutritur  absque  externis  illis  et  visibilibus  supplementis,  ut 
in  permultis  sacrarum  literarum  exemplis  apparet :  ubi  solum  dicitur,  et  loquutus  est 
Dominus  et  verbum  Domini  tali  factum  est."     P.  29  :  "  Sed  sunt  qui  fatentm*  Spirit. 

um  hodie  afflare  et  ducere  sanctos,  sed  hoc  esse  subjective non  autem  objec. 

tive  affirmant,  i.  e.  exparte  subjecti  Uluminando  intellectum  ad  crcdendam  veritatem 
in  Scriptura  dcclaratam,  sed  non  praestando  cam  veritatem  objective,  sibi  tanquam 
objectum,  ....  Haec  opinio,  licet  priori  magis  tolerabilis,  non  tamen  veritatem  attin- 
git :  primo  quia  muItjR  veritates  sunt,  quae  ut  singulos  respiciunt,  in  Scriptui'a  non 
omnino  invenientur,  ut  sequent!  tlicsi  ostendetur." 

*  Loc,  cit.   p,  48.     "  Licet  igitur  fatcamur,  scripturas  scripta   esse    et   divina  et 
coelestia,  quorum  usus  ecclesiae  et  solatio  plenus  et   perutilis  est,  nee  non   laudcmus 

Deura,  quod  mira    Providentia  scripta   ilia  servaverit  ita  pura  et  incorrupta 

niliilominus  tamen  illas  principalem  originem  omnis  veritatis  et  scientiae,  et  prima- 
riam  adasquatam  fidei  et  morum  regulam  nominare  non  possumus,  quoniam  oportes 
principalem  veritatis  originem  esse  ipsam  veritatem,  i.  e.  cujus  certitudo  et  authoritas 
ex  alio  non  pendet.  Cum  de  amnis  alicujus  vel  fluminis  aqua  dubitamus,  ad  fontem 
recurrimus,  quo  reperto,  ibi  sistimus,  nam  ultra  progredi  non  possumus,  quia  nimirum 
ille  ex  visceribus  terrae  oritur  et  scaturit,  qure  inscrutabilia  sunt.  Ita  scripta  et  dicta 
omnium  ad  aetemum  verbum  adducenda  sunt,  cui  si  concordent,  ibi  sistimus;  nam 
verbum  illud  semper  a  Deo  procedit,  et  processit,  per  quod  inscrutabilis  Dei  sapientia, 
et  consilium  non  investigandum,  in  Dei  corde  conceptum,  nobis  revelatum  est." 


460  EXPOSITION  OF  DOCTRINAL  DIFFERENCES 

turo,  which  is  the  foundation,  and  the  source  of  all  knowledge  and  all 
truth,  and  the  primary  rule  of  faith.* 

Moreover,  it  must  be  observed,  that  on  very  many  relations  of  the 
spiritual  life,  and  on  numerous  particulars,  which  are  of  great  import- 
ance. Holy  Writ  imparts  no  instruction,  and  is,  in  part,  incapable  of  so 
doing;  that  very  many  men  are  unable  to  read  it  even  in  their  native 
tongue :  that  at  all  events,  there  is  not  one  in  a  thousand  conversant 
with  the  original  languages,  and  that  there  are  not  three  texts  on  which 
the  interpretations  of  the  learned  agree.  Under  such  circumstances, 
should  man  be  abandoned  to  himself,  or  to  other  men  ?  What  doubts 
doth  not  even  the  history  of  the  Biblical  text  give  rise  to  1  And  how 
can  a  man  convince  himself  from  Scripture,  that  any  disputed  book — 
for  instance,  the  epistle  of  James — is  canonical  ?  Because,  perhaps, 
it  is  not  in  contradiction  with  other  canonical  books?  Then  every 
essay,  which  is  not  opposed  to  Scripture,  may  be  admitted  into  the 
Canon  !  No  alternative  remains,  but  either  to  return  to  Rome,  and 
receive,  at  the  hands  of  her  infallible  Church,  the  Scriptural  Canon,  or 
to  revere  the  Holy  Spirit,  as  the  first  and  principal  fountain  of  truths.f 

The  Quakers,  however,  failed  not  to  observe,  that  the  revelations  of 
the  inward  light,  communicated  to  each  individual,  are  not  in  contra- 
diction with  the  outward  word  of  Scripture,  and  even  impart  no  other 
truths  of  salvation  ;  but  that  they  are  only  an  eternally  new,  immediate 
manifestation  of  the  same  old  gospel.:}:  By  this,  however,  they  would 
by  no  means  set  up  the  Bible,  as  a  check  and  a  touchstone  to  the  teach- 
ing of  the  inward  light;  for  this  would  be  again  to  make  Scripture  the 
arbiter  of  the  Spirit,  whose  work  it  only  is. 

§  Lxvii. — Continuation  of  the  same  subject  — Of  Justification  and  Sanctification 

Perfect  fulfilment  of  the  Law. 

The  workings  of  this  divine  and  inward  light  in  man,  as  hitherto 
described,  refer  exclusively  to  the  infusion  of  religious  and  ethical  know- 

Loc.  cit.  p.  49.  "  Illud,  quod  non  est  mihi  rcgula  in  ipsas  scripturas  credendo, 
non  est  mihi  primaria,  adaequata  fidci  et  morum  rcgula  :  sed  scriptura  nee  est,  nee 
esse  potest  mihi  regula  illius  fidei,  qua  ipsi  credo  .  ergo,"  etc. 

t  Loc.  cit.  p.  67.     "  Exempli  gratia,,  quomodo  potest  Protestans  alicui  neganti  Ja- 

cobi  epistolam  esse  canonicamper  scripturam  probare  ? Ad  hanc  igitur  angustiam 

neeessario  res  deducta  est,  vel  affirmare,  qiiod  novimus  earn  esse  autbenticam  eodem 
spiritus  testimonio,  in  cordibus  nostris,  quo  scripta  erat:  vel  Romam  revcrti  dicendo, 
traditione  novimus  ecclesiam  earn  in  canoncm  rctulisse,  et  ceclesiam  infallibilem 
esse;  medium,  si  quis  possit,  inveniat." 

t  Loc.  cit.  p.  33,  61,  63.  "  Distinguimus  inter  revelationem  novi  Evangelii,  et 
novam  revelationem  boni  antiqui   Evangelii,  hanc  afBrmamus,  illam  vero  negamus." 


BETWEEN  CATHOLICS  AND  PROTESTANTS.  48 1 

Sedge  into  the  breast  of  man  :  but  this  light  is  also  the  source  of  all 
pious  life.  The  day  of  visitation,  graciously  vouchsafed  by  the  Al- 
mighty to  every  man,  is  to  be  the  turning-point  of  his  whole  history,  is, 
in  every  respect,  inwardly  to  renew  him, — in  a  word,  is  to  establish  hia 
regeneration.  On  this  matter  of  regeneration  and  of  justification  be- 
fore God,  the  Quakers  (if  we  except  the  different  view  they  take  of  the 
relation  between  the  Divine  and  the  human  operations  in  this  work, 
whereof  we  shall  have  occasion  to  speak  later,)  very  nearly  coincide 
with  the  Catholic  Church.  And  yet  this  coincidence  they  will  not 
allow ;  and  m  virtue  of  deeply  imbibed  prejudices,  taken  in  with  their 
mothers'  milk,  they  persuade  themselves,  that  it  is  only  in  outward 
works,  such  as  pilgrimages — fasting — the  mechanical  repetition  of  forms 
of  prayer-— mere  outward  alms-deeds — the  use  of  the  sacraments  with- 
out any  interior  emotions — the  gaining  of  indulgences,  which  the 
Quakers  confound  with  forgiveness  of  sins — that  Catholics  think  they 
render  themselves  acceptable  to  God.  Under  this  misconception  the 
Quakers  assert,  that  by  denying  the  value  and  meritoriousness  of  such 
like  pious  exercises,  Luther  has,  doubtless,  rendered  a  great  service ; 
but  m  this,  as  in  other  points,  they  contend  he  is  more  to  be  praised  for 
what  he  destroyed,  than  for  what  he  built  up.*  For  Luther  and  the 
Protestants,  they  say,  have  gone  to  the  other  extreme ;  as  they  have 
denied  the  necessity  of  moral  works  for  justification,  and  made  the 
latter  consist,  not  in  internal  newness  and  sanctification,  but  solely  in 
the  belief  in  the  forgiveness  of  sins.f 


*  Loc.  cit.  p  159.  "  Nobis  minime  dubium  est,  doctrinani  hanc  fuisse  et  adhuc 
eSS8  in  ecclesia,  Romans,  magnopcrc  vitiatam ;  licet  adversarii  nostri,  quibus,  melio- 
ribus  argunientis  carcntibus,  srpissiine  mendacia  refugium  et  asylum  sunt,  non 
dubitarunt  hoc  respcctil,  nobis  Papismi  stigma  Imxrere,  sed  quam  falso  posted  patebit. 

Nanl  in  hoc,  sicut  in  multis  aliis,  magis  laudandus  est  (Lutherus)  in  iis,  quae  ex 

Babylone  evertit,  quam  qune  ipse  aedificavit." 

t  Loc.  cit.  p.  164.  Barclay  distinguishes  between  a  two-fold  redemption, — an  ob- 
jective and  a  subjective  one.  By  the  former,  he  understannds  the  ''  redemptio  a 
Christo  peracla  in  corpora  suo  crucifixo  extra  nos,  et  qua  homo,  prout  iii  lapsii  stat,  in 
ealutis  capacitate  ponitur  et  in  sc  transmissam  habet  mensuram  aliquani  efficaciae, 
virtute  spiritiis  vitae,  et  gratiaj  istius,  quae  in  Christo  Jesu  erat,  quae  quisi  donum  Dei 
potens  est  superare  et  eradicaro  malum  illud  semen,  quo  naturaliter,  ut  in  lapsfi  stamus, 
fermentamur. — Secunda  hie  cognoscimus  potentiam  hanc  in  actum  reductam,  quSi 
non  resistentes,  sed  recipicntes  mortis  ejus  fructum,  videlicet  lumen,  spiritum,  et  grati- 
am  Chrisli  in  nobis  revelatam,  obtinemus  et  possidemus  veram,  realem,  et  internam  re- 
demptionem  k  potestate  et  prjevalenti^  iniquitatis,  sicque  evadimus  vere  et  realiter  re- 
dempti  ctjustificati,  unde  ad  scnsibilem  cum  Deo  unionemet  amicitiam  venimus. — Per 
hanc  justificationem  Jesu  Christiminimfe  intelligimus  simpliciter  bona  opera,  etiam  qua- 
tenus  a  SpiritCi  Sancto  fiunt ;  ea  enim,  ut  vere  affirmant  Protestantes,  efFcctus  potius 


462  EXPOSITION  Of  DOCTRINAL  JDtFPERENCES 

The  Quakers  describe  Justification  as  the  stamping  of  Christ  on  ont 
souls — as  the  Christ  born  and  engendered  within  us,  from  whom  good 
works  spring,  as  fruits  from  the  bearing  tree  ;-^as  the  inward  birth 
within  us,  which  bringcth  ibrth  righteousness  and  sanctification,  puri- 
fieth  and  dehvereth  us  from  the  power  of  evil,  conquers  and  swallows 
up  corrupt  nature,  and  restores  us  to  unity  and  communion  with  God. 
The  doctrine  of  the  Friends  of  Light,  who,  on  this  point,  were  truly 
■enlightened,  is,  as  every  one  must  perceive,  only  the  Catholic  doctrine 
couched  in  other  language ;  yet,  when  they  wish  to  express  themselves 
with  perfect  clearness,  they  make  use  of  precisely  the  same  formulas, 
as  the  Council  of  Trent.*  Even  the  word  "  merit"  is  not  unknown  to 
them — the  necessity  of  good  works  for  salvation  is  openly  asserted  ;  the 
possibility  of  the  fulfilment  of  the  law  is  demonstrated  ;  and  even  the 
possibility  of  a  total  exemption  from  sin  maintained-! 


justificationis,  quam  causa  sunt.  Sed  intelligimus  formationem  Christi  in  nobis,  Christ- 
um natum  et  productum  in  nobis,  a  quo  bona  opera  naturalitcr  procedunt,  sicut  fructns 
ab  arbore  fructifcra, :  intemus  iste   partus  in  nobis,   justitiam  in  nobis  producens  et 

sanctitatem,  ille  est  qui  nos  justificat,  quocum  contraria  et  corrupta  naturae remota 

et  separata  est." 

*  Log.  cit.  p.  165.  Barclay  here  speaks  of  a  "  causa  procurans,"  instead  of  & 
"  causa  meritoria :"  then  he  uses  the  formula,  "  causa  formalis"  and  "  formalitcr  jus- 
lificatus,"  whereby  he  understands  the  same  as  Catholics  do. 

t  Log.  cit.  1.  p.  167.  "  Denique,  licet  remissioncm  peccatorum  collocemus  in 
justitia.  et  obedientia,  a  Christo  in  came  suk  peractd,,  quod  ad  causam  ejus  procuran- 
tem  attinet,  et  licet  nos  ipsos  formaliter  justificatos  reputemus  per  Jesum  Christum, 
intus  formatum,  et  in  nobis  productum,  non  possumus  tamen,  sicut  quidam  (?)  Pro- 
testantes  incauti  fecere,  bona  opera  a  justificatione  excludere  ;  nam  licet  propria  prop, 
ter  ea  non  juslificemur,  tamen  in  illis  justificamur,  et  nccessaria  sunt,  quasi  causa 
sine  qua  non  "  (by  which  the  Quakers  understand  something  different  from  the  Ma- 
jorists)  p.  168.  "Cum  bona  opera  necessario  et  naturalitcr  procedant  &,  partil  hoc, 
sicut  calor  ab  igne,  ide6  absolute  necessaria  sunt  ad  justificationem,  quasi  causa  sine 
qua.  non,  licet  non  illud  propter  quod,  tamen  id  in  quo  justificamur,  et  sine  quo  non 
possumus  justificari :  et  quamvis  non  sint  meritoria,  neque  Deum  nobis  debitorem 
reddaiit,  tamen  necessarib  acceptat  et  remuncratur  ea,  quia  naturae  suae  conti-arium 
est,  quod  il  Spirits  suo  provenit,  dencgare.  Et  quia  opera  talia  pura  ct  perfecta  esse 
possunt,  cum  h  puro  et  sancto  part<l  proveniant,  ideoque  corum  sentcntia  falsa  est, 
et  veritati  contraria,  qui  aiunt,  sanctissima  sanctoriun  opera  esse  polluta,  et  peccati 
macua.  linquinata  :  nam  bona  ilia  opera,  de  quibus  loquimur,  non  sunt  ea  opera  legis 
quEB  apostolus  a,  justificatione  excludit."  P.  1 67.  "  Licet  non  expediat  dicere,  quod 
meritoria  sint,  quia  tamen  Deus  ea  remuncratur,  patres  ecclesia;  non  dubitarunt  verbo 
"  meritum"  uti,  quo  ctiam  forte  nostrum  quidam  usi  sunt  sensti  moderate,  sed  nulla, 
tenus  Pontificiorum  figmentis  ....  faventes."  A  singular  strife  forsooth,  with  the 
Papists,  when  the  Quakers  so  express  themselves  respecting  good  works  !  Compare 
with  this  again  page  195.  Moreover  the  formula  "  in  i/ZJs"  justificari,  instead  of 
'■'  propta  ilia,"  is  very  felicitous,  for  the  latter  expression  is  used  in  respect  to  the 


BETWEEN  CATHOLICS  AND  PROTEsTaNTS.  463 

Clarkson  says,  "The  Quakers  make  but  small  distinction,  and  not 
a^t  all  such  a  one,  as  many  other  Christians,  between  sanctification  and 
justification."     "  Faith  and  works,"  observes  Richard  Claridge,   "  are 
both  included  in  our  complete  justification.     Whoso  is  justified,  is  also 
in  the  determined  degree  sanctified  ;  and  in  so  far  as  he  is  sanctified, 
so  far  is  he  justified,  and  no  further.     The  justification,  whereof  I  speak, 
rendereth  us  righteous,  or  pious  and  virtuous  through  the  continued  aid, 
Working,  and  activity  of  the  Holy  Spirit,     With  the  same  yearning  as 
we  sigh  after  the   continued  assistance  of  the  Divine  Spirit,  and  are 
prepared  to  evince  the  efficacy  of  His  operations  within  us,  shall  we 
inwardly  discern,  that  our  justification  is  in  proportion  to  our  sancti* 
fication.    For,  as  the  latter  is  progressively  developed,  according  to  the 
measure  of  our  confiding  obedience  to  the  revelation,  and  the  infusion 
of  grace,  light,  and  the  Spirit  of  God  ;  so  shall  we  not  fail  to  perceive 
and  feel  the  progress  of  our  justification."*     In  respect  to  the  degree 
which  sanctification  in  this  life  can  attain  toj  Clarkson,  in  full  concur* 
rence  with  Barclay,  gives  the  following  as  the  sentiment  of  the  Quakers* 
"  The  Spirit  of  God,  who  redeemeth,  from  the  pollutions  of  the  world, 
and  implanteth  in  man  a  new  heart,  is  regarded,  by  the  Quakers,  as  so 
powerful  in  its  operations,  as  to  be  able  to  exalt  him  to  perfection.    But, 
they  would  not,  on  this  account,  compare  this  perfection  with  that  of 
God,  because  the  former  is  capable  of  progression.     This  only  would 
they  assert,  that  in  the  state  of  internal  newness,  we  can  observe  the 
Divine  commandments  ;  as  Holy  Writ  relateth  of  Noah  and  Moses," 
(Gen.  vi.  9,)  of  Job  (i.  8,)  andof  Zachary  and  Elizabeth,  (Luke  i.  6,) 


merits  of  Christ.  Yet  is  the  latter  also  seriptilral,  and  the  distinction  between  causd 
meritoria  and  causa  formalis  obviates  all  confusion.  The  question  whether  it  be 
possible  for  a  perfect  Christian  to  abstain  entirely  from  all  sin,  is  answered  in  a  special 
section.  The  thesis  defended,  runs  as  follows : — P.  197  :  "  In  quibus  sancta  hcec  et 
immaculata  genitura  plene  producta  est,  corpus  peccati  et  mortis  crucifigitur,  et  amo- 
ritur,  cordaque  eorum  veritati  subjecta  evadunt  et  unita  :  ita  ut  nullis  Diaboli  suggee- 
tionibus  et  tentationibus  pareant,  et  liberentur  ab  actuali  peccato  et  legem  Dei  trans- 
grediendo,  eoque  respectCi  pcrfecti  sunt :  ista  taraen  perfectio  semper  incrementum 
admittit,  remanetque  semper  aliquft.  ex  parte  possibilitas  peccandi,  ubi  animus  non 
diUgentissimfe  et  vigilantissimfe  ad  Deum  attendit.' 

*  Vol.  ii.  Rel.  c.  xiii.  p.  319.  From  Henry  Tuke,  a  Quaker,  the  following  pas* 
sage  is  also  cited,  p.  321 :  "  By  this  view  of  justification,  we  conceive  the  apparently 
different  sentiments  of  the  apostles,  Paul  and  James,  are  reconciled.  Neither  of  them 
says,  that  faith  alone,  or  works  alone,  are  the  cause  of  our  being  justified  ;  but  as 
one  of  them  asserts  the  necessity  of  faith,  and  the  other  that  of  works,  for  effecting 
this  great  object,  a  clear  and  convincing  proof  is  afforded,  that  both  contribute  to  our 
justification ;  and  that  faith  without  works,  and  works  without  faith,  are  equally 
dead." 


464  EXPOSITION  OF  DOCTRINAL  DIFFERENCES 

"  that  they  were  righteous  before  God,  walking  in  all  the  commatid' 
ments  and  justifications  of  the  Lord  without  blame."* 

Hence,  we  ought  not  to  be  surprised,  if  the  same  objections  are 
urged  against  the  Quakers,  as  against  the  Catholics ;  that  they  set  up 
their  own  righteousness  in  the  room  of  the  righteousness  of  Christ. 
They  reply  to  these  objections,  in  the  same  way  also,  as  Catholics  are 
wont  to  do. 


§  Lxvnt.— Continuation  of  the  same  subject.^— Doctrine  on  the  Sacraments. 

In  the  most  consistent  application  of  their  fundamental  principles, 
the  Quakers  convert  the  sacraments  of  baptism  and  the  Lord's  supper, 
into  purely  interior,  and  merely  spiritual  actions  and  ordinances.  The 
Christian,  they  contend,  needs  no  otherseal  to  his  inheritance  («i^rta;«<ra) 
— no  other  pledge  of  his  sonship,  but  the  Spirit.  To  introduce  outward 
acts  of  this  kind  is,  in  their  estimation,  entirely  to  misapprehend  the  reli- 
gion of  the  Spirit,  which  Christianity  undoubtedly  is  ;  to  renew  a  Jewish 
ceremonial  service,  and  to  relapse  into  Judaism  ;  nay,  to  approximate  to 
Heathenism  ;  for  such  mere  outward  things,  as  we  call  sacraments, 
have  sprung  out  of  the  same  spirit  as  the  Heathen  worship  ;  whereas, 
Judaism  observed  holy  rites  prescribed  by  God.  Accordingly,  the  Qua- 
kers assert,  that  the  sacraments  are  not  even  to  be  considered  as  pledg- 
es of  Divine  promise  left  by  Christ  to  his  Church — nay,  not  even  as 
emblems  and  aids  to  the  remembrance  of  spiritual  and  historical  facts 
' — 'but  as  absolute  misconceptions  of  actions  and  expressions  of  Christ 
— misconceptions  absolutely  inexcusable,  for,  they  were  the  offspring  of 
a  Heathenish  sense. 

The  baptism,  which  Christ  ordained,  is,  in  their  opinion,  merely  the 
inward  baptism  of  fire  and  the  Spirit,  whose  existence  renders  utterly 
superfluous  the  watery  baptism  of  John.  Nay,  they  were  even  of  opin- 
ion, that  the  water  extinguishes  the  fire — 'that  attention  to  the  external 
rite  draws  off  the  eye  from  the  interior,  which  is  alone  necessary.  Bap- 
tism, accordingly,  in  their  opinion,  is  nothing  more  than  the  ablution 
and  purification  of  the  spirit  from  the  stains  of  sin,  and  the  walking  in 
newness  of  life.f     The  Scriptural  proof  for  the  proposition,  that  Christ 

»  Vol  ii.  c.  vii.  sect,  ii  p.  193.  «'  This  spirit  of  God  ...  .  is  so  powerful,  in  its 
operations,  as  to  be  able  to  lead  him  to  perfection." 

t  Loc.  cit  p.  341.  "  Sicut  unus  est  Deus,  et^una  fides,  itaet  unum  baptisma, 
non  quo  carnis  sordes  abjiciuntur,  sed  stipulatio  bonfe  conscientiffi  apud  Deum  per 
resurrectionem  Jesu  Christi,  et  hoc  baptisma  est  quid  sanctum  et  Fpirituale,  scilicet 
baptisma  SpiritCis  et  ignis,  per  quud  cunsepulli  sumus  Christo,  ut  a  peccatis  abluti  et 
purgati  novam  vitam  ambulemus." 


BETWEEN  CATHOLICS  AND  PROTESTANTS.  465 

has  instituted  no  outward  act  of  baptism,  is  managed  with  uncommon 
art,  and  is  full  of  the  most  striking,  singular,  and  forced  constructions. 
Moreover,  the  writings  of  Faustus  Socinus,  were  much  used  by  Barclay 
in  this  article  of  doctrine  ;  although,  by  this  remark,  I  do  not  wish  the 
reader  to  conceive  it  to  be  my  opinion,  that  George  Fox,  the  unlearned 
founder  of  the  sect,  had  any  knowledge  of  Socinian  writings,  and  was 
anywise  led  by  the  same  to  the  adoption  of  his  views.  Being  a  shep- 
herd and  shoemaker,  such  literary  productions  were  totally  inaccessi- 
ble, or  at  least  unknown  to  him  :  but  his  really  great,  though  perverted, 
mind  was  led  only  by  the  general  connexion  of  ideas  to  his  peculiar 
view  of  baptism.  But  Barclay,  who  undertook  to  demonstrate  Fox's 
propositions,  made,  for  this  end,  in  the  article  in  question,  very  evident 
use  of  the  writings  of  Socinus.  ^ 

The  body  and  blood  of  the  Lord  is,  according  to  the  belief  of  the 
Quakers,  perfectly  identical  with  the  divine  and  heavenly,  the  spiritual- 
ly vivifying  seed — with  the  inward  light,  whereof  we  had  occasion  to 
speak  above.*  They  compare  the  words  in  John  i.  4,  "  In  hirn  was 
the  hfe,  and  the  life  was  the  light  of  men  ;"  with  the  other  text  (vi.  50), 
"  I  am  the  living  bread,  which  came  down  from  heaven,  and  the  bread, 
which  I  will  give,  is  my  flesh  for  the  life  of  the  world  ;"  and  they  ac- 
cordingly take  "  light,"  "  life,"  "  bread  of  life,"  and  "flesh  of  Christ," 
and  the  inward  Canst  as  synonymous  terms.  The  Lord's  supper,  there- 
fore, they  describe  as  the  inward  participation  of  the  interior  man, 
in  the  inward  and  spiritual  body  of  Christ,  whereby  the  soul  liveth  to 
God,  and  man  is  united  with  the  Deity,  and  remaineth  in  communion 
with  Him.f 

§  Lxix — Continuation  of  the  same  subject. — Rejection  of  a  distinct  order  of 
miiiistrj. — Preaching — Public  worship. 

Carrying  out  their  fundamental  principle  still  further,  and  gradually 
drawing  into  its  circle  every  thing  else,  the  Quakers  lay  down,  respect- 
ing pubhc  worship,  the  following  maxims.  No  act  of  divine  service  is 
acceptable  to  God,  which  is  produced  and  consummated  by  human  ac- 

*  Loc.  cit.  p.  3d0.  "  Corpus  igitur  hoc,  et  caro  et  sanguis  Christi  inteUigendus 
est  dc  divino  et  ccElesti  semine  ante  dicto  "  P.  378.  "  Si  quseratur  quid  sit  Ulud 
corpus,  quid  sit  ille  sanguis  ?  Respondeo,  coeleste  illud  semen,  divina  ilia  et  spiritu- 
ali  substantia,  hoc  est  vehiculum  illud,  seu  spirituale  corpus,  quo  hominibus  vitam  et 
«alutem  communicat." 

t  Loc.  cit.  p.  3S3.  "  Ita  interna  participatio  est  interioris hominis  de  hoc  interne  et 
?pirituali  cor|)ore  Christi,  quo  anima  Deo  vivit,  et  quo  homo  Deo  unitur,  et  cum  eo 
«ocietatem  et  communionem  habet." 

30 


466  EXPOSITION  OF  DOCTRINAL  DIFFERENCES 

tivity  and  importunity  :  the  Divine  Spirit — the  inward  light,  must  be 
immediately  efficacious,  and  alone  determine,  move,  and  conduct  man. 
Hence,  prayer  and  the  praise  of  God,  as  well  as  exhortatory,  instruct- 
ive, and  solacing  discourses,  must  be  the  pure  result  of  inspirations, 
which  occur  in  the  right  cases,  when,  and  where,  and  in  so  far  as  the 
utility  of  man  requires.*  Hence,  very  important  consequences  en- 
sue. 

1 .  There  is  no  distinct  order  of  ministry,  because  the  members  of 
such  an  order,  receive  from  men  the  qualification  for  their  functions, 
whereas,  this  qualification  can  proceed  only  from  the  Spirit.  B)'^  the 
institution  of  specific  teachers,  the  human  principle  in  the  Church,  re- 
ceived not  only  a  preponderance  over  the  Divine,  but  entirely  superse- 
ded the  same.  The  preaching  of  the  Gospel  is  degraded  into  an  art — 
nay,  into  a  trade,  which  is  learned  and  practised  by  long  preparatory 
training  ;  though  it  should  be  only  an  outpouring  of  high  inspirations. 
To  enable  the  preachers  of  the  Chui-ch  to  say  but  something,  they  are 
supplied  with  a  multitude  of  notices,  gathered  from  the  four  quarters  of 
the  world,  and  often  bearing  a  Heathenish  stamp.  And  such  things 
are  to  supply,  or  to  communicate  the  Spirit  of  God  !  Hence,  the  dis- 
courses of  such  preachers  are  no  words  of  life — no  manifestations  of 
higher  power  :  and  as  they  proceed  not  from  a  heart  filled  with  God, 
they  are  incapable  of  rousing  any  one.  It  is  a  dry,  dead,  unfruitful 
rainistr}',  which  we  have  in  the  Church. f     Even  vicious  men,  deeply 

*  Loc.  cit.  p.  ~87.  '•  Omnis  verus  cultus,  et  Deo  gratus,  oblatus  est  spiritfi  suo 
movcnte  interne,  ac  immediate  ducente,  qui  nee  locis,  nee  temporibus,  nee  personis 
prscscriptis  limitatur :  nam  licet  semper  nobis  colendus  sit,  quod  oporteatindesincnter 
timcre  coram  illo,  tamen,  quoad  significationem  extemam  in  precibus,  elogiis,  aut 
praedicatiouibus,  non  licet  ea  perficere  nostra  voluntate,  ubi  et  quando  nos  volnmus  : 
sed  ubi  et  quando  eo  ducimur  motfi  et  secretis  inspirationibus  Spiritus  Del  in  cordibus 
nostris  ;  quaa  Dcus  exaudit  ct  acceptat,  qui  nunquam  deest,  nos  ad  precandum  mo- 
vere,  quando  expedit,  cujus  ille  solus  est  judex  idoneus.  Omnis  ergo  alius  cultus,  elo- 
gia,  prcces  sive  prsedicationes,  quas  propria,  voluntate  sua,que  intempestivitate  homi- 
nes peragunt.  quas  et  ordiri  et  finire  ad  libitum  possunt,  perficere  vel  non  perficere,  ut 
ipsismet  videtur,  sive  formse  prsescriptas  sint,  sicut  Liturgia,  etc.  sive  preces  ex  tem- 
pore per  vim  facultatemque  naturalem  concepts,  omnes  ad  unum  sunt  cultus  super- 
stitiosus,  Graece  ibiK'.d^ntxKiidi,  ct  idololatria  abominabilis  in  conspectfi  Dei,  quffi  nunc 
in  die  spiritualis  rcsurrectionis  ejus  deneganda  ct  rejicienda  sunt." 

t  Loc.  cit.  p.  275.  .  .  .  "  Et  magna  quidem  causa  est,  quod  tarn  aridum,  mor- 
tuum,  siccum,  ct  sterile  ministeruim,  quo  populi  ea  sterilitate  fcrmentantnr,  hodie  tan- 
topcre  abundat,  et  in  nationibus  etiara  Protestantibus  difl:unditur,  ita  ut  pr.edicatio  et 
coitus  eorum,  sicut  et  Integra  conversatio  a  Pontificia  vix  discerni  possit  aiiquo  vivaci 
xelo,  aut  spiritds  virtute  eos  comitante,  sed  inerd.  differentia  quarundani  notionum  et 
ceremoniarum  exteruarum."  P.  229  :  "  Vita,  vis,  ac  virtus  verse  religionis  inter  eos 
multum  periit,  eademque,  ut  plurimum,  quae  in  ecclesia,  Romana  mors,  sterilitas,  sic- 
citas,  et  acarpia  in  ministerio  eorum  reperitur." 


BETWEEN  CATHOLICS  AND  PROTESTANTS.  467 

5>lunged  in  sins,  can  bpcorne  and  romain  preachers,  provided  only  Ihoy 
have  a  human  caUing  !  From  such  men  the  Spirit  cannot  come  out, 
because  they  are  void  of  its  influence.  Lastly,  through  the  establish- 
ment  of  a  separate  ministry,  the  preaching  of  the  doctrine  of  salvation, 
was  debased  into  an  instrument  to  the  meanest  ends  ;  since,  rich  reve* 
nues  and  certain  advantages  of  outward  rank  and  social  position,  were 
connected  with  it.  The  Lord  will  have  another  kind  of  preachin<»  ; 
and  whosoever,  young  or  old,  man  or  woman,  high  or  low,  learned  or 
unlearned,  shall  be  moved  by  the  Spirit,  may,  and  ought  to  preach,  pray, 
and  praise  God   publicly  in  the  congregation.* 

2.  Another  equally  natural  consequence  from  the  aforesaid  premises, 
is,  that  all  set  forms  of  liturgy  are  proscribed ;  as  every  prayer  must 
spring  immediatel}'  out  of  a  heart,  moved  and  incited  by  God.  The 
meetings  for  divine  service  are,  according  to  Barclay,  solemnized  in 
the  following  manner.  In  a  plain,  unadorned  room,  filled  only  with 
benches,  in  which  no  outward  object  can  excite  any  religious  feelino-s, 
the  Friends  of  Light  sit  in  the  profoundest  silence,  in  order  to  withdraw 
the  mind  from  all  earthly  distractions,  to  free  it  from  all  connexion 
with  the  relations  of  every-day  life,  and  by  this  ioward  recollectedness, 
to  fit  it  for  hearing  the  voice  of  heaven.  The  spirit,  however,  in  this 
abstraction  from  all  outward  things,  ought  not  to  strive  after  independ- 
ence ;  nay,  it  must  renounce  itself,  and  act  quite  passivel}^,  ia  order  to 
receive,  in  their  untroubled  purity,  the  Divine  inspirations.  This  so- 
lemn stillness  may  last  a  half  or  whole  hour,  without  experiencing  any 
other  interruption,  save  the  sighs  or  groans  of  soms  souls  ao-itated  bv 
the  Spirit,  until,  at  last,  some  member  shall  feci  himself  moved,  by  heav- 
en, to  communicate  in  a  discourse  or  a  prayer,  according  as  the  Spirit 
directs,  the  inward  revelations  he  has  received.  It  may  even  happen, 
that  the  meeting  separates,  without  any  individual  having  been  moved 
to  hold  a  discourse.  Yet,  nevertheless,  the  Quakers  assure  us,  that 
their  souls  have,  in  the  meantime,  been  saturated,  and  their  hearts  filled, 
with  mysterious  feelings  of  the  Divine  power  and  the  Divine  Spirit.f 


*  The  English  Protestants  required  of  the  Quakers,  that,  as  they  despised  the  ex- 
isting ministry  of  teachers,  they  should  prove  their  mission  by  miracles,  as,  at  an 
earlier  period,  the  German  Protestants  had  demanded  of  the  Anabaptists.  Their  an- 
swer was  the  same,  as  that  which  Luther  had  given  to  the  Catholics.  Barclay,  p. 
245,  "  Yet,  in  order  to  preserve  the  purity  of  doctrine,  the  Quakers  saw  themselves 
compelled,  by  degrees,  to  admit  a  kind  of  itinerant  teachers,  and  even  to  exercise  a 
superintendence  over  them,  by  means  of  human  ordinances."  See  Clarkson,  vol.  ii. 
Rel.  c.  x.-xi.  p.  217,  276. 

t  Barclaius,  p.  297.  "  Imo  Sfepc  accidit  integras  quasdam  convcntiones  sine  ver. 
bo  transactas  fuisse,  attamen  animfe  nostrse  magnopere  satiatte,  et  corda  mire  secreto 


468  EXPOSITION  OF  DOCTRINAL  Dlff ERENClfg? 

It  also  sometimes  happens,  that,  when,  the  images  of  this  lower  World 
will  not  depart  from  a  soul,  that  is  looking  forward  to  the  nmnifestation 
of  life  (vitce  appardionem  expectarei)  a  violent,  convulsive  struggle  en- 
sues,  wherein  the  powers  of  darkness  wrestle  with  those  of  light,  like 
Esau  and  Jacobin  the  womb  of  Rebecca.  The  in^ward  conflict  [prcBli-' 
urn)  is  outwardly  evinced  in  the  heaviest,  most  deep-felt  groans,  in 
tremblings,  in  the  most  convulsive  niovements  of  the  whole  body  ;  un- 
til  at  last  victory  inclines  to  the  side  of  light,  an  d,  in  the  excess  of  lu^ 
minous  outpourings,  manifests  itself  with  holy  jubilee.  In  virtue  of  the 
union  of  all  the  members  of  a  community  in  one  body,  the  agitations  of 
an  individual,  particularly  if  he  be  one  of  the  more  excited,  are  fre- 
quently imparted  to  the  whole  congregation  ;  so  that  (to  use  the  words 
of  Barclay)  "a  most  striking,  and  fearfully  sublime  scene  is  displayed, 
which  of  itself  has  irresistibly  drawn  many  over  to  our  society,  before 
they  had  obtained  any  clear  insight  into  our  peculiar  doctrines."  From- 
such  trembling  and  quaking*  the  Quakers  have  derived  their  name.* 
In  this  way,  they  think  to  get  rid  of  all  superstition  in  ceremonies,  and 
of  all  man's  wisdom,  which  might  so  easily  intrude  into  divine  service, 
to  abandon  all  things  to  inspiration  from  heaven,  and  to  establish  a  pure 
worship  of  God  in  Spirit  and  in  truth. f 


divinaa  virtutis  et  Spiritds  sensu  repleta  fnerunt,  auee  virtus^  de  vase  in  vas  transmissa 
fuerit."  Olarkson  gives  the  following  account  (vol.  ii.  Rel.  c.  zii.  p.  279  :) — '•  For 
this  reason  (that  nicu  ara  to  worship  God  only,  when  they  feel  a  right  disposition  te 
doit,)  when  they  enter  into  tlieir  meetings,  they  use  no  liturgy  or  form  of  prayer. 
Such  a  form  would  be  made  up  of  the  words  of  man's  wisdom.  Neither  do  they 
dchver  any  sermons  that  have  been  previously  conceived  or  written  down.  Neithei? 
do  they  begin  their  service  imrnfcdiately  after  they  are  seated.  But  when  they  siS 
down,  they  wait  in  silence,  as  the  apostles  were  commanded  to  do.  They  endeavour 
to  be  calm  and  composed.  Tliey  take  no  thought  as  to  what  they  shall  say.  They 
endeavour  to  avoid,  on  the  other  hand,  all  activity  of  the  imagination  and  everything 
that  rises  from  the  will  of  man.  The  creature  is  thus  broujrht  to  be  passive,  and  the 
spiritual  faculty  to  be  discnctimbered,  so  that  it  can  receive  and  attend  to  the  spiritaal 
language  of  the  Creator.  If,  during  this  vacation  from  all  mental  activity,  no  imw 
pression  should  be  given  to  them,  they  say  nothing.  If  impression  should  be  afforded 
to  theiB,  but  no  impulse  to  oral  delivery,  they  remain  equally  silent.  But  if,  on  the 
other  hand,  impressions  are  given  to  them,  with  an  impulse  to  utterance,  they  deliver 
to  the  congregation,  as  faithfully  as  they  can,  the  copies  of  the  several  images,  which 
they  conceive  to  be  painted  upon  their  minds." 

*  Loc.  eit.  p.  30U.  Others  give  other  explanations  :  Clarkson,  for  instance,  (voL 
j.  introduct.  vii.)  says  with  other  writers,  "George  Fox,  on  one  occasion,  called  Op- 
en a  judge  to  quake  before  the  word  of  God ;  whereupon  the  judge  called  him  a  Qua. 
ker." 

f  Loc.  cit.  p.  297.  "  Hujus  cultds  forma  ita  nuda  est  et  omni  mundana  et  externa 
gloria,  expers,  ut  omnem  occasionem  abseindat,  quo  hominis  sapientia  exerceatur,  ne- 
que  ibi  superstitio  et  idololatria  locum  habet." — Compare  pp.  293,  304. 


BETWEEN  CATHOLICS   AND   PROTESTANTS.  469 


§  Lxx. — Peculiar  manners  and  customs  of  the  Quakers. 

We  must  now  draw  the  attention  of  the  reader  to  certain  peculiari- 
ties of  the  Quakers,  which  have  reference  merely  to  civil  life,  and  to 
cerlain  habits  and  customs  in  their  social  intercourse.  They  refuse 
taking  oaths  to  the  civil  magistrate,  (to  whom,  however,  except  in  mat- 
ters of  religion,  they  confess  they  owe  obedience  ;)  and  for  conscience' 
sake,  they  abstain  from  all  military  service.  The  austere  spirit  of 
Quakerism  totally  interdicts  games  of  hazard,  since  a  being,  endowed 
with  the  faculty  of  thinking,  should  be  ashamed  of  them,  and  still  more, 
because  they  are  beneath  the  dignity  of  a  Christian-  With  equal  rea- 
son they  add,  that  such  like  games  awaken  passions,  that  obstruct  the 
reception  of  religious  impressions,  and  establish  a  habit  immoral  in  itself. 
Not  content  with  this,  they  declare  themselves  averse  from  games  of 
every  kind  ; — a  declaration  which  we  should  be  disposed  to  praise,  did 
they  not  condemn,  without  restriction,  all  holding  a  different  opinion  in 
this  matter-  On  the  other  hand,  they  are  much  to  be  censured  for 
banishing,  from  their  society,  all  music,  vocal  as  well  as  instrumental. 
This,  indeed,  will  not  surprise  us,  when  we  consider  that  they  employ 
neither  kind  of  music  for  awakening  and  cherishing  religious  emotions 
(§  68  ;)  and  that  any  regard  to  the  refining  of  the  feelings,  and  to  the 
culture  of  the  sensibilities  in  general,  still  less  any  appreciation  of  mu- 
sic as  an  art,  was  not  of  course  to  be  expected  from  the  Quakers. 
Attendance  at  all  theatrical  shows,  which  on  account  of  their  connexion 
with  idolatry,  and  of  their  gross  nature,  not  seldom  shocking  every  tender 
feeling,  were  formerly  interdicted  in  the  ancient  Church  during  hereon- 
flict  with  Heathenism;*  and  which  from  their,  at  all  events,  equivocal 


*  Lact.  Instil  div.  i.  lib.  vi.  c.  xx  "  Si  homicidium  nullo  mode  faccre  licet,  nee 
interesse  omnino  conceditur,  ne  conscientiam  perfundat  ullus  cruor.  .  .  .,  cornice  fa- 
bulae  de  stupris  virginuin  loquuntur,  aut  amoribus  meretricum  :  et  quo  magis  sunt 
€loquentes,  qui  flagitia  ilia  finxerunt,  eo  magis  scntentiarum  elegantia  persuadent,  et 
facilius  inhaBTcnt  audicntium  memoria!  versus  numcrosi  et  ornati.  Item  tragicae  his- 
toriEB  subjieiunt  oeulis  parricidia,  et  inccsta  regum  malorum  et  cothurnata  scelrea  de- 
monstrant.  Histrionum  quoqne  impudicissimi  motiis,  quid  aliud  nisi  libidincs  doccnt 
et  instigant  ?  Quorum  cnervata  corpora,  ct  in  mulicbrern  incessum  habitumque  mol. 
lita,  impudicas  foeminas  inhonestis  gestibus  mentiuntur.  Quid  de  mimis  loquar  cor- 
ruptelarum  prajferentibus  disciplinam  ?  Qui  decent  adultcria,  dum  fingunt,  et  simu- 
latis  erudiunt  ad  vera.  Quid  juvenes  aut  virgines  faciant :  cum  et  fieri  sine  pudore, 
€t  spcctari  libenter  ab  omnibus  cemunt  ?  Admonentur  utique,  quid  facerc  possint, 
«t  inflammantur  libidine,  quce  aspcctu  maxime  concitatur  :  ac  ee  quisque  pro  sexd  in 
illis  imaginibus  prffifigurat,  probanlque  ilia,  dum  rident,"  etc.  When  Louis  XIV.,  an 
admirer  of  the  theatre,  once  asked  Bossuet,  whether  attendance  at  the  same  were  per- 


470  EXPOSITION  OF  DOCTRINAL  DIFFERENCES 

moral  tendency,  have,  in  subsequent  ages,  been  ever  regarded  with  s 
suspicious  eye  by  men  of  piety  ;  attendance  at  all  theatrical  shows^ 
we  say,  is  in  the  community  of  Quakers  likewise  not  tolerated.  In 
this  particular  they  were  certainly  led  by  a  good  spirit.  With  the  pro- 
gress of  intellectual  cultivation  (to  view  the  subject  only  from  a  lower 
point  of  view,)  theatrical  entertainments  will  certainly  disappear,  or  at 
least  will  be  abandoned  to  those,  who  are  not  more  enlightened  than 
the  men,  who  flatter  themselves  with  being,  in  our  time,  the  represen- 
tatives  of  civilization.  Were  dignity  and  amenity  of  manners  coupled 
with  sincerity — were  various  knowledge  and  intellectual  conversation 
more  prevalent  in  the  social  circles,  than  they  really  are,  many  of  those, 
who  may  now  be  termed  passionate  friends  and  patrons  of  the  theatre, 
would  prefer  to  derive  the  enjoyment  they  so  highly  value,  rather  from 
real  Hfe,  than  from  the  so  troublous  sphere  of  fiction,  and  would  leave 
such  entertainments  to  the  uneducated  or  less  educated,  who  think 
thereby  to  raise  themselves  above  the  crowd.  In  fact,  nothing  is  more 
fit  to  exhibit,  in  all  its  nakedness,  the  utter  insignificancy  and  void  of 
conversation  in  cities,  than  frequent  attendance  at  the  theatre.  The 
Quakers  will  one  day  be  praised  as  the  leaders  of  those,  who,  like  them, 
but  not  precisely  from  the  same  motives,  renounce  the  theatre,  as  they 
would  a  child's  doll,  and  with  indifference  abandon  its  entertainments 
to  the  populace.*  Even  dances  of  every  kind  and  without  restriction, 
are,  with  most  undue  severity,  considered  an  abomination  by  the 
Quakers,  and  not  merely  novels  and  romances  of  a  certain  description,, 
but  this  whole  class  of  poetry  is  banished  from  their  society.  It  is  easy 
to  perceive  that  many  things,  which  Catholic  and  Lutheran,  as  well  as 
Calvinistic  moralists  disapprove,  or  even  positively  forbid,  and  which 
an  incalculable  number  of  individuals  in  all  these  religious  communities 
will  not  sanction,  is  made  a  fundamental  maxim  in  the  Quaker  sect, 
and  with  the  more  facility  ;  for  on  one  hand  it  comprehends  only  a  few 
thousand  men,  and  on  the  other,  it  is  confined  almost  exclusively  to  the 
lower  classes  of  society,  to  whom  many  things,  condemned  by  Quaker- 
ism, remain  naturally  inaccessible. 

Of  a  diflerent  nature  are  the  following  traits,  which  contain  obscure 
indications  of  a  levelling  system  of  social  equality,  and  evince  the  strong 
tinge  of  democracy,  peculiar  to  this  sect.  The  usual  salutations,  "your 
Majesty,"  "  your  Lordship,"  "  your  Reverence,"  the  Quakers  ascribe 


mitted,  the  prelate  replied,  "  there  are  incontrovertible  reasons  against,  but  great  ex- 
amples for  it." 

*  Clarkson  (in  Mor.  Educ.  vol.  i.  c.  i.  ix.  p.  1.158,)  sets  forth  and  defends  the  va- 
rious customs  we  have  been  describing. 


BETWEEN  CATHOLICS  AND   PROTESTANTS.  471 

to  an  unchristian  arrogance,  to  a  vain,  worldly  spirit.  They  believe 
the  greeting,  "  your  obedient  servant,"  and  the  like,  sprang  out  of 
hypocrisy,  and  they  firmly  act  up  to  this  belief  in  life  :  as,  in  the  same 
way,  they  hold  it  to  be  a  sin  to  take  ofi'the  hat  to  any  one,  to  address 
him  in  the  plural  number,  and  the  like.  They  demand,  for  all  these 
things,  proofs  from  Holy  Writ,  without  which  they  will  not  sanction 
them,  especially  as  the  Spirit  has  never  inspired  them  to  dotf  the  hat, 
to  salute  the  King  as  Majesty,  and  the  like.* 

§  liXxi. — Remarks  on  the  doctrinal  peculiarities  of  the  Quakers. 

With  the  utmost  impartiality  have  we  stated  the  doctrinal  system  of 
the  Quakers,  without  being  in  anywise  prepossessed  against  them  ;  nay, 
we  encountered  them  with  a  sort  of  predilection  ;  for  their  earnest 
striving  after  an  interior  religion  of  the  spirit  and  the  heart — their  fear- 
less opposition  to  the  spirit  of  the  world,  even  where  that  opposition  is 
petty  and  pedantic — their  longing  after  the  true  celestial  nourishment, 
and  the  inward  unction  by  the  Divine  Spirit — their  consciousness  that, 
in  Christ,  a  power  is  imparted,  powerful  enough  not  only  to  solace  and 
to  tranquillize  man,  but  truly  to  deliver  him  from  sin,  and  to  sanctify 
him — all  this  has  filled  us  with  sentiments  of  the  sincerest  respect.  We 
think,  therefore,  we  are  in  a  condition  to  investigate,  with  unpreju- 
diced eye,  the  errors,  whereon  the  system  of  Quakerism  is  founded. 

The  view  of  the  Quakers  respecting  the  relation  of  the  Heathens  to 
God,  is,  doubtless,  far  more  tender  than  that  of  the  Lutherans  and  the 
Calvinists — it  originated  in  a  purer  and  less  narrow-minded  perception 
of  the  moral  phenomena  in  the  pagan  world.  But,  their  peculiar  ex- 
planation of  the  better  elements  in  Heathenism,  proceeded  from  a  de- 
sire to  set  aside  the  opposition,  which  many  facts  in  the  history  of  fallen 
humanity,  as  well  as  the  dictates  of  Christian  feeling,  raise  against 
their  views,  as  to  the  consequences  of  the  fall  ;  without,  however,  that 
explanation  being  at  all  well-founded  in  itself,  or  rising  above  the  level 
of  a  mere  arbitrary  hypothesis.  The  description,  which  the  Quakers 
give  of  fallen  man,  is,  in  itself,  quite  the  same,  as  that  set  forth  by  the 
Lutheran  formularies ;  and,  therefore,  the  history  of  man  will  impose 
upon  them,  the  solution  of  the  same  difficulties.  But  the  mode,  wherein 
they  solved  this  problem,  effaced  the  characteristic  distinction  between 
the  Christian  and  the  unchristian  periods  ;  and,  on  this  account,  it 
was,  in  the  very  beginning,  objected  to  the  Quakers,  that  by  "  the  Di- 

*  Clarkson,  vol.  i.  Peculiar  Customs,  ch.  i.  vii.  p.  257-386. 


472  EXPOSITION  OF  DOCTRINAL  DIFFERENCES 

vine  seed,"  "  the  inward  light,"  they  understood  merely  the  light  of 
natural  Reason,  and  did  not  at  all  believe,  that  the  divine  image  in  man, 
had  been  injured  through  the  fall,  and  was  again  renovated  in  Christ 
Jesus  only.  And,  in  fact,  maturer  reflection  subsequently  led  many 
Quakers  to  such  an  opinion.  The  injustice  of  the  reproach  made  to 
them,  consisted  only  herein,  that  they  were  charged  with  an  intentional 
deception  of  their  contemporaries — with  a  crafty  concealment  of  their 
real  opinion ;  whereas,  it  should  have  been  only  pointed  out  to  them, 
that  their  views  led  necessarily  to  the  assumption,  that  subsequently,  as 
well  as  prior  to  his  fall,  man  enjoyed  precisely  the  same  spiritual 
gifts  ;  so  that  redemption  in  Christ  was  thereby  rendered  totally  un- 
necessary. 

In  truth,  it  would  be  very  difficult,  nay,  impossible,  for  the  Quakers 
to  give  a  satisfactory  answer  to  the  question,  whence  it  cometh  to  pass, 
that  since  the  advent  of  Christ,  the  victory  of  light,  over  all  the  powers 
of  darkness,  hath,  in  all  respects,  been  so  decisively  prominent ;  if,  be- 
fore his  incarnation,  Christ  had  already  worked  in  the  souls  of  all  men 
in  the  same  mysterious  way,  as  since  his  ascension  into  heaven  ?  The 
reason,  wherefore  the  worship  of  nature  hath  ceased  among  Christians, 
polytheism  disappeared,  and  the  whole  spiritual  life  of  man  become  so 
far  other  than  it  is,  among  strangers  to  their  creed,  must,  according  to 
the  view  of  Quakerism,  remain  a  perpetual  enigma.  In  any  change, 
that  \n  the  lapse  of  ages  may  have  occurred  in  the  constitution  of  human 
nature,  the  Quakers  cannot  look  for  the  cause  of  this  phenomenon  ;  be- 
cause we  can  in  nowise  discover,  wherefore  human  nature,  before  the 
incarnation  of  the  Logos,  was  worse  and  more  unsusceptible  of  reform, 
than  afterwards.  But  the  mysterious,  inward  divine  principle,  which 
in  Christ  renovated  humanity,  cannot  have  brought  about  the  great 
eventful  era  in  history,  because,  according  to  the  genuine  doctrine  of 
Quakerism,  this  principle  ever  evinced  its  operation  before  Christ  also, 
and  in  the  same  mode,  as  at  present.*     To  the  knowledge  of  the  incar- 


*  Barclay  on  this  matter  has  a  very  remarkable  passag-e  (p.  145,)  where  he  appeals 
to  a  Scriptural  text.  From  this  we  may  sec  how  the  Quakers  applied  Scripture  to 
their  own  views  : — "  Ad  ea  argumenta,  quibus  hactenus  probalum  est,  omncs  mensu. 
ram  salutiferEe  gratisE  habere,  unum  addam,  idque  observatu  dignissimum,  quod  exi- 
mium  illud  Apostoli  PauH  ad  Titum  dictum  est.  ii.  II,  '  Illuxit  gratia  ilia  salutifera 
omnibus  hominibus,  erudiens  nos,  ut  abnegate  impietate  et  mundanis  cupiditatibus, 
temperanter  et  juste  ct  pie  vivamus  in  preesenti  saeculo ;'  quo  luculcntius  nihil  esse 
potest,  nam  utramque  controversi®  partem  comprehendit.  Prime,  declarat  banc  non 
esse  naturalem  gratiam,  seu  vim,  cum  plane  dicat  esse  salutiferam.  Secundo  non 
ait,  paucis  illuxisse,  sed  omnibus.  Fructus  etiam  ejus,  quam  efficax  sit,  declarat, 
cum  totum  hommisofficium  comprehendat ;  erudit  nos  primo  abnegare  impietatem  et 


BETWEEN  CATHOLICS  AND  PROTESTANTS.  473 

nation  of  the  Son  of  God,  and  of  the  works  he  MTOught,  during  his 
earthly  ministry,  the  Quakers  could  not  be  disposed  to  ascribe  the 
great  transformation  of  the  world  ;  for  it  is  precisely  to  the  history  of 
Jesus  Christ,  and  to  an  acquaintance  with  the  same,  that  they  attach 
no  very  great  importance.  And  by  the  adoption  of  what  they  call 
the  objective  revelation,  they  hold  preaching  and  Scripture,  consi- 
dered in  themselves,  to  be  everywhere  superfluous  ,*  since  the  inward 
light  breaks  out  of  itself,  and  is  described  not  only  as  the  first,  but  in 
case  of  necessity,  as  even  the  only  source  of  truths,  which  (in  their  es- 
sence) are  the  very  same,  that  Jesus  outwc^rdly  proclaimed,  and  com- 
mitted to  his  Church. f  The  later  Quakers  appear  likewise  to  feel  the 
obvious  difficulty  here  adverted  to  ;  whether  it  be,  that  they  themselves 
first  observed  it,  or  whether  their  a(tention  were  drawn  to  it  by  olhers. 
Be  this  as  it  may,  Clarkson  remarks  in  a  note,  •'  The  Quakers  believe 
that  this  Spirit  was  more  plentifully  diffused,  and  that  greater  gifts  were 
given  to  men,  after  Jesus  was  glorified,  than  before."  To  this  conces- 
sion, they  were  driven  by  the  force  of  evidence;  but  in  their  system  we 
cannot  find  a  place,  where  it  can  possess  an  organic  connexion  with 
the  whole.  It  is  no  ulterior  development  of  what  already  exists,  but 
an  unsuitable  interpolation.:}: 

mundanas  cupiditates;  ct  deindc  totum  nos  docct  officium,  primo,  temperanter 
vivere,  quod  comprehendit  squitatein,  justitiarn,  et  honestatcm,  et  ea,  quae  ad  proxi- 
muin  spectant.  Et  denique,  pie,  quod  comprehendit  sanctitatem,  pietatem,  et  devo- 
tionem,  eaque  omnia,  qus  ad  Dei  cultum,  et  officium  hominis  erga  Deum  spectant. 
Nihil  ergo  ab  homine  requiritur,  vel  ei  necessarium  est,  quod  haec  gratia  non  d'>ceat." 

*  Barcl.  lib.  1.  p.  110.  "  Credimus  enim,  quod  sicut  omnes  parficipes  sunt  mail 
fructus  Adae  lapsus,  cum  malo  illo  semine,  quod  per  eum  illis  communicatnm  est, 
proni  et  ad  malum  proclives  sint,  licet  millies  mille  Adce  s-iut  ignari.  et  qunmndo  pro- 
hibitum fructum  ederit,  ita  multi  possint  sentire  divini  hujus  et  sancti  scminis  virtu- 
tem,  eSiqu  a  malo  ad  bonum  convert!,  licet  de  Christi  in  terram  adventix;  per  cujus 
obedientiee  et  passionis  beneficium  hac  fruantur,  prorsus  ignari  sint." 

t  Lib.  1.  p.  20.  "  Quod  nunc  sub  litem  venit  illud  est,  quod  postremoloco  affirm- 
avimus,  scil.  idem  permanere  et  esse  Sanctorum  fidei  objectum  in  banc  usque  diem." 
It  is  not  uninteresting  to  notice  the  Scriptural  proofs,  which  Barclay  adduces  in  sup- 
port of  his  views.  For  instance,  he  says  :  "  Si  fides  una  est,  unum  etiam  est  fidei 
objectum.  Sed  fides  una  est ;  ergo.  Quod  fides  una  sit,  ipsa  Apostoli  verba  pnibant 
ad  Epli.  iv.  5."  Then  he  goes  on  :  "Si  quis  administrationis  objiciat  diversitatem: 
Respondeo,  hoc  nullo  modo  objectum  spectat  nam  idem  Apostolus,  ubi  ter  banc 
varietatem  nominat,  1  Co.  xii.  4,  5,  6,  ad  idem  objectum  semper  recurrit.  Sic  '  idem 
Spiritus.  idem  Dominus,  idem  Deus.'  Praeterea  nisi  idem  et  nobis  et  illis  crit  fidei 
objectum,  tunc  Deus  aliquo  alio  modo  cognosceretur,  quam  spiritu;  sed  hoc  absur- 
dum ;  Ergo."  And  so  he  goes  on  at  considerable  length.  And  (he  inward  Christ 
again  naturally  teaches,  that  these  texts  must  be  so  interpreted  ;  although,  according 
to  all  rules  of  interpretation,  they  bear  quite  a  different  sense. 

t  Clarkson,  vol.  ii.  Rel.  ch.  vii.  sect  2,  p.  187.     The  Quakers  believe,  however, 


474  EXPOSITION  OF  DOCTRINAL  DIFFERENCES 

If,  from  what  has  been  said,  it  follows,  that  the  contradictions,  where- 
in the  orthodox  Protestantism  is  involved  with  incontrovertible  facts  in 
human  history,  the  Quakers  only  exchange  for  other  contradictions 
against  that  history ;  we  must  now  demonstrate  that  their  theory  is,  in 
itself,  perfectly  unsatisfactory,  and  does  not  even  escape  those  ditficul- 
ties,  which  they  principally  aim  at  avoiding.  They  wish,  as  we  have 
already  perceived,  to  escape,  in  the  first  place,  from  the  Calvinistic  doc- 
trine of  absolute  predestination,  by  asserting  that  to  every  man  the 
inward  light  is  proffered,  and  a  day  of  visitation  vouchsafed.  They 
would  fain,  at  the  same  time,  escape  from  Pelagianism  and  semi-Pela- 
gianism,  which  they  ascribe  to  the  Catholic  Church,  by  deducing  all 
the  in  anywise  laudable  acts  that  the  heathen  world  once  achieved,  and 
still  achieves,  not  in  any  degree  from  the  spiritual  nature  of  man,  but 
solely  from  the  inward  word — the  inward  light.*  Thereby  they  would 
fain  show,  that  fallen  man  has  every  cause  for  humility  ;  as  he  posses- 
ses nothing,  not  the  least  quality,  which,  in  respect  to  divine  things, 
can  be  active  or  efficacious ;  as  every  thing  must  be  accounted  for, 
solely  and  exclusively,  by  the  inward  Christ  in  each  man.  Alas  !  the 
Quakers,  in  wishing  to  attain  one  thing,  render  the  other  impossible  ;  so 
that  their  combination  is  utterly  untenable.  Fallen  man,  according  to 
them,  has  been  so  utterly  bereaved  of  all  higher  faculties  and  powers, 
that  the  good  which  takes  place  in  him,  is  wrought  so  very  independently 
of  him,  that  not  even  in  his  will,  still  less  hy  means  of  his  will,  doth 
grace  consummate  it.f 

The  inward  hght  of  the  Quakers  is  that  sense  for  divine  things, 
which  in  Adam  all  mankind  had  lost ;  yet  by  this,  they  understand  not 
merely  the  restoration  of  a  pre-existing,  though  torpid  and  paralyzed 
faculty,  to  its  original  activity,  but  the  entirely  new  creation  of  the 
faculty  itself.  In  one  word,  it  is  the  faculty  of  knowledge  and  of  will 
in  reference  to  divine  things.  Hence  Barclay  calls  the  inward  light  a 
new  substance  imparted  to  man,  in  opposition  to  an  accidental  one  ; 
and   employs  the   expression,  man  receives   thereby  the  aptitude  for 

that  this  spirit  was  more  plentifully  diifused,  and  that  greater  gifts  were  given  to 
men,  after  Jesus  was  glorified,  than  before. 

*  Loc.  cit.  p.  103.  "  Contradicit  et  enervat  falsam  Pelagianorum,  Scmipelagia- 
norum  et  Socinianorum  doctrinam,  qui  naturse  lumen  exaltant  et  liberum  hominis 
arbitrium  ;  dum  omnino  naturalcm  homlncm  a  vel  minima  in  salute  sua  parte  exclu- 
dit,  ullo  opere,  actti  vel  mottl  suo,  quoad  primo  vivificetur  et  actueter  spirits  Dei." 

t  Loc.  cit.  p.  169.  "  Posteriora  opera  (sc.  gratiae  seu  evangelii)  sunt  spiritds  gra. 
tise  in  corde,  quae  secundum  intemam  et  spiritualem  legem  facta  sunt;  qure  nee  in 
hominis  voluntate,  nee  viribus  ejus  fiunt,  sed  per  vim  spiritus  Christi  in  nobis."  What 
then  doth  Barclay  mean,  when  he  says  at  times,  that  Divine  grace  is  designed  to 
resuscitate  and  excite  anew  the  human  faculties  ? 


BETWEEN  CATHOLICS   AND  PROTESTANTS.  475 

righteousness.*  It  must  be  obvious  to  every  one,  that  the  Quakers 
have  only  here  renewed  the  old  Lutheran  opinion  respecting  the  divine 
image, — its  utter  obliteration  through  the  fall,  and  its  restoration  in 
Christ.  There  is  here,  as  is  evident,  but  this  difference, — that  the 
Quakers  fix  this  restoration  of  the  divine  image  immediately  after  the 
fall,  and  ascribe  to  it  a  far  greater  power  against  sin.  Hereby  they  be- 
came involved  in  the  same  inextricable  difficulties,  with  which  the  Lu- 
theran theory  had  to  contend.  They  set  the  natural  man  too  low,  to 
enable  them  to  escape  from  the  doctrine  of  absolute  predestination. 
They  say,  indeed,  like  the  Lutherans,  man  is  able  to  resist,  or  not  to 
resist,  divine  grace.  But  if,  by  his  resistance,  he  is  to  incur  guilt,  he 
must  be  allowed  the  faculty  of  independently  discerning^  by  the  aid  of 
grace,  that  a  truth  presented  to  him  conduces  to  his  salvation  :  he  must, 
accordingly,  embrace  this  truth  with  his  own  will.  But  such  faculties 
the  Quakers  deny  to  fallen  man  ;  and  therefore  they  have  no  alterna- 
tive, than,  either  to  refer  to  God  alone,  the  overcoming  of  resistance, 
and  thereby  to  subscribe  to  the  tenet  of  absolute  predestination,  which 
they  so  strongly  condemn  in  Calvin  ;  or  to  impute  it  to  accident  alone, 
when  grace  triumphs  or  is  resisted.  But  accident  is  only  another  word 
for  fate.f 

*  Lib  1.  p.  72.  "  Quis  enim  cum  aliqua  rationis  specie  autumare  potest,  tale  cor 
ex  se  habere  potestatem,  aut  aptitudinem,  vol  aptum  esse  homineni  ad  justitiam  per- 
ducendi?"  It  is  worthy  of  remark,  that  the  Protestants  in  their  controversy  with 
the  Quakers,  appealed  to  the  text  in  Romans  (c.  xi.  14,)  in  the  very  same  sense,  as 
Catholics  had  once  done  in  arguing'  with  the  Protestants.  But  Barclay  says,  at  p. 
530  : — "  Respondeo,  '  ha;c  natura,'  intclligi  nee    debet  nee  potest  de  natura  propria. 

hominis,  sed  de  naturu  spirituali,  quae  procedit  a  semine  Dei  Inhomine Ita,  ut 

bene  concludamus,  naturam,  cujushoc  loco,  mcminet  Apostolos,  qua  gentesdicuntur 
facere  ca,  qu^e  legis  sunt,  non  esse  cornmuiiem  hominum  naturam,  sed  spiritualem 
naturam,  quae  ex  opere  spiritualis  et  justae  legis  in  corde  scriptae  procedit :  fateor  eos, 
qui  alteram  extremum  tenent,  quando  hoc  testimonio  a  Socinianis  et  Pelagianis  (si- 
cut  etiam  a  nostris,  quando  hoc  testimonio  ostendimus,  quomodo  ex  gentibus  aliqui 
lumme  Christi  in  corde  salutem  adepti  sunt)  premuntur,  et  ad  angustias  reducuntur, 
respondere,  quasdam  reJiquias  ccelestis  imaginis  in  Adamo  relictas  esse.  Sed  cum 
hoc  absque  probatione   affirmatum  sit,   ita  et    dictis  suis  alibi  contradicit,  quo  etiam 

causam  suam  amittunt-" P.  108:  "Non  intelligimus  banc  gratiara,  hoc  lumen 

et  semen  esse  accidcns,  ut  plerique  inepte  faciunt,  sed  credimus  esse  realcm,  spiritu- 
alem  substantiam,  quam  anima  hominis  apprehendere  et  sentire  potest." 

t  Clarkson  on  this,  as  on  other  points,  differs  considerably  from  Barclay.  He  en. 
deavours  not  only  to  supply  the  gaps  in  the  system  of  the  Quakers,  but  to  render  that 
system  more  scriptural,  and  thereby  more  rational,  than  it  is  in  itself;  but  in  this 
attempt  he  introduces  not  only  contradictions  into  it,  but  very  harsh  discords  into  his 
own  productions.  He  may,  nevertheless,  record  the  views  of  more  sensible  yet  in- 
consistent Quakers.  Clarkson  fills  up  Barclay's  statement  in  respect  to  the  condition 
of  the  Paradisaic  Adam  ;  because  to  this  subject,  wllUngly  or  unwillingly,  men  must 


476  EXPOSITION  OF  DOCTRINAL  DIFFERENCES 

Upon  the  so-called  objective  revelation,  we  have  many  doubts  to  sug- 
gest ;  they  are  chiefly  as  follows. — All  outward  special  Revelations,  and 
even  the  Incarnation  of  the  Logos,  are,  by  that  objective  Revelation 
rendered,  not  only  superfluous,  but  even  inexplicable.  For,  if  God's 
Spirit  is  to  reveal  immediately,  to  every  man,  the  fit  measure  of  truths, 
— if  thus  the  voice  of  God  is,  in  this  way,  to  go  forth  to  all  men,  what 

ever  recur.  In  imitation  of  Catholics,  Clarkson  distinguishes  a  two-fold  image  of 
God  in  man — a  r'^moter,  and  a  more  proximate  one,  yet  in  a  different  sense  from  us. 
The  former  is  the  human  mind,  called  "the  mental  understanding — the  power  of 
Reason."  (Revelation,  etc.,  vol.  ii.  c.  i.  p  114)  This  faculty  he  describes  as  that, 
"  by  means  of  which  man  was  enabled  to  guide  himself  in  his  temporal  concerns." 
thus  there  would  not  exist  in  man,  as  such,  any  faculty  having  reference  to  God  and 
to  the  supermundane.  The  proper  image  of  God  in  man  Clarkson  then  describes, 
as  a  spiritual  faculty  independent  of  human  Reason,  (the  words  understanding, 
power  of  discernment,  and  the  rest,  are,  in  his  opinion,  synonymous  terms.)  This 
faculty  is  a  portion  of  the  very  life  of  the  Divine  Spirit — an  emanation  from  Divine 
Life,  whereby  man  discerns  his  relation  to  God,  and  keeps  up  communion  with  his 
Creator.  "  But  he  gave  to  man  at  the  same  time,  independently  of  his  own  intellect 
or  understanding,  a  spiritual  faculty,  or  a  portion  of  the  life  of  his  own  Spirit,  to  re- 
side in  him  This  gift  occasioned  man  to  become  more  immediately,  as  it  is  express- 
ed, the  image  of  the  Almighty.  It  set  him  above  the  animal  and  rational  part  of 
his  nature.  It  made  him  spiritually-minded.  It  enabled  him  to  know  his  duty  to 
God.  and  to  hold  a  heavenly  intercourse  with  his  Maker.  .  .  .  Adam,  then,  the  first 
man,  independently  of  his  rational  faculties,  received  from  the  Almighty  into  his  own 

breast,  such  an  emanation  from  the  life  of  His  Spirit "     According  to  these 

statements,  it  cannot,  in  the  first  place,  be  absolutely  asserted,  that,  through  the 
Fall,  man  has  lost  the  Divine  image  ;  for,  even  after  that  catastrophe,  he  would  stiU 
retain  the  mental  powere  having  reference  to  earthly  life — the  remoter  image  of  God, 
and  even,  according  to  Clarkson  (as  above  stated,)  still  a  part  of  the  likeness  unto 
God,  in  the  strict  sense.  Secondly,  these  statements  would  very  well  explain  the 
cause,  wherefore  it  is  possible  for  the  Quakers  to  deduce  entirely,  from  divine  inspi. 
rations,  all  true  religious  instruction — all  genuine  prayer,  etc. ;  for,  according  to  this 
system,  no  human  faculty  would  have  any  relation  whatsoever  to  supermundane 
things.  Thirdly,  this  theory  would  agree  very  well  with  that  of  Barclay ;  it  would, 
indeed,  contain  more  than  the  latter  had  stated ;  but  nothing  which  he  might  not 
have  advanced,  without  introducing  any  change  in  his  principles.  But,  among  the 
above  mentioned  propositions,  expressions  like  the  fol'owing,  occur :  "It  (the  image 
of  God  in  the  strict  sense)  made  him  know  things  not  intelligible  solely  by  his  reason." 
The  things  of  earth,  therefore,  would  not  be  the  only  sphere,  within  which  reason 
would  have  to  move  ;  but  only  it  could  not,  by  its  unaided  efforts,  apprehend  God. 
But,  if  the  co-operation  of  reason  were  necessary  to  the  knowledge  of  God ;  then  it 
would  be  every  where  indispensable  ;  and  thereby  the  whole  view  of  the  Quakers, 
respecting  preaching  and  the  rest,  would  fall  to  the  ground  ;  and  yet,  Clarkson  puts 
forward  as  Quakerish,  the  very  same  views  as  Barclay.  Lastly,  if  the  activity  of 
Reason  be  unavoidable,  when  the  knowledge  of  God  is  concerned,  so  is  the  co-opera- 
tion  of  the  will  equally  indispensable,  when  the  love  of  God  is  the  question.  But 
this,  according  to  Barclay,  the  Quakers  will  by  no  means  admit ;  while  Clarkson 
asserts  the  contrary. — Ibid.  p.  188. 


BETWEE??  CATHOLICS  AND  PROTESTANTS.  4tt 

end  can  He  still  propose  in  His  special  Revelations  1  If  all  men  be 
prophets,  then,  a  distinct  prophetic  ministry  must  needs  be  abolished^ 
And  in  fact,  in  order  to  prove  their  so-called  general  objective  Revela- 
tion, the  Quakers  appeal,  with  the  greatest  boldness,  to  the  particular 
tevelations,  which  were  vouchsafed  to  the  prophets  of  old. 

But,  it  is  principally  to  the  self-consciousness  of  man,  and  the  laws 
and  conditions,  under  which  it  is  formed  and  unfolded,  the  doctrines  of 
Quakerism  run  counter.  It  can  be  demonstrated,  that,  without  an  intel- 
lectual excitation,  and  an  extraneous  influence,  the  self-consciousness  of 
man  cannot  be  developed— -a  law  which,  so  far  from  being  set  aside,  is 
directly  confirmed,  by  the  historical  Revelations  of  God.  Hence,  if 
man  is  to  attain  to  the  true  knowledge  of  the  Deity,  the  inward, 
Divine  Light  must  ever  be  a-ssociated  with  the  outward  Light ;  the  ex- 
ternal must  correspond  to  the  internal  Revelation  ;  and  the  inward  in- 
spiration can  be  understood,  only  by  means  of  the  outward  communi- 
cation. Even  in  respect  to  the  prophets,  and  envoys  of  God,  whom  the 
Christian  recognises,  it  can  be  proved,  that,  their  inward  illuminations 
were  not  without  all  external  msdia, — whether  the  Spirit  revealing 
Himself  to  them  assumed  a  sensible  shape  ;  or  whether  He  annexed 
His  revelations  to  long  pre-existing  doctrines,  and  expectations.  It  is 
only  the  Son  of  God,  whom  we  must  except  from  this  rule  ;  for  here 
the  absolute  Spirit,  exempt  from  the  limitations  of  mere  relative  beings, 
appeared  in  the  world,  and  conjoined  Himself  with  a  human  nature  in 
the  unity  of  one  consciousness.  Yet,  it  cannot  be  proved  from  the 
Scripture- History,  that  the  human  mind  of  the  Redeemer  had  been  de- 
veloped, without  any  external  human  influence. 

The  question  now  occurs,  how  have  the  Quakers  come  to  their  re.^ 
markable  opinion,  that  the  consciousness  of  God  can  be  formed  inde- 
pendently  of  outward  teaching,  nay,  of  all  outward  influence  what- 
ever ;  and  whether  this  view  may  not  be  considered,  as  a  necessary  de* 
velopment  of  the  errors  of  the  Reformation.  If,  in  contempt  of  all  the 
laws  of  the  human  mmd,  Luther  taught  that,  in  the  regenerated  soul  of 
man,  new  faculties  were  implanted,  through  an  absolute  exercise  of  di- 
vine influences  ;  surely,  it  was  inconsistent  to  prescribe  to  these  facul" 
ties,  thus  absolutely  imparted  from  within,  outward  conditions  for  their 
insertion.  If,  in  the  interior  of  the  human  mind,  these  faculties  needed 
no  points  of  contact— «if,  in  order  to  become  the  property  of  man,  they 
presupposed  no  kindred  qualities—if  they  worked  in  the  soul,  in  a  man- 
ner contrary  to  the  constitution  of  man — -if  they  were  exceptions  from 
the  whole  order  of  human  nature  ;  with  what  justice  could  it  be  said, 
that  the  conditions  of  external  excitation  and  teaching,  in  other  re- 
spects requisite  to  the  development  of  the    human   mind,  were  here 


478  EXPOSITION  OF  DOCTRINAL  DIFFERENCES 

necessary  ?  How  could  those  acts  of  Divine  power  preserve  the  as- 
sumed character  of  absoluteness,  if  they  were  subjected  to  limitations  1 
Was  it  no  contradiction  to  let  the  Divine  Principle  work  uncondition- 
ally on  one  hand,  and  conditionally  on  the  other  ?  Thus  the  Lutheran 
exemption  of  the  Divine  influence  from  all  internal  conditions,  implant- 
ed in  the  human  spirit,  involved  also,  by  a  necessary  connexion  of 
ideas,  an  independence  of  this  influence  on  all  outward  conditions  ; 
and  now  only,  could  harmony  and  completeness  be  introduced  into  the 
system.  Hence,  from  this  point  of  view,  Quakerism  must  be  denom- 
inated the  consummation  of  Lutheranism  ;  and  to  that  expression  of  the 
Wittemberg  Reformer,  "  God  teacheth  man  only  inwardly,"  it  first 
assigns  a  true  meaning. 

We  must  look  at  the  matter  thus.  All  instruction,  which  man  re- 
ceives through  the  instrumentality  of  man,  or  whicli  he  acquires  for 
himself,  by  reading  books,  is  founded  on  the  supposition,  that  he  is  en- 
dowed with  certain  still  dormant  faculties,  which,  set  in  motion  by  those 
exercises,  are  resuscitated  and  become  living ;  so  that,  what  is  pre- 
established — what  already  exists  in  man  as  a  prototype,  is,  through  ex- 
ternal influence,  brought  home  to  his  consciousness.  But  row,  the 
Lutherans  deny  to  fallen  man  the  Divine  image,p— the  religious  capabili- 
ty. What  possible  effect,  preaching,  or  the  reading  of  Holy  Writ,  could 
produce  for  the  awakening  of  the  soul,  we  are  at  a  loss  to  understand  ; 
since  man  had  nothing  more  than  to  be  awakened.  The  system, 
wherein  the  necessity  of  outward  teaching  could  be  proved,  was  a  far 
different  one  from  the  Lutheran,  which,  instead  of  the  training  of  the 
religious  faculties,  imagined  a  new  creation  of  the  same ;  wherein,  there- 
fore, instruction,  through  reading  aad  writing,  could  as  little  find  its 
place,  as  in  the  creation  of  the  aforesaid  qualities  in  the  first  man.  By 
no  instruction  can  the  faculty,  for  any  kind  of  knowledge,  be  infused 
into  the  mind  of  the  pupil ;  as  for  instance,  an  aptitude  for  the  mathe- 
matical sciences  is  not  given  by  tuition.  Luther's  doctrine,  accordingly, 
as  to  the  necessity  of  outward  teaching  for  regeneration  in  Christ,  had 
no  sort  of  connexion  with  his  propositions  respecting  the  Fall  of  man. 
The  Quakers  understood,  or,  at  least,  felt  this  inconsistency  ;  and  while 
they  asserted,  that  through  Adam,  fallen  man  was  deprived  of  all  re- 
ligious faculties,  capable  of  being  excited  and  trained  by  any  external 
agency,  they  declared  likewise  against  the  necessity  of  any  outward  in- 
struction ;  and,  thereby,  established  the  fairest  symmetry  in  the  doc- 
trinal edifice,  laid  down  by  Luther,  clearly  revealing  at  the  same  time, 
however,  the  utter  hoUowness  of  its  foundations. 

But,  hereby  also,  the  ground  was  completely  cut  away  from  the  out- 
ward,  historical  Revelation  of  God  in  Christ.     The  Quakers,  indeed, 


BETWEEN  CATHOLICS  AND  PROTESTANTS.  479 

uphold  the  doctrine,  that  for  the  sake  of  Christ's  merits,  that  inward, 
supernatural  li>>ht  hath  been  vouchsafed  to  man.  But  the  sacrifice, 
which  Christ  oficred  up  for  the  sins  of  the  world,  considered  in  itself, 
is  utterly  untenable  in  the  system  of  the  Quakers  ;  and  as  regards  this 
matter  alone,  we  might  just  as  well  say,  the  Son  of  God,  without  its 
being  necessary  to  make  this  known  to  men,  might,  in  some  obscure 
corner  of  the  earth,  or  in  the  planets  Mars,  Uranus,  and  the  rest,  have 
undergone  any  suffering,  and  atoned  for  our  guilt.  That  the  love, 
which  God  evinced  in  the  mission  of  His  Son.  should  be  brought  to  our 
knoirledge — that  we  should  be  instructed  in  the  sentiments  of  God — 
that  we  should  be  taught  our  own  destiny,  are  things,  which  indeed, 
necessarily  appertain  to  the  work  of  Redemption  ;  but  which  yet  can- 
not be  established,  by  the  principles  of  the  Quakers.  Hence,  they  make 
a  reply  devoid  of  all  solidity,  when,  in  answer  to  the  objection,  that  they 
deny  the  knowledge  of  Christ's  History  to  be  necessary  to  our  true  con- 
version to  God,  they  declare  they  hold  the  same  to  be  not  requisite  for 
those  only,  who  are  beyond  the  pale  of  Christianity,  for,  these  are 
taught  all  truth  by  the  inward  Christ ;  but  that,  as  to  those  living  within 
t^e  bosom  of  the  Christian  Church,  they  inculcate  the  necessity  of  their 
making  themselves  acquainted  with  the  history  of  Christ,*  and  of  be- 
lieving in  the  same. 

This  answer,  we  say,  is  futile  ;  for,  it  is  impossible  to  discover,  where- 
fore what  is  absolutely  necessary  for  the  one,  should  be  unnecessary 
to  the  other,  for  the  attainment  of  the  same  object.  Hence,  a  celebrat- 
ed member  of  the  sect,  Keith,  was  in  several  synods,  declared  devoid  of 
the  spirit  of  the  Quakers,  and  was  forbidden  to  preach  ;  because  he 
could  not  convince  himself,  that  Faith,  in  the  death  and  the  resurrec- 
tion of  Christ,  was  not  necessary  to  salvation.  And  Spangenberg,  the 
celebrated  bishop  of  the  Herrnhulters,  in  his  biography  of  Count  Zin- 
zendorf,  thus  speaks  from  a  personal  knowledge  of  the  Quakers  :  ■"  the 
doctrine  of  Christ  crucified,  and  that  in  His  sacrifice  alone  men  can 
find  grace,  and  deliverance  from  all  sins,  is  to  them,  as  to  all  the  sages 
of  this  world,  a  mere  foolishness,  and  is  beyond   their  discernment.f 

*  Log.  cit.  p.  110,  "  Sicut  credimus,  omnino  necessarium  esse  iis  historiam  ex- 
temamChristi  credere,  quibus  Deus  ejus  scientiam  voluit  aliquo  modo  communicare ; 
ita  ingenue  fatemur,  banc  externam  scientiam  esse  consolabundam  illis,  qui  subjecti 
sunt,  ct  hoc  interno  semine  et  lumine  acti :  nam  non  solum  sensii  mortis  et  passion- 
em  Christi  humiliantur,  scdet  et  in  fide  confirmantur,  et  ad  sequcndum  prtestantissi- 

mum  ejus  cxemplum  animantur nee  non  saepissime  reficiuntur  et  recreantur 

^ratiosissimis  sermonibus,  qui  ex  ore  ejus  procedebant." 

t  But  from  this  it  must  not  be  inferred,  as  has  sometimes  been  done,  that  the 
Quakers  never  believed  in  Christ's  death  of  atonement.     On  this  point  Barclay's  Ian- 


iSO  EXPOSITIOX  OF  DOCTRINAL  DIFFERENCES 

We  therefore  are  not  surprised,  when  we  are  informed,  that  many  Amef» 
ican  Quakers  explain  away  the  whole  history  of  Christ  into  a  mere  al* 
legory ;  and  what  Barclay  so  often  said,  respecting  the  Christ  crucified 
through  sin  in  every  man,  respecting  the  inward  Word  suffering  through 
the  pressure  of  sin,  &c.,  served  to  pave  the  way  for  the  opinion,  which 
sees,  in  the  historical  Christ,  only  a  philosophical,  anthropological,  reli- 
gious Mythos.*  An  historical,  visible  Christ  cannot  consist  with  the 
invisible,  purely  spiritual  Church  of  these  one-sided  spiritualists  of  Chris- 
tianity ;  a  Redeemer  graciously  condescending  to  the  wants  and  infirm* 
ities  of  our  nature  stands  in  too  abrupt  a  contrast,  with  these  high-flying 
idealists,  to  allow  them  to  revere  Him  as  their  Master,  in  all  the  fulness 
of  conviction.  Hence,  as  in  ecclesiastical  history,  we  often  encounter 
similar  deductions  from  similar  principles  ;  they  were  compelled  also  to 
reject  the  outward,  visibly  self-manifesting  Christ,  and  to  transform  Him 
into  something  purely  spiritual — a  mere  naked  idea,  in  order  that  the 
disciples  might  not  be  ashamed  of  their  Master,  and  the  foundation 
might  be  made  to  harmonize  with  the  superstructure  of  their  Christian* 
ity.  Thus  was  Protestantism,  when  pushed  to  its  farthest  point,  for* 
mally  converted  into  a  species  of  Gnosticism ;  so  that  Christ  could  be 
regarded  by  the  Quakers,  exactly  in  the  same  light  as  by  the  Jewish 
Docetas.  The  humanity  of  Christ  is  the  necessary  and  essential  form 
of  His  divinity,  as  the  Author  of  Revelation  in  the  new  Covenant.  In 
the  same  way,  and  even  for  that  very  reason,  the  Church,  with  her  fun- 
damental institutions,  is  the  essential  form  of  the  Christian  Religion  : 
and  if  we  separate  the  form  from  the  substance,  then  the  latter  will,  in 
the  end,  inevitably  dissolve  into  a  mere  phantastic  void,  and  retroac- 
tively,  Christ  will  sink  into  a  mere  creature  of  the  brain. 

In  perfect  conformity  with  its  fundamental  principles,  the  false  spirit* 
ualism  of  the  Quakers  manifests  the  most  decided  hostility  against  all 
theological  science  ;  and  they  are  at  a  loss  to  find  words  to  express 
their  sentiments  of  detestation  towards  it,  as  well  as  to  testify  their  re- 


guage  permits  no  manner  of  doubt.  He  says  (p.  109  :)  "  Per  hoc  nullo  mode  intelli- 
gimus,  neque  volumus  minuere,  nee  derogare  a  sacrificio  et  propitiatione  Jesu  Chrlsti, 
Bed  e  contra  magnificamus  etexaltamus  illara,"  etc.  Compare  p.  148-'164,  and  other 
numerous  passages.  In  Clarkson,  ibid.  p.  320,  we  find  also  the  following  passage  ci- 
ted from  a  Quaker,  Henry  Tuke  :  "  So  far  as  remission  of  sins,  and  capacity  to  re. 
ceive  salvation,  are  parts  of  Justification,  we  attribute  it  to  the  sacrifice  of  Christ,  in 
whom  we  have  redemption  through  liis  blood,  the  forgiveness  of  sins  according  to 
the  riches  of  his  grace." 

*  A  friend  of  mine,  who,  a  few  years  ago,  met  two  American  Quakers  in  the 
West  Indies,  has  assured  me,  that,  in  conversing  with  them  on  religion,  he  found 
they  allegorized  the  whole  history  of  our  Lord." — Trans. 


BETWEEN  CATHOLICS  AND  PROTESTANTS.  481 

gret,  that  it  should  have  passed  from  the  times  of  apostacy  (as  they  call 
the  ages  prior  to  the  Reformation,)  over  to  the  period  of  Protestantism. 
But,  herein  also,  they  continue  only  more  violently,  and  push  to  the 
furthest  extreme,  that  condemnation  of  all  severe  scientific  culture, 
which,  at  the  commencement  of  the  revolution  in  the  Church,  was  so 
often  expressed  by  the  Lutherans.  Scientific  labours  are  not  possible 
without  human  exertion  ;  but  it  is  precisely  all  human  activity  which 
the  Quakers  wish  to  banish  from  the  sphere  of  theology.*  They  are 
on  that  account,  averse  from  all  which  wears  the  aspect  of  a  settled, 
definite  religious  notion  ;  and,  therefore,  urged  by  an  instinct,  which, 
according  to  tlieir  views,  is  perfectly  correct,  they  avoid  all  the  techni- 
cal expressions  of  the  School  and  the  Church,  and  only  on  certain  sub- 
jects, on  which  they  cannot  otherwise  make  themselves  generally  intel-- 
ligible,  they  permit  a  deviation  from  this  rule.  But,  hereby  it  happens 
that  they  mostly  revolve  in  vague  religious  feelings,  foster  a  doctrinal 
indifibrenlism  ;  and,  as  many  among  them  are  utterly  unconscious  of 
any  thing  deserving  the  title  of  real  Christianity,  so,  the  whole  system 
of  Quakerism  would,  by  degrees,  dissolve  into  dull,  hollow  phantasies, 
were  it  not,  from  time  to  tima,  brought  back  to  the  positive  doctrines  of 
Christianity,  by  some  extraneous  influence,  as  this  appears  to  have  been 
recently  the  case.f 


*  Clarkson  (and  the  languaga  of  Barclay  is  still  strongc)  a;s,  1  c.  cit.  p.  24^ : 
•'They  reject  all  school  divinity,  as  necessarily  connected  with  the  ministry.  They 
believe,  that  if  a  knowledge  of  Christianity  had  been  obtainable  by  the  acquisition  of 
the  Greek  and  1-lotnan  langu  igcs,  and  through  the  medium  of  the  Greek  and  Roman 
philosophers  the  Greeks  and  Rjrnans  themselves  would  have  been  the  best  profi- 
cients in  it  ;  whereas,  the  Gospel  was  only  foolishness  to  many  of  these."  Here  we 
find  truth  and  falsehood  intermixed. 

+  Clarkson  (loc  cit.  p.  313,)  says  in  a  tone  of  approval :  "  The  Quakers  have  ad- 
hered, as  strictly  as  possible,  to  Scriptural  expressions,  and  thereby  they  have  escaped 
from  many  difficulties,  and  avoided  the  theological  controversies,  which  have  dis- 
tracted the  remainder  of  the  Christian  Church  "  In  the  Heathen  worships  also,  we 
find  no  doctrinal  controversies,  precisely  because  they  had  no  doctrine,  and  fun.ished 
no  subject-matter  for  thaught,  but  only  for  fancy  and  for  feeling.  Had  the  primi- 
tive Christians  been  so  like  the  Quakers,  as  the  latter  flatter  themselves,  Cbristianily 
would  have  long  since  disappeared.  For  this  depends  upon  a  doctrine  pronounced  by 
the  Supreme  intelligence  :  notions  and  ideas  lie  at  the  bottom  of  its  facts  ;  so  that, 
through  the  former,  it  calls  up  genuine  feelings  and  true  life.  I  have,  moreover,  sel- 
dom known  any  one,  who  censured  the  phraseology  of  the  Church,  without  ditcovcr- 
ing  at  the  same  time,  that  he  was  tolerably  indifferent  about  dogmas.  For  it  is  only 
m  a  very  few  cases,  that  a  reverence  for  the  Bible,  pushed  to  superstition,  leads  to  the 
Conduct  we  condemn,  and  which  would  hold  the  words  of  Scripture  alone  as  holy, 
and  every  thing  else  as  profane — a  superstition,  besides,  with  which  the  other  views 

31 


482  EXPOSITION  OF  DOCTRINAL  DIFFERENCES 

How  little,  in  fine,  their  peculiar  conceptions  of  Baptism,  the  Lord's 
supper,  and  divine  worship  in  general,  agree  with  the  essence  of  an  out" 
ward,  historical  Revelation,  and  with  the  nature  and  the  wants  of  the 
human  mind  (even  overlooking  here  their,  in  truth,  highly  afflicting 
distortion  of  Scriptural  testimonies  ;)  it  were  almost  needless  to  exam- 
ine. But  the  truth  to  be  found  in  their  doctrine  on.those  matters,  to 
wit,  that  baptism  is  no  mere  bodily  ablution,  but  a  baptism  by  fire  and 
the  Spirit,  and  that  the  Lord's  supper  should  lead  to  an  inward  com- 
munion with  God,  is  by  no  means  peculiar  to  these  sectaries.  What 
mortal  weariness,  vacancy  of  mind,  and  dullness  ;  what  sickly  fancies 
most  of  their  members  labor  under,  during  the  silence  in  their  religious 
meetings,  God  knows,  and  every  man  may  infer,  who  has  acquired  any 
knowledge  on  this  subject,  from  his  own  personal  observation,  or  the 
experience  of  others.*  In  order  to  draw,  from  itself,  food  for  medita- 
tion, great  extent  of  knowledge  and  great  ability— a  soul  perfectly  im- 
bued with  faith  are  requisite.  But  even  this  the  Quakers  will  not  have — ■ 
absolute  revelations  are  what  they  look  for,  during  that  silence.  The 
Divine  Spirit  annexes  its  inspirations  only  to  what  pre-exists  in  the 
soul ;  and  it  is  a  thorough  illusion,  though  easily  to  be  accounted  for, 
when  they  think  that  the  thoughts  and  the  feelings,  which  arise  during 
this  self-collectedness  of  the  spirit,  are  pure  and  immediate  creations  of 
the  inward  Light.f     On  the  contrary,  they  are  only  the  resuscitations 


of  the  Quakers,  as  to  Holy  Writ,  do  not  well  coincide.  They  do  not,  for  example, 
use  the  words  "  Trinity,"  "  Persons,"  and  the  rest,  when  they  speak  of  Father,  Son, 
and  Holy  Ghost,  and  their  mutual  relations  ;  but,  on  that  very  account,  their  doctrine, 
on  this  matter,  is  so  loose  and  indefinite,  that  Arians,  Sabellians,  Photinians,  and 
even  disciples  of  Paul  of  Samosata,  could  make  use  of  their  formulas  of  expression. 
No  occasion  is,  indeed,  furnished  for  disputes  ;  but  only  because  no  matter  exists  for 
investigation.  They  say,  "  they  find  the  word  '  Trinity'  neither  in  Justin  Martyr, 
nor  in  Irenoeus,  nor  in  Tertullian,  nor  in  Origen,  nor  in  the  Fathers  of  the  first  three 
centuries  of  the  Church."  p  314.  Truly,  if  they  will  not  read  the  books  of  these  fa- 
thers, they  will  find  nothing  in  them ;  for,  otherwise,  they  would  have  met  with  the 
word  in  question,  in  Theophilus  of  Antioch,  Tertullian,  Novatian,  Origen,  Dionysius 
of  Rome,  and  Dionysius  of  Alexandria. 

•  A  writer  observes  :  "  Hence  it  comes  to  pass,  that,  in  a  Quaker  meeting,  you 
find  a  museum  of  stupid  faces ;  and  yet,  among  the  members  of  that  meeting,  there 
are  but  very  few  blockheads.  Many  Quakers  appear,  like  Jacob,  to  expect  heavenly 
apparitions  in  sleep  ;  for,  in  every  Quaker  meeting,  I  have  found  sleepers.  Others 
sit  with  a  countenance,  on  which  weariness  herself  has  evidently  fixed  her  throne." 

f  Clarkson  (vol.  ii.  p.  146)  has  a  passage  which  gives  a  beautiful  and  instructive 
psychological  explanation  of  the  manner,  in  which  the  Quakers  arrived  at  their  opi- 
nion,  that,  without  any  exertion  of  the  human  mind,  higher  thoughts  and  feelings  are 
iimplanted  within  us.     The  fact,  that  not  seldom,  man  is  quite  involuntarily  raised  up 


BETWEEN  CATHOLICS  AND  PROTESTANTS.  4S3 

•^ofgood,  by  the  medium  of  what  has  long  pre-existed,  of  what  has  been 
•communicated  from  without,  and  inwardly  received  and  retained  by  the 
human  mind.  However  much  they  protest  against  human  agency,  they 
must  have  it  ^  and,  under  all  forms,  it  will  manifest  itself.  For  the 
little  ones,  in  mind  as  well  as  body,  such  a  religious  service  will,  in  cv- 
ery  instance,  be  totally  unproductive  of  fruit ;  and  the  illusion  that  the 


\o  God ;  that  without  any  Conscious  preparation  on  his  part,  he  sinks  into  religious 
meditations,  and  inwardly  rejoices  in  his  God  and  Redeemer,  furnished  them  occa*^ 
«ion  for  their  theory.  As  the  passage  we  have  in  view  evinces,  at  the  same  time, 
the  tender  feelings  of  the  Quakers,  we  think  it  expedient  to  cite  it.  "  The  Society," 
says  Clarkson,  "  considers  the  Spirit  not  only  as  teaching  by  inward  breathings,  as 
it  were  made  immediately  and  directly  upon  the  heart,  without  the  intervention  of 
outward  circumstances,  but,  as  making  the  material  objects  of  the  universe,  and  many 
of  the  occurrences  of  life,  if  it  be  properly  attended  to,  subservient  to  the  instruction 
of  man,  and  as  enlarging  the  sphere  of  his  instruction  in  this  manner,  in  proportion 
as  it  is  received  and  encouraged.  Thus,  the  man  who  is  attentive  to  these  divine 
notices,  sees  the  animal,  the  vegetable,  and  the  planetary  world  with  spiritual  eyes. 
He  cannot  stir  abroad,  but  he  is  taught  in  his  own  feelings,  without  any  motion  of  his 
will,  some  lesson  for  his  spiritual  advantage ;  or  he  perceives,  so  vitally,  some  of  the 
attributes  of  the  Divine  Being,  that  he  is  called  upon  to  offer  some  spiritual  incense 
to  his  Maker.  If  the  lamb  frolics  and  gambols  in  his  presence,  as  he  walks  along,  he 
may  be  made  spiritually  to  see  the  beauty  and  happiness  of  innocence.  If  he  finds 
the  stately  oak  laid  prostrate  by  the  wind,  he  may  be  spiritually  taught  to  discern  the 
emptiness  of  human  power  ;  while  the  same  Spirit  may  teach  him  inwardly  the  ad» 
vantage  of  humility,  when  he  looks  at  the  little  hawthorn,  which  has  survived  the 
storm.  When  he  sees  the  change  and  the  fall  of  the  autumnal  leaf,  he  may  be  spi. 
ritually  admonished  of  his  own  change  and  dissolution,  and  of  the  necessity  of  a  holy 
life.  Thus,  the  Spirit  of  God  may  teach  men  by  outward  objects  and  occurrences  in 
the  world.  But,  where  this  Spirit  is  away,  or  rather  where  it  is  not  attended  to  no 
such  lesson  can  be  taught.  Natural  objects,  of  themselves,  can  excite  only  natural 
ideas;  and  the  natural  man,  looking  at  them,  can  derive  only  natural  pleasure,  or 
draw  natural  conclusions  from  them.  In  looking  at  the  sun  he  may  be  pleased  with 
>ts  warmth,  and  anticipate  its  advantage  to  the  vegetable  world.  In  plucking 
and  examining  a  flower,  he  may  be  struck  with  its  beauty,  its  mechanism,  and  its 
fragrant  smell.  In  observing  the  butterfly,  as  it  wings  its  way  before  him,  he  may 
smile  at  its  short  journeys  from  place  to  place,  and  admire  the  splendour  upon  its 
wings.  But  the  beauty  of  Creation,  is  dead  to  him,  as  far  as  it  depends  upon  cou. 
necting  it  spiritually  with  the  character  of  God  ;  for,  no  spiritual  impression  can  arise 
from  any  natural  objects,  so  that  these  should  be  sanctified  to  him,  but  throuah  the 
intervention  of  the  Spirit  of  God." 

Great  and  important,  and  universally  admitted  truths  are  here  professed.  It  is 
only  to  him,  who  is  already  awakened  and  illuminated  by  Divine  Grace,  that  nature 
truly  testifies  of  God  and  of  all  things  divine  ;  nay,  every  particular  thought,  that 
springs  fresh  and  joyous  up  to  God,  and  warms  the  heart,  even  if  it  be  occasioned 
only  by  outward  objects,  is  still  excited  by  God's  grace.  But,  without  the  human 
spirit  and  its  concurrent  activity,  no  ray,  whether  it  light  on  us  from  without  or  from 
withiin,  can  possibly  impregnate;  and  this  truth  the  Quaker*  themselves  involuntaiiJj 


484         EXPOSITION  OF  DOCTRINAL  DIFf  EftfiNCfeS,  ^c. 

Divine  Spirit  here  evinces  an  absolute  creative  power,  is,  in  this  respeCtV 
most  strikingly  evident ;  for,  if  the  Quaker-view  be  correct,  what  hin^ 
ders  the  Spirit  from  selecting^  at  times,  a  child  six  weeks  old,  for  the  of- 
fice of  preaching  and  prayer  ?  If,  in  the  mind  of  man,  nothing  pre-ex- 
ist, to  which  the  spirit  can  annex  its  inspirations — if,  that  spirit  be  to 
create  all  anew,  a  child  can  then  surely  be  its  organ,  as  well  as  an  adult. 

What  the  Quakers  tell  respecting  the  struggle  between  the  Divine 
inward  Light,  and  the  powers  of  darkness,  that  during  their  religious 
assemblies,  seek  to  entangle  and  to  retain  them  in  worldly  distractions,- 
it  is  not  difficult  to  understand.  The  human  mind  can  enter,  far  more 
easily  and  more  deeply  into  its  own  interior,  and  be  brought  into  a 
more  beneficial  train  of  feelings,  when  it  fixes  its  attention  on  a  mat- 
ter, presented  to  it  from  without,  exercises  its  reflection  on  the  same, 
and  then  makes  an  independent  attempt  at  meditation. 

But,  according  to  the  method  adopted  by  the  Quakers,  it  is  only  the 
minds  of  very  few  that  can  remain  free  from  distractions  ;  whereupon 
fhey  are  naturally  thrown  into  great  anguish,  terror  and  trembling ;  so 
that  what  they  take  to  be  a  sign  of  the  proximity  and  visitation  of  the 
Divine  Spirit  subduing  the  powers  of  Satan,  is  an  evident  symptom  of 
the  perversity  of  the  whole  sect. 


admit,  since  they  must  annex  the  condition  :  "  who  is  attentive  to  these  Divine  no- 
tices,  who  sees  the  world  with  spiritual  eyes." 

Note  of  the  Author. 

We  see,  from  the  above-cited  passage  of  Clarkson,  how  on  this  point  also,  the  ten- 
der-thoughted  Quakers  approximate  to  our  ('hurch  ;  for  this  habit  of  making  nature 
a  medium  for  spiritual  contemplations,  is  one  recommended  and  practised  hy  Catholic 
ascetic  writers. — Trans. 


CHAPTER    III, 

THE    HERR^'HUTTERS,    OR    THE     COMMUNITY     OF    BROTHERS,     AND    THE 

METHODISTS. 


§  LxxiL — Historical  remarks. — The  Moravian  brethren. 

The  doctrinal  peculiarities  of  the  party,  to  which  we  are  now  to  de- 
vote our  attention,  were  formed  out  of  the  union  of  the  principles  of 
the  Moravian  brethren,  with  those  of  Spener's  pietistic  school.  It  will, 
therefore,  be  incumbent  on  us,  in  the  first  place,  to  give  a  short  account 
of  the  two  last-named  religious  parties.  In  despite  of  all  attempts  to 
bring  about  a  union  between  the  Catholics  and  the  Hussites,  a  consid- 
erable number  of  the  latter  continued  separated  from  the  Church,  down 
to  the  period  of  the  Reformation,  which  inspired  them  with  new  hopes, 
and  infused  fresh  life  and  youthful  vigour  into  their  body. 

The  Hussites  and  Luther  early  recognized  their  spiritual  affinity,  and 
entered  into  a  close  outward  union  with  each  other;  in  consequence 
whereof,  the  former  embraced  the  doctrinal  views  of  the  latter,  as  being 
the  stronger  party.  The  doctrine  of  the  non-united  Hussites  needed,  in 
fact,  a  considerable  change,  to  enable  them  to  join  with  the  German  re- 
former ;  for  John  Huss  and  Martin  Luther,  however  they  might  agree, 
in  their  notions  of  the  Church  and  the  necessity  of  a  Reformation,  that 
would  undermine  its  fundamental  law,  were  yet,  in  some  essential  doc- 
trines, diametrically  opposed.  We  shall  now  take  a  brief  survey  of  the 
mutual  relations  between  Luther  and  the  later  Hussites,  who  under  the 
name  of  the  Bohemian  and  Moravian  Brethren  protracted  their  exist- 
ence. 

The  Bohemian  Church-Reformer  had  no  idea  of  that  doctrine  of  jus- 
tification, put  forth  by  the  Saxon  ;  and,  accordingly,  his  view  of  human 
works  and  conduct  was  essentially  different.  Huss  laid  down  the  most 
rigid  maxims,  in  matters  of  ecclesiastical  discipline  ;  of  whose  imprac- 
ticable severity  we  may  form  an  idea,  when  we  recall  to  mind,  that 
among  the  four  conditions,  which  his  disciples  proposed  to  the  Catholics, 
as  a  basis  for  a  reunion,  there  was  one,  that  all  mortal  sins,  under  which 
they  included  "gluttony,  drunkenness,  incontinence,  lying,  perjury, 
usury,  the  receiving  of  any  money  for  mass  and  confession,  and  the 
like,"  should  be  punished  with  death  !  A  party  among  them  even  de- 
sired that  the  power  of  inflicting  the  penalty  of  death  on  any  one,  whom 


48G  EXPOSITION  OF  DOCTRINAL  DIFFERENCES 

he  should  see  polluted  with  one  of  the  above-mentioned  sins,  should  be 
conceded  to  every  private  individual.  Huss,  doubtless,  had  not  pro- 
ceeded to  such  lengths  in  his  reforming  zeal ;  yet,  the  excitement  he 
raised,  was  of  a  nature  necessarily  calculated  to  lead  to  such  unheard-of 
excesses  of  fanatacism.  That  no  prince,  or  prelate  guilty  of  any  griev- 
ous sin,  is  entitled  to  obedience,  was  even  an  opinion  formally  inculca- 
ted by  Huss.  With  such  passionate  exclusiveness,  did  these  sectaries 
turn  to  the  practical  side  of  religion,  that,  not  content  with  the  demand 
just  adverted  to,  they  had  also  the  assurance  to  require  of  Catholics,  to 
hold  as  a  heathen  any  man  who  should  let  himself  be  nominated  mas- 
ter of  the  liberal  arts,  as  well  as  to  annihilate  all  scientific  institutions. 
The  soothing  influence  of  time,  maturer  reflection  on  the  constitution 
of  human  nature,  and  a  calmer  temper  of  mind — brought  about  by  want 
and  misery — produced,  however,  by  degrees,  many  in  all  respects  bene- 
ficial changes  among  the  disciples  of  Huss.  On  the  other  hand,  those 
among  them,  who  were  known  under  the  name  of  the  Bohemian  and 
Moravian  brethren,  adopted,  in  their  intercourse  with  the  Waldenses» 
doctrinal  errors,  totally  unknown  to  Huss,  as  well  as  to  the  Calixtines 
and  their  ecclesiastical  head,  Roxyccana.  From  the  latter,  who,  by  de- 
grees, were  to  be  distinguished  from  Catholics  merely  by  a  ritual  differ- 
ence— the  use  of  the  cup  in  communion — the  Bohemian  and  Moravian 
brethren,  separated  in  the  year  1450,  denied  (if  we  may  at  least  so  infer 
from  an  apology  published  in  the  year  1508,  and  from  some  earlier 
documents)  not  only  the  doctrine  of  transubstantiation,  but  also  that  of 
the  corporal  presence  of  Christ  in  the  Eucharist ;  and  professed,  if  any 
definite  meaning  is  to  be  drawn  from  their  expressions,  nearly  the  same 
theory,  as  was  afterwards  put  forth  by  Calvin  on  this  subject.  They 
retained,  moreover,  the  seven  sacraments,  yet,  as  we  may  conceive, 
without  admitting  Catholic  ordination  ;  since  Christ,  according  to  them, 
is  the  immediate  source  of  all  ecclesiastical  power.  Lastly,  they  reject- 
ed purgatory  and  the  veneration  of  samts.  They  were  ever  distin- 
guished by  a  very  rigid  moral  discipline,  and  by  the  vigorous  use  of 
excommunication.  According  to  the  custom  of  the  old  Waldenses, 
they  numbered  three  classes — the  beginners,  the  advancing,  and  the 
perfect ;  and  according  to  the  measure  of  his  spiritual  growth,  placed  the 
individual  ia  one  of  these  grades.  These  are  now  the  doctrinal  and 
the  disciplinary  peculiarities  of  those  Hussites,  denominated  Bohemian 
and  Moravian  Brothers,  and  at  the  moment,  indeed,  when  they  formed 
a  conjunction  with  Luther. 

Contrary  to  his  usual  course,  Luther  treated  with  great  indulgence, 
t'le  opinion  of  "  the  Brothers  '*  on  the  Lord's  Supper,  and  thereby  ser- 
ved his  own  ends  uncommonly  well     For  they  agreed,  in  the  year 


BETWEEN  CATHOLICS   AND   PROTESTANTS.  487 

1536,  to  subscribe  to  the  belief  in  the  presence  of  Christ's  body  and 
blood  in  the  Eucharist,*  and  adopted  the  fundamental  points  in  the  Lu- 
theran doctrine  of  justification  ;  though,  on  the  necessity  of  sanctifica- 
tion  and  of  good  works,  they  held  a  far  more  distinct  and  forcible  lan- 
guage than  Luther-t  Tliis  occurred  in  a  public  confession,  delivered 
to  King  Ferdinand.  From  this  time,  the  league  between  the  Brothers  of 
Wittemberg  and  of  Bohemia  was  solemnly  concluded,  and  Luther  formed 
a  very  advantageous  opinion  of  the  latter.  In  the  preface,  which  he  pre- 
fixed to  the  edition  of  their  symbolical  writing,  just  adverted  to,  he  says, 
"  he  had  formerly  been  ashamed  of  the  Picards,"  (for  so  his  present 
friends  were  once  called,)  "  but  now,  they  were  much  more  agreeable, 
courteous,  he  might  say,  sounder,  corrector,  and  better  in  their  conduct." 
It  by  no  means  redounded  to  their  dishonour,  that  they  sent  an  embassy 
to  Luther,  with  the  purpose  of  calling  his  attention  to  the  scandalous 
morals  of  his  disciples,  and  of  strongly  urging  on  him  the  necessity  of 
a  reformation  in  this  matter.  "  The  Bohemian  Brothers,"  (these  are  the 
words  of  Francis  Buddeus,  the  Lutheran  theologian,)  "as  they  easily 
perceived  that  in  the  Reformation  much  importance  was  not  attached  to 
strictness  in  matters  of  discipline  and  conduct,  thought  they  were  justi- 
fied to  press,  by  a  new  embassy,  this  subject  on  Luther's  attention."^ 
Even  the  fact,  that  the  Bohemian  Brothers  constantly  retained  eccle- 
siastical celibacy,  under  the  conviction  that,  thereby,  their  ministers 
could,  with  less  impediment,  live  up  to  their  calling,  did  not  tend  to  dis- 
turb the  harmony  of  the  new  associates.  Subsequently  (in  the  year 
1575)  the  union  between  the  theologians  of  Wittemberg  and  the  Bohe- 
mian Brothers  was  renewed,  yet,  without  leading  to  a  formal  and  out- 
ward communion  between  the  two  Churches. 

However  courteous  and  agreeable  Luther  might  find  the  Picards 
(their  readiness  to  embrace  his  doctrine  did  not  certainly  a  little  con- 
tribute to  produce  this  favourable  impression),  the  Austrian  government 

*  Confess.  Boheraica  Art.  xiii.  in  Augusti  (loc.  cit.  part  ix.  p.  20.5.)  "  Item  et 
hie  corde  credendum  ac  ore  confitendum  docent,  panem  ccenae  dominicEB,  verum 
Christi  corpus  esse,  quod  pro  nobis  traditum  est,  calicemque  verum  sanguinem  ejus, 
etc-  Docent  etiam,  quod  his  Christi  verbis,  quibus  ipse  panem  corpus  suum,  ct  vi- 
num  speciatira  sanguinem  suum  esse  pronunciat,  nemo  de  suo  quidquam  affingat, 
admisceat,  aut  detrabat,  sed  simphciter  his  Christi  verbis,  neque  ad  dextcram  neque 
ad  sinistram  declinando  credat." 

t  Art.  vi.  p  284.     Compare  Art.  xi.  p   300, 

t  "  Thoughts  on  the  Constitution  of  the  Moravian  Brothers,"  by  Francis  Buddeus, 
in  Count  von  Zinzendorfs  smaller  writings.  Frankfort  on  the  Main,  p.  22!),  1740. 
"  The  principal  work  on  this  period  of  the  Hussites,  is  Joachimi  Camerarii  Historica 
Narratio  de  fratrum  orthodjxorjm  Ecclesiis  in  Bohemia,  Moravia  et  Polonia." 
Heidelberg,  1C03. 


488  EXPOSITION  OF  DOCTRINAL  DIFFERENCES 

did  not  experience  from  these  sectaries,  such  dispositions  towards  itself^ 
as  to  induce  it  lo  show  them  any  marks  of  pecuHar  favour.  In  the  sect, 
a  deep  hatred  to  the  Imperial  House  continued  to  glow,  and,  on  every 
occasion,  broke  out  with  the  most  hostile  fury.  Hence,  its  members 
saw  themselves  compelled,  from  time  to  time,  to  emigrate  ;  they  betook 
themselves  to  Poland,  where  they  became  acquainted  with  the  peculiar 
errors  of  thu  Reformed,  and  even  with  those  of  the  Anabaptists.  Even 
so  late  as  at  the  commencement  of  the  eighteenth  century,  the  stream 
of  emigration  from  Bohemia  and  Moravia  still  continued  to  flow.  Sev- 
eral emigrants  from  the  latter  country  settled,  in  the  year  1722,  on  the 
estates  of  Count  von  Zinzendorf,  in  Lusatia,  and  principally  at  a  place 
called  the  Hut-berg.  Discontented  Protestants  also,  Lutherans  and 
Calvinists,  repaired  thither,  in  order  to  preserve  the  freedom  of  religious 
worship.     The  settlement  itself  was  called  Herrnhut. 


§  Lxxiii. — Continuation  of  the  same  subject.     Spener  and  the  Pietists. 

We  have  now  reached  the  point,  where  we  have  to  mention  a  reli- 
gious movement,  among  the  German  Lutherans,  a  movement,  with 
which  the  Bohemian  brothers  came  into  immediate  contact,  and  which 
gave  a  new  shape  to  their  existence.  Philip  James  Spener,  born  at 
Rappoltsweiler,  in  Alsace,  in  the  year  1635,  censured;  in  the  theology 
of  his  German  fellow-religionists,  the  want  of  a  scriptural  basis — a 
heartless  and  spiritless  attention  to  mere  dead  formula.? — the  absence  of 
all  warmth,  unction,  and  interior  spirit — and,  as  a  necessary  conse. 
quence,  the  most  evident  sterility  in  regard  to  practical  life,  where  he 
lamented  the  prevalence  of  moral  laxity  and  grossness.  In  the  sermons 
of  his  day,  he  found  only  the  successful  echo  of  academical  lectures ; 
a  polemical  violence,  dogmatizing  drj^ness,  petrifying  coldness  ;  an  in- 
capacity so  to  treat  the  doctrines  of  faith,  as  to  move  the  heart  and  will ; 
and  in  the  great  majority  of  preachers,  men  who  had  never  experienced 
the  regenerating  power  of  the  Gospel,  and  who  did  not  even  hold  such 
to  bs  necessary,  in  order  to  draw  down  a  blessing  on  their  announcement 
of  the  Divine  word  ;  for,  as  to  the  calling  of  a  pastor,  they  entertained 
totally  mistaken  notions.*  Spener,  however,  was  far  from  ascribing  all 
the  abuses,  to  a  mere  accidental  error  of  his  time.     On  the  contrary,  his 


*  In  these  and  still  stronger  colours,  do  Protestants  themselves  depict  those  times. 
Compare  the  work  entitled,  "  Philip  James  Spener  and  his  Times,"  an  historical 
narrative  by  William  Hosbach,  evangelical  preacher  at  the  Jerusalem  Church  at 
Berlin.     Berlin,  1828.     Part  i.  p.  1-185. 


BETWEEN  CATHOLICS  AND  PROTESTANTS.  489 

unprejudiced  judgment  and  acute  perception  discovered,  in  the  funda- 
mental doctrines  of  his  Church,  a  strong  occasion  to  such  abuse?, 
although  he  never  openly  confessed,  that  the  former  necessarily  led  to 
the  disorders  of  his  age,  and,  under  a  self-delusion,  even  imagined  he 
was  only  reviving  the  original  maxims  of  the  Reformation.  On  the 
nature  of  faith  and  its  relation  to  works  ;  on  the  reference  of  both  to 
salvation;  on  the  possibility  of  fulfilling  the  Divine  commandments; 
on  the  moral  perfection  of  man,  as  required  by  the  Gospel,  and  on  the 
extent  and  the  depth  of  the  purifying  and  sanctifying  power  of  the 
Divine  Spirit,  in  the  souls  of  the  Faithful ;  in  like  manner,  on  the  rela- 
tion between  nature  and  grace,  and  the  co-operation  of  man  ;  on  all 
these  subjects,  we  say,  Spener  entertained  opinions,  which  ran  directly 
counter  to  the  principles  of  the  symbolical  books,  and  especially  to  the 
errors  of  Luther. 

During  his  ministry  in  the  cities  of  Strasburg,  Frankfort,  Dresden, 
and  Berlin,  Spener,  in  opposition  to  that  dead,  heartless  course,  above 
described,  followed  up  his  system  with  the  most  abundant  success,  and 
in  several  writings,  especially  in  a  work  entitled  Pia  desideria,  which 
appeared  in  the  year  1675,  he  frankly  stated  his  convictions,  before  all 
Protestant  Germany.  Many  and  influential  as  were  the  adversaries  he 
found,  who  took  the  Lutheran  orthodoxy  under  their  protection  ;  ho- 
nourably and  openly  as  the  theological  faculty  of  Wittemberg  pointed 
out  the  contradictions  into  which  he  had  fallen,  with  the  fundamental 
doctrine  of  his  Church,  publicly  characterising  as  erroneous  the  opinion 
of  Spener,  that  regeneration  consisted  in  the  transformation  of  the  whole 
man,  and  censuring  him,  for  describing  faith  without  holiness  of  life,  as 
a  deceptions  faith,  for  representing  the  good  works  of  the  true  and  living 
believer  as  perfect,  and  for  declaring  absolution  from  sins,  without  true 
and  hearty  repentance,  to  be  ineffectual,  and  so  forth ;  in  despite  of  all 
these  censures,  Spener  won,  ever  more  and  more,  on  public  opinion, 
and  as  subsequent  events  ever  more  clearly  evinced,  shook  the  founda- 
tions of  Lutheran  orthodoxy  in  Germany.*     When  Doctor  Deutschman 


*  See  Hosbach's  "  Spener  and  his  Tim'3s."  Part.  ii.  p.  61  ^especially  p.  221.232,) 
where  the  differences  between  the  Orthodox  Lutherans  and  Spener,  on  the  point  of 
justification,  are  explained;  but  he  will  not  even  concede  to  the  former,  the  merit  of 
having  vindicated  the  orthodox  doctrine  of  tlie  Lutheran  Church-  Hosbach  will 
pardon  us,  if,  while  we  pay  a  just  tribute  of  acknowledorment  to  his  various  learning, 
his  historical  art,  and  his  deeper  religions  feelings,  we  tell  him  that  he  does  not  accu- 
rately understand  the  Lutheran  orthodoxy.  Almost  all  the  definitions,  which  he 
gives  of  the  doctrines  here  discussed,  are  wanting  in  precision ;  so  that  we  are  not  at 
all  surprised,  when  he  asserts,  at  p.  229,  that  the  wh(jle  controversy  is  a  mere  strife 
of  words.     But  the  theologians  of  Wittemberg,  as  also  Schclwig  of  Lcii,zig,  knew, 


490  EXPOSITION  OF  DOCTRINAL  DIFFERENCES 

of  Wittemberg,  together  with  his  colleagues  Loscher,  Hannecken,  and 
Neumann,  censured  in  so  German  (Deutsch)  a  manner  the  doctrines  of 


very  well,  that  the  question  turned  on  things,  and  not  on  words.  At  p.  244,  we  find, 
on  the  question  of  the  necessity  of  works,  a  judgment  pronounced  in  favour  of  Spe- 
ncr,  wliich  is  expressly  condemned  by  the  "  Formulary  of  Concord."  At  p.  240,  the 
author  asserts  :  "This  intemperate  zeal  led  the  orthodox  theologians  to  hazard  many 
strange  and  utterly  untenable  propositions:  for  instance,  as  when  the  Divines  of 
Wittemberg,  in  contradiction  to  Spener,  said,  the  Christian  cannot  at  all  fulfil  the 
law,  and  in  general,  can  perform  no  good  works ;  whereupon  Spener  replied,  that  it 
was  a  stigma  on  the  Lutheran  Church,  to  have  teachers,  who  could  venture  on  such 
an  assertion,  and  thus  absolutely  to  contradict  Luther,  as  well  as  the  Symbolical 
Books ;  (!;  or  when  these  divines  dared  to  put  forth  the  proposition,  that  the  good 
works  of  the  regenerate  were  not  so  much  really  good,  as  only  less  evil  than  sin 
itself ;  or  when  they  called  on  the  Pietists,  to  prove  from  Scripture  and  experience, 
that  any  regenerated  man  has  constantly  kept  himself  free  from  all  predominant 
sins,  and  when  they,  at  the  same  time,  asserted,  that  to  refrain  from  all  deliberate 
and  mortal  sins,  during  his  whole  life,  was  an  impossibility  even  for  the  regenerated 
man."  These  assertions  of  the  orthodox  Lutherans  arc,  undoubtedly,  when  con. 
sidcred  from  the  Scriptural  point  of  view,  strange  and  untenable.  But  how,  on  the 
other  hand,  within  the  pale  of  the  Lutheran  Church,  they  can  be  considered  strange 
and  untenable,  we  are  at  a  loss  to  understand  ;  nay,  it  was  Spener's  doctrine  that  was 
there  singular  and  strange,  and  contrary  to  the  Symbolical  writings,  on  which  the 
whole  dispute  hinged.  Had  Spener  shaken  off  the  authority  of  Luther  and  of  the 
Symbolical  books,  then,  indeed,  in  his  controversy  with  the  orthodox  theologians,  on 
the  above-mentioned  questions,  he  woald  have  had  full  right  on  his  side  ;  but,  as  in 
his  defence,  he  rested  on  the  authority  of  the  former,  asserting  them  to  be  only  erro- 
neously understood  by  his  opponents,  he  was  clearly  in  the  wrong.  The  accounts  of 
the  Protestant  Church  Historians — Walch,  Schrockh,  and  many  others,  labour  under 
the  same  defect,  which  we  here  charge  on  Hossbach. 

It  was  only  respecting  tlie  Church — the  universal  priesthood  of  all  believers,  and 
the  subjects  connected  therewith,  Spener  entertained  Luther's  earliest  principles,  as 
the  latter  set  them  forth  in  his  Instruction  to  the  Bohemians.  Hence,  when  the 
Theological  P'aculty  of  Wittemberg,  enumerated  among  Spener's  errors  the  following 
ones: — namely, '  that  he  regarded  the  symbolical  books  as  mere  human  writings, 
whose  authors  God  indeed  preserved  from  errors,  but  in  which,  however,  things  not 
conformable  to  the  Divine  Word  might  be  found :  that  he  declared  believers  free 
from  all  human  authority,  in  matters  of  faith ;  that  he  held  not  the  Church,  but  Ho- 
ly  Writ,  to  be  the  sole  keeper  of  God's  Word,  and  asserted,  that  the  Church  had  done 
well  to  frame  no  new  symbolical  writings  ;"  so  it  is  evident  that  Spener,  in  order  to 
justify  his  own  opposition  against  the  Lutheran  Church,  defended  the  very  same 
opinions,  which  Luther  proclaimed,  when  he  unfurled  the  banner  of  opposition  against 
the  Catholic  Church.  But,  as  the  Lutheran  Church  held  the  system  of  belief,  com- 
niunicated  to  it  by  Luther,  as  irreformable,  (which  must  ever  be  the  case,  so  long  as 
any  belief,  however  erroneous,  exists  ;)  so  Spener  departed  from  the  faith  of  the 
Church  founded  by  Luther ;  and  when  the  theologians  of  Wittemberg  urged  this 
charge  against  him,  they  were  decidedly  in  the  right.  In  short,  here,  too,  is  discern, 
ible,  that  inconsistency,  inherent  in  the  very  essence  of  Protestantism,  wherein  men 


BETWEEN  CATHOLICS  AND  PROTESTANTS.  491 

Spener,  their  conduct  should  not  have  been  so  ill  interpreted.     "Who 
was  able  to  show,  that  they  had  not  endeavoured  to  uphold  the  pure  doc- 
.  trine  of  Luther  ? 

Doubtless,  Spener,  that  remarkable  and  meritorious  man,  had  very 
great  defects.  Of  the  inward  nature  and  importance  of  the  Church,  he 
entertained  only  very  confined  views,  and  promoted,  in  a  great  degree, 
a  spirit  of  opposition  to  all  ecclesiastical  institutions.  However  much 
he  insisted  on  a  living  faith,  rooted  in  the  regenerate  will,  yet,  he  threat- 
ened it  with  utter  destruction,  by  diffusing  a  certain  disgust  for  all  defi- 
nite and  settled  religious  notions,  for  the  enlightenment  of  the  under- 
standing, and  by  misapprehending  the  real  value  of  a  sound  intellectu- 
al culture.  Hereby,  too,  he  not  only  introduced  the  sickly,  trifling, 
sentimentalising  spirit  of  the  Pietists,  but  also  prepared  the  way,  for  a 
most  pernicious  indifference  to  all  dogmas.  His  views,  respecting  phi- 
losophy and  speculative  theology,  were,  in  like  manner,  extremely  nar- 
row and  illiberal.  In  Spener's  mental  cultivation  we  discover,  with- 
out doubt,  a  certain  universality,  which  preserved  him,  personally,  from 
great  aberrations  ;  but  the  mystical  tendency,  which  in  him  was,  by 
far,  the  most  predominant,  was  rarely  transmitted  to  his  disciples,  with 
the  counteracting  qualifications  ;  and  so,  among  the  latter,  errors  of  ev- 
ery kind  could  not  fail  to  ensue.  Lastly,  a  tincture  of  an  arrogant  spi- 
rit of  sectarianism,  is  undeniably  manifest  in  Spener.  However  much 
he  might  be  in  the  right,  when  he  characterised  the  whole  Protestant 
Church,  as  "  the  outward,  corrupt  body,"  it  did  not  thence  follow, 
"  that  one  should  leave  it  and  bid  it  adieu,"  and  be  content  with  gath- 
ering together  "  a  little  Church  within  a  Church."  It  was  from  this 
presumptuous  view,  which  was  mixed  up  with  his  well-meant  efforts,  that 
in  part  proceeded  his  Collegia  Plefaiis,  or  associations  "  of  some  pious 
souls"  for  special  edification,  which  were  established,  in  the  year  1670, 
during  his  abode  at  Frankfort,  and  from  which  the  name  of  Pietists  has 
been  derived.  These  form,  without  absolutely  seceding  from  the  Lu- 
theran Church,  a  closer  association  among  themselves  ;  and  are,  with 
all  their  one-sided  views,  their  manifold  pedantry,  their  hypocrisy,  and 
often  hollow,  fantastic,  and  canting  piety,  the  real  salt  of  that  Church. 
What  more  especially  characterises  the  Pietists,  is  the  opinion,  which 
Spener  himself,  however,  impugned  ;  that  the  true  believer  must  be  con- 
scious of  the  moment  wherein  his  justification  (the  illapse  of  grace)  has 


are  to  believe  indeed,  but  at  the  same  time  not  believe,  that  their  belief  is  infallible; 
in  other  words,  that  they  have  absolute  and  immutable  possession  of  revealed  truth. 
By  requiring  us  to  believe  in  the  fallibility  of  our  belief,  a  principle  destructive  to  all 
faith,  is  conjoined  with  it. 


492  EXPOSITION  OF  DOCTRINAL  DIFFERENCES 

taken  place.  That  it  is  very  easy  to  perceive  this  moment,  they  enter- 
tain not  the  slightest  doubt,  for,  they  are  of  opinion,  that  every  indivi- 
dual must,  for  once,  be  afflicted  with  the  anguish  of  despair  at  the  Di- 
vine judgments  ;  whereupon  the  solace  through  faith  arises,  and  produ- 
ces a  sense  of  joy  and  felicity,  that  gladdens  with  super-mundane  ful- 
ness the  heart  of  man,  a  sense  whereof,  previously,  he  had  no  antici- 
pation. This  opinion  may  be  attended  with  the  worst  spiritual  conse- 
quences. For  those,  who  are  not  and  cannot  be  conscious  of  such  a 
moment,  as  having  in  childhood, been  blessed  with  a  Christian  education, 
the  doctrines  of  the  Gospel  have  made  so  deep  and  vivid  an  impression 
on  their  hearts,  that,  on  one  hand,  they  have  ever  loved  God  as  the 
all-merciful,  and,  on  the  other,  have  never  been  guilty  of  grievous  trans- 
gressions ;  these,  we  say,  may,  on  that  account,  be  easily  precipitated 
into  an  agitation  of  soul  bordering  on  despair,  because  these  terrors  of  des- 
peration, and  this  frightful  torment  of  the  conscience,  for  the  violation 
of  the  moral  law,  will  not  arise  ;  yet  these  terrors,  and  this  anguish,  are 
represented  as  the  universal  condition  to  the  true  peace  of  the  soul,  and 
the  joy  in  God  and  Christ.  Or,  should  any  one,  by  artificial  means, 
bring  on  this  anguish  of  the  soul,  what  will  be  the  consequence,  but  that 
his  whole  inward  life  will  be  the  sport  of  illusion  and  self-deception. 
Who  doth  not  perceive  that  all  these  conceptions  are  only  a  further  de- 
velopment of  the  course  of  justification,  traced  out  by  Luther  ?  His 
individual  experience  he  exalted  into  an  universal  law,  and  in  such  a 
way,  indeed,  that,  for  instance,  he  wrote  to  Wittemberg,  from  the  cas- 
tle ofWartburg,  on  the  subject  of  the  Anabaptists,  and  their  new  rev- 
elations, that  they  should  be  examined  as  to  whether  they  had  endur- 
ed those  violent  spiritual  struggles  ;  and,  on  the  result  of  that  investi- 
gation he  wished  to  make  the  recognition  of  their  divine  mission,  in 
part  at  least,  depend.  If  we  consider,  moreover,  that  Duther  maintain- 
ed, that  it  was  only  on  man's  return  to  God,  his  spiritual  organism  be- 
came again  complete,  we  shall  see  that  his  doctrine,  necessarily,  led  to 
the  error,  that  every  believer  must  be  able  accurately  to  mark  the  day, 
hour,  and  minute,  when  his  moral  renovation  took  place.  With  the 
doctrine  of  an  objective  communication  of  grace,  through  holy  baptism, 
this  error  is,  doubtless,  totally  incompatible  ;  for  the  Divine  Spirit,  once 
received,  cannot,  in  every  instance,  remain  fruitless  in  respect  to  the  ul- 
terior progress  of  man.  But,  it  was  precisely  such  an  objective  com- 
munication of  the  Spirit,  that  Luther  originally  rejected,  when  he  most 
spoke  of  these  struggles  of  desperation. 


lifiTVVEEN  CATHOLICS  AND  PROtESf  ANTg.  493 


$  ixxiv. — Combination  of  the  doctrinal  peculiarities  of  the  Moravians  and  the  Pie* 

tists. 

In  this  Pietiatic  school,  and,  indeed,  in  one  of  its  principal  seats — in 
Halle,  where  the  opinions  of  Spener  had  been  promulgated,  from  the 
academic  chair^^ — Count  Lewis  von  Zinzendorf,*  and  his  friends,  Fred- 
erick von  Watteville,  and  Spangenberg,  who  were  the  souls,  and  suc- 
cessively the  Bishops,  of  the  Moravian  Brethren,  assembled  in  Hernn- 
hut,  received,  in  the  leading  points  at  least,  their  religious  education. 
The  one-sided,  practical  spirit,  and  the  sectarian  arrogance,  which  the 
above-named  leaders  and  partisans  brought,  in  an  equal  degree,  into 
the  society,  formed  the  element  connecting  the  two  parties.  The  Bo- 
hemian Brothers  brought  a  rigid  external  discipline,  as  their  peculiar 
characteristic  ;  and  Zinzendorf,  Watteville,  and  Spangenberg,  "  the  so- 
called  theology  of  the  cross  and  blood."  The  peculiar  doctrines  of  the 
Harrnhutters  seem  to  have  been  composed   of  these  three  elements. 

In  consequenceof  the  one-sided,  practical  tendency  we  have  describ- 
ed, and  which  was  common  to  both  parties,  Count  Zinzendorf  was  ena- 
bled to  persuade  his  vassals,  who  were  divided  by  many  differences  in 
matters  of  faith,  especially  by  the  Moravian,  Calvinistic,  and  Lutheran 
tenets,  to  disregard  the  prevailing  diversities  of  opinion,  as  they  yet 
agreed  in  "  the  fundamental  articles,"  and  to  induce  the  Moravian  Bro- 
thers to  follow  his  advice.  Zinzendorf  really  entertained  the  notion, 
that  all,  who  merely  believed  in  redemption,  through  the  blood  of 
Christ,  were  of  one  faith,  as  if  this  doctrine  could  even  be  believed,  and 
maintained  unconnected  with  oth  r  dogmas.  To  remove,  however,  as 
far  as  possible,  all  injurious  consequences  and  evil  reports,  he  divided 
his  community  into  three  tropes — the  Lutheran,  the  Calvinistic,  and 
the  Moravian.  With  reason  did  the  Lutherans  accuse  the  society  of  a 
doctrinal  indifferentism,  and  assail  it  on  all  sides-f 


*  Rf'specting  Zinzendorf,  the  reader  may  consult  the  verj  lively,  and  even  impart 
tial  sketch  of  him,  which  Yarnhagcn  von  Ense  has  traced  in  his  work,  entitled  Lcben 
des  Grafen  von  Zinzendorf  Berlin,  1830.  Spangenberg  left  behind  him  a  large 
work  on  Zinzendorf;  smaller  ones  were  composed  by  Reichel  and  Duvernoy.  He 
was  born  at  Dresden  in  the  year  17U0,  and  died  in  1760. 

+  To  the  well-known  judgment  of  the  Faculty  of  Tiibbigen  on  the  Herrnhutters, 
Zinzendorf  remarks  vp.  2(J5,  Collection  of  his  smaller  writings:)  "He  (Melanc 
thon)  required  unity  only  on  the  principal  articles,  and  if  these  principal  articles 
were  but  once  settled,  then  the  matter  might  be  so  arranged,  that  men  could  bear  and 
communicate,  and  unite  with  each  other.  But  every  man  will  make  his  own  pointy 
forsooth,  a  secondary  point,  when  he  is  charged  with  heresy,  and  every  hccreti/ea;  of 


494  EXPOSITION  OF  DOCTRINAL  DIFFERENCES 

That  Zinzendorf  also  wished  to  found  the  community  of  Herrnhut- 
ters,  on  the  basis  of  sectarian  pride,  is  proved  by  many  incidents  in  hig 
life,  as  well  as  by  the  strongest  declarations  on  his  part.  He,  too,  look- 
ed upon  the  Lutheran  Church,  as,  on  the  whole,  irrecoverably  lost ; 
and  all  his  eflbrts  were  directed  to  the  planting,  every  where,  branches 
of  the  community  of  Brothers,  into  which  the  yet  sound  portion  of  Lu* 
therans  might  be  received,  while  the  by  far  larger  incurable  remnant 
mio'ht  be  suffered  to  perish.  "The  Lutheran  Church,  in  his  words, 
was  to  be  so  sucked  out,  unsalted,  unspiced,  that  nothing  but  a  mere 
skeleton  should  remain."*  Even  subscription  to  the  Augsburg  Con- 
fession he  delayed  till  the  year  1748. 

In  virtue  "  of  the  cross  and  blood  theology,"  (a  favourite  expression 
with  the  Herrnhutters  themselves,  but  which  has  been  ridiculed  by  mo- 
dern Protestants,  in  a  very  unchristian  manner,)  the  disciples  of  Zin- 
zendorf  were,  in  their  public  discourses  and  writings,  almost  exclusive- 
ly occupied,  with  the  exposition  and  meditation  on  the  bloody  death  of 
our  Redeemer  on  the  cross.  The  death  of  Jesus  Christ  being  the  cen- 
tre-point of  the  Chrstian  faith,  the  religious  discourse  of  Christians, 
though  not  always  expressly,  should  certainly,  by  implication,  ever  pro- 
ceed from,  and  revert  to  this  cardinal  mystery.  The  Herrnhutters,  in- 
deed, represent  the  great  sacrifice  of  atonement,  offered  up  for  us  too 
exclusively,  in  its  immediate,  outward  form,  and  do  not  sufficiently 
bring  out  its  idea,  through  the  medium  of  reflection.  Wishing  to  fos- 
ter sensibility,  they  strive,  too  exclusively,  to  picture  the  external  fact 
of  the  crucifixion  to  the  fancy  ;  and  thus  it  cannot  fail  to  happen,  that 
they  revolve  in  a  very  narrow,  uniform  circle  of  expressions,  and  figura- 
tive  representations,  which  frequently  produce  only  undefined,  hollow, 
and  empty  sentiments.  It  should  never,  however,  have  been  denied, 
that  from  this  theology,  the  Herrnhutters,  especially  in  the  first  period 
of  their  history,  which  was  most  obnoxious  to  censure,  derived  a  moral 
energy,  highly  deserving  of  esteem,  and  which,  in  their  missionary  la- 
bours, displays  itself  under  the  most  favourable  aspect.  But  yet,  there 
were  not  wanting  among  them  deeper  emotions,  and  beautiful  eviden- 
ces of  experience  in  the  interior  life,  as,  to  furnish  a  proof  of  this,  we 


his  opponent's  doctrine  will  make  that  a  fundamental  error."  How  productive  this 
idea  might  have  become,  had  it  been  only  adhered  to  !  The  views  expressed  by 
Zinzendorf,  in  regard  to  Cathohcs,  on  occasion  of  the  persecutions  he  had  to  endure 
from  the  Lutherans,  are  ■well  entitled  to  attention. —  See  his  life  by  Varnhagen,  pp.  49, 
143,  and  elsewhere. 

*  Compare  Bengel's  Life  and  Ministry.  By  Frederick  Buck,  p.  380,  Stutgart^ 
1831.  From  p.  276  to  402,  the  relation  of  Bengel  to  the  Community  of  Brothers  is 
yery  well  pointed  out. 


BETWEEN  CATHOLICS  AND  PROTESTANTS,  495 

»nay  appeal  to  the  brief,  but  very  pleasing  description,  which  an  imedu* 
cated  Herrnhutter  gives  of  the  inward  unction  of  the  spirit.*  This  the- 
ology has,  moreover,  in  its  moral  influence  on  ordinary  life,  produced 
the  most  beneficial  effects.  And  how  could  it  be  otherwise  ?  Who 
can  meditate  with  love  on  the  passion  of  the  Saviour,  without  loving 
him  ?  And  he  who  loveth  him,  will  keep  his  commandments.  The 
physical  part  in  our  Lord's  sufferings  forms  the  substratum,  and  the 
point  of  contact  for  meditation,  with  which  the  believer  connects  his 
sorrow  for  sin,  and  his  sense  of  gratitude  for  redemption.  Love  will 
not  quickly  remove  from  the  beloved  object,  and  it  dwells,  too,  with 
complacency  on  minute  particulars  ;  and,  therefore,  it  argues  a  pro- 
found  ignorance  of  the  wants  of  the  human  heart,  to  make  it  a  matter 
of  reproach  against  the  Herrnhutters,  that  they  dwell,  with  devout  con- 
templation, on  the  several  wounds  of  the  Redeemer,  and  so  forth.f  The 
error  consists  only  herein,  that  this  devotion  is  too  exclusive — that  ev 
ery  member  of  the  sect  is  trained  up  to  these  uniform  practices  of  pie- 
ty— and  that  a  free  development  of  the  peculiaritiesof  different  minds, 
is  not  encouraged,  nay,  not  even  permitted.  What  an  inexhaustible 
fund  for  contemplation,  doth  not  the  death  of  our  Lord  present  to  the 
unlearned,  as  well  as  to  the  learned  ;  to  the  man  of  tender  sensibility,  as 
well  as  to  the  severe  thinker  !  Hence,  in  the  Church  this  wealth  re- 
veals itself,  according  to  the  different  capacities  of  individuals.  But, 
it  is  a  character  proper  to  sectarianism,  to  protrude  only  one  side  of  a 
mighty  whole. 

As  regards  the  ecclesiastical  discipline  of  this  religious  community — > 
the  exclusion  of  irreformable  members  from  its  bosom— the  separation 
of  the  sexes  into  bands  and  choirs,  even  out  of  the  times  of  divine  ser<. 
vice — the  washing  of  feet,  which  is  considered  something  more,  than 
a  mere  simple  function— and  other  institutions,  rites,  and  customs ;  the 
description  of  these  appertains  not  to  this  place.  But,  it  is  worthy  of 
remark,  that,  in  studying  the  peculiarities  of  this  society,  we  are  often 
reminded  of  many  phenomena  in  the  early  history  of  the  Church.  The 
elections  of  superintendents  by  lots,  recall  to  mind  the  ordeals  of  the 
middle  age,  far  more  at  least  than  the  election  of  Mathias  by  the 
Apostles.  The  prayers  from  midnight  to  midnight,  or  even  during  the 
whole  night,  once,  and  perhaps  even  still,  practised  by  them,  remind  us 
of  the  Akoimetae  ;  and  the  disgusting  and  obscene  figures  of  speech, 
which  Zinzendorf  indulged  in,  have  a  parallel  in  the  practice  of  the 


*  See  ZinzendorTs  Collected  Works,  p.  235,  et  seq. 

t  The  most  singular  observation  of  this  kind  has  been  recorded  by  Vamhagen,  in 
his  Life  of  Zinzendorf,  p.  283. 


496  EXPOSITION  OF  DOCTRINAL  DIFFERENCES 

Manichcans,  who  set  forth  their  opinions,  by  images  drawn  even  froffl 
the  nuptial  rehitions.  It  is  worthy  of  remark,  also,  that  whereas  the 
sects,  which,  in  other  countries  have  grown  out  of  Protestantism^  took 
a  far  more  spiritual  course  than  the  elder  and  orthodox  Protestantism 
itself;  the  Herrnhutters,  on  the  contrary,  the  only  sect  that  in  Germany 
remained  permanently  separated  from  the  Lutheran  Church,  adopted  a 
very  material  form,  and  even,  in  the  social  relations,  so  subordinated 
the  individual  to  the  community,  that  all  spontaneous  movement  was 
paralyzed.  The  society  selected  even  the  bride  for  the  bridegroom  I 
In  the  Catholic  Church,  all  are,  in  a  like  degree,  subject  to  the  truth, 
from  which  no  one  can  nor  dare  to  depart.  But,  in  all  other  respects, 
there  is  the  desirable  freedom  restricted  by  nothing,  save  the  measures, 
which  arc  absolutely  necessary  for  the  maintenance  of  truth  and  of 
Christian  morals.  But,  among  the  Herrnhutters,  it  is  precisely  in  the 
department  of  truth,  that  a  delusive  freedom  is  announced — a  depart* 
ment,  where  necessity  alone  must  reign,  with  unlimited  sway. 

Lxxv. — The  Methodists.  Religious  state  of  England  at  the  beginning  of  the 
eighteenth  century.  Profound  degradation  of  public  morals.  The  Methodists 
wish  to  bring  about  a  reform.  Comparison  between  the  reforming  efforts  of 
Catholics  and  Protestants,  at  simdar  epochs. 

The  religious  fanaticism  of  the  Grand  Rebellion  in  England,  pushed 
even  to  frenzy,  and  to  the  most  atrocious  crimes,  was  followed  by  a 
period  of  general  spiritual  laxity,  which,  passing  through  various  graJes 
of  transition,  sank,  at  last,  into  the  most  frivolous  unbelief.  England 
had  seen  a  Parliament  which  furnished  a  proof  that  an  excess  of  dis- 
tempered religious  feelings  can  be  as  deeply  revolliiig  to  God  and  to 
reaso.i,  involving  even  the  crime  of  regicide,  as  the  absence  of  all  reli* 
gious  principles  The  Parliament  had  been  succeeded  by  another, 
whose  illegal  convocation  Cromwell  dared  to  justify,  by  the  pretended 
interference  of  an  immediate  Divine  agency  ;  a  Parhament  which,  to 
the  opening  speech  of  the  deceitful  fanalic,  bore  testimony  "  that,  from 
the  very  tone  in  which  it  was  spoken,  it  might  be  inferred,  that  the 
Holy  Ghost  worked  within  him  ^'  and,  which  opened  its  deliberations 
with  religious  solemnities  of  its  own  device,  whereat  the  members  con- 
fessed that  "  they  were  hlled  with  a  peace  and  joyfulness,  and  had  a 
sense  of  the  presence  of,  and  an  inmost  fellowship,  with  Jesus  Christ, 
such  as  they  had  never  before  experienced.''*     This  period  of  fanati- 


*  Vilkmain,  Histoire   de  Cromwell  d'aprfes  les  memoires  du  lemps  et   Ics   rccueils 
Parle mcntaircs.  Bruxelles,  1831,  torn.  x'l.  p.  6.    Of  Cromwell's  opening  speech  to  the 


SETWEfiN  CATHOLICS  AND  PROTESTANTS.  49'r 

't;iism  was  followed  by  a  generation,  in  whose  higher  circles,  the 
principles  of  a  Shaftesbury  ever  gained  ground ;  and  a  state  of  morals 
-prevailed,  which  Fielding  has  depicted  in  his  Tom  Jones.  The 
populace,  which  had  recruited  the  Cromwellian  army  with  preachers, 
enthusiasts,  seers,  and  prophets ;  that  had  rejected  an  established 
ministry,  as  totally  unnecessary,  and  as  destructive  to  evangelical  free- 
"dom  ;  lay  now  as  deeply  buried  in  the  mire,  as  it  had  been  previously 
€xalted  into  a  dizzy  elevation.  The  Anglican  clergy,  on  the  one  hand, 
despised,  and,  therefore,  repelled  by  the  blind  and  excited  people,  had, 
on  the  other  hand,  learned  little  from  their  times,  of  persecution.  All 
enthusiasm,  life,  activity,  deep  conviction  of  the  magnitude  of  their 
'calling,  remained,  for  the  most  part,  ever  alien  from  their  minds  and 
liabits ;  so  that,  on  the  whole,  they  looked  with  a  stupid,  indifferent  eye 
'on  the  ever-growing  depravity.* 

During  the  long  period  of  her  existence,  the  Catholic  Church  hasj 
Hot  unfrequently,  had  to  suffer  from  like  disorders  in  her  clergy.  But, 
it  hath  ever  pleased  the  Lord  to  raise  up  men,  endued  with  sufficient 
•courage  and  energy,  to  strike  terror,  and  infuse  new  life,  into  a  torpid 
.priesthood,  as  well  as  into  a  degenerate  people.  According  to  the  dif- 
ferent character  ef  different  times,  the  mode  of  their  rise  and  action 
was  different ;  but,  the  conviction  was  universal,  that  mere  laws  and 
-ordinances,  under  such  circumstances,  were  fruitless  ;  and  only  living, 
practical  energy  was  capable  of  infusing  new  life  into  an  age  diseased,. 
On  the  one  hand^,  we  see  numerous  individuals,  at  the  instigation  of 
the  heads  of  the  Church,  who  were  acquainted  with  their  powers  of 
•energetic  persuasion,  travel  about  as  preachers  in  remote  districts, 
awakening,  among  high  and  low,  a  sense  of  their  misery,  and  stirring 
«p  the  desire  for  deliverance  from  sin  ;  or,  on  the  other  hand,  we  behold 
founders  of  mighty  orders  arise,  whose  members  made  it  their  duty  to 
undertake  the  instruction  of  the  people,  or  their  moral  resuscitation  (two 
very  different  things),  or  both  these  offices  together,  neglected,  as  they 


^ariiamerit  of  1655,  Villemain  says  : — "  C'est  une  espfece  de  sermon,  rempli  du  nom 
de  Dieu,  et  de  citations  de  I'Ecriture.  11  exhorte  les  deput^^  k  ^tre  fiddles  avec  les 
Saints,  et  les  felicite  d'etre  avou^s  par  Jesus  Christ,  et  d'avouer  Jesus  Christ.  C'etoit 
line  addresse  assez  remarquable  d'feluder  ainsi  I'^lection  populaire  par  ia  vocation  dt. 
vine,  et  de  flatter  cette  assemblee  au  nom  de  ce  qu'il  avoit  d'ill€gal  et  d'inusit^  dans 
sa  reunion,"  etc.  The  Appendix  to  Villemain's  first  volume  (pp.  329-333,)  will 
give  the  reader  full  insight  into  Cromwell's  artful  character. 

*  See  Dr.  Southey's  Life  of  Wesley.  In  vol.  i.  p.  261  (German  translation,)  he 
gives  an  interesting  picture  of  the  times,  in  order  to  account  for  the  spread  of  Metho- 
■dism.  We  find  there  little  else  to  blame,  except  his  ignorance  of  the  history  of  the 
Clatholic  Church,  and  his  vain  attempt  to  exculpate  the  Anglican. 


498  EXPOSITION  OF  DOCTRINAL  DIFFERENCE^? 

had  been,  by  the  ordinary  pastors.  Happy  for  the  Church,  if  fts 
episcopacy,  misled  by  a  partial  feeling  of  gratitude  for  the  services  of 
such  connnnunities,  in  the  time  of  their  bloom  and  strength,  had  not 
prolonged  their  existence,  when  they  were  become  morally  dead,  and 
were  scarcely  susceptible  of  renovation.  As  new  orders  sprang  up^ 
most  of  the  elder  ones  were  ordinarily  forced  to  disappear. 

The  end,  which  several  of  the  smaller  Protestant  sects,  and  particu- 
larly the  Methodists,  proposed  to  themselves,  was  nearly  the  same  as 
that,  which  led  to  the  origin  of  the  monastic  institutes  adverted  to.  It 
appears  even,  not  unworthy  of  attention,  that,  precisely,  at  the  time, 
when  the  Pietists  were  rapidly  gaining  ground,  and  Zinzendorf,  as  welF 
as  the  founder  of  Methodism,  were  flourishing  ;  there  arose  in  the 
Catholic  Church  a  less  celebrated  indeed,  but  not  less  active,  and,  (as 
regards  the  religious  life  of  Italy,)  not  less  influential  personage, — I 
mean  St.  Alphonsus  Liguori,  a  native  of  the  Neapolitan  territory,  who 
took  compassion  on  the  neglected  people,  and  devoted  himself  to  their 
religious  a.nd  moral  culture.*  The  important  distinction,  however,  is 
not  to  be  overlooked,  that  such  Catholic  institutes  spring  from  the  con- 
viction, that  the  spirit  of  the  Church  only  is  to  be  infused  into  indi- 


*  See  Jeancard,  Vie  du  Bienhenreux  Alphonse  LigHori,  ^veque  de  Ste.  Agathc  de 
Goths,  et  fondateur  dela  Congregation  des  Pretres  Missionaires  du  tres  saint  Redcmp- 
teur.  Louvain,  1829.  Born  in  the  year  169G,  of  an  old  and  noble  family,  Alphon- 
sus Liguori  was  ordained  priest  in  1726.  Touched  with  the  deepest  compassion  at 
the  sight  of  the  Lazzaroni,  he  united  himself  with  other  ecclesiastics,  in  order  to  de- 
vote his  energies  to  the  care  of  this  neglected  multitude.  He  founded  pious  congre» 
gations,  which  still  subsist,  and  at  present  amount  at  Naples  to  the  number  of  sev- 
enty-five,  each  consisting  of  one  hundred  and  thirty  to  one  hundred  and  fifty  persons. 
(Sec  p.  47-51.)  During  a  residence  in  the  country,  he  discovered  the  rude  and 
utterly  neglected  condition  of  the  peasantry.  "  L'abandon  presque  g^n^ral,"  says 
Jeancard,  ''  dans  lequel  Alphonse  cut  alors  occasion  de  reconnoitre  que  vivaient  les 
habilans  des  campagnes,  le  toucha  d'un  sensible  chagrin;  il  lui  en  rcsta  une  impres- 
sion profondc,  dont  la  Providence,  qui  la  lui  avoit  menag^e,  se  servait  dans  la  suite 
pour  I'execution  des  grands  desseins  dont  elle  Voulait  que  ce  digne  ouVrier  tSvang^- 
lique  fut  rinstrumcnt." — P.  82.  He  now  founded  an  Order,  which  was  destined  to 
meet  these  crying  wants.  The  idea  which  led  to  its  establishment,  is  this  :  it  usually 
happens  thai  the  ordinary  ministry  of  souls,  though  not  conducted  badly,  is  yet  car- 
ried  on  in  a  dull  and  drowsy  fashion.  With  the  priest,  the  parishes,  too,  slumber. 
Hence,  from  time  to  time,  an  extraordinary  religious  excitement  and  resuscitation  are 
very  desirable,  which  then  the  local  clergy  can  keep  up.  This  extraordinary  religious 
excitement  the  missions,  undertaken  by  the  Redemptionists,  are  designed  to  produce. 
From  the  same  views,  an  Eaglish  Parliament  once  wished  to  do  away  entirely  with 
all  stationary  clergymen.  They  were  all  to  be  constantly  changing  residence,  in  or- 
der  that  the  parishes  might  receive  new  ones,  and  thus  be  kept  in  a  constant  state  of 
life  and  excitement.     This  was  another  extreme. 


BETWEEN  CATHOLICS  AND  PROTESTANTS.  499 

viduals,  or  to  be  carefully  awakened  and  cherished  ;  while  the  above- 
named  sects,  in  a  greatci  or  a  less  degree,  ever  assailed  the  fundamental 
doctrines  of  the  religious  community,  out  of  which  they  arose,  and 
strove  to  set  the  same  aside.  The  origin  of  Protestantism  itself  is  here 
felt ;  for,  as  the  Reformers  acted  against  the  Catholic  Church,  so  the 
community,  founded  by  them,  was,  in  turn,  treated  by  its  own  children 
in  the  like  manner.  The  want  of  reverence  towards  father  and  mother 
(for  such  is  the  Church  to  us  in  a  spiritual  relation,)  is  transmitted  from 
generation  to  generation  ;  and  the  wicked  spirit,  that  first  raised  the 
son  up  against  his  father,  goes  out  of  the  son  as  soon  as  he  becomes  a 
parent,  and,  in  turn,  goads  his  offspring  on  to  wreak  bloody  vengeance 
upon  him. 

The  man,  upon  whose  heart  the  spiritual  misery  of  the  English  people, 
at  the  commencement  of  the  eighteenth  century,  had  made  a  deep 
impression,  was  John  Wesley,  distinguished  beyond  doubt  by  great 
talents,  classical  acquirements,  and,  (what  was  still  better,)  by  a  burning 
zeal  for  the  kingdom  of  God.  Rightly  doth  his  biographer  say,  that,  in 
other  times  and  other  circumstances,  he  would  have  been  the  founder 
of  a  religious  order,  or  a  reforming  pope.  With  his  brother  Charles, 
and  some  others, — among  whom  the  eloquent,  gentle,  kind-hearted, 
but  in  every  respect  far  less  gifted,  Whitfield,  soon  became  emi- 
nent,— John  Wesley,  from  the  year  1729,  lived  at  Oxford,  as  a  student 
and  assistant  teacher,  devoted  to  the  most  rigid  ascetic  exercises,  and 
careless,  as  was  right,  about  the  remarks  of  the  world.  From  the  strict 
observance  of  a  pious  method  of  life,  which  evinced  itsilf,  in  the  pro- 
motion of  an  interior  spirit,  the  pious  association  obtained  at  first  in  a 
well-maant  sense,  and  then  by  way  of  ridicule,  the  name  of  Methodists, 
which  then  became  generally  attached  to  them.* 


§  Lxxvi. — Peculiar  doctrines  of  the  Mclhodists.     Marks  of  d'stinction  between  them 
and  the  Herrnhutters.     Division  of  the  sect  into  Wesleyans  and  Whitficldites. 

Still  holding  to  the  Thirty-nine  Articles  of  the  Anglican  Church,  and 
fully  retaining  its  liturgy  and  constitution,  the  Methodists,  at  first, 
propagated  through  smaller   circles,  out  of  Oxford,  only  their  ascetic 


*  Southey,  vol.  i.  p.  49.  "  They  were  sometimes  called,  in  ridicule,  Sacramenta- 
rians,  B.ble-canters,  Biblc-m  )tlis,  and  even  the  Holy  Club.  A  certain  individual, 
who,  by  his  knowledge  and  religious  feelings,  ro>'e  superior  to  the  multitude,  observed, 
in  reference  to  the  methodical,  regular  mode  of  life  of  these  despised  men,  that  a  new 
sect  of  Methodists  had  sprung  up."  Allusion  was  here  made  to  a  medical  school  of 
that  name. 


6C0  EXPOSITION  OF  DOCTRINAL  DIFFERENCES 

practices,  their  fasts,  their  hours  of  prayer,  their  Bible-readings,  and 
their  frequent  communions.  Their  mode  of  teaching,  at  tirst,  differed 
from  the  ordinary  one,  only  by  the  great  stress  they  laid  on  moral  per- 
fection,  which  they  held  to  be  possible  to  the  regenerated.  The  energy 
and  enthusiasm  of  their  sermons,  delivered,  as  they  were,  from  the 
pulpits  of  the  Anglican  Church,  attracted,  in  a  very  short  time,  crowds 
of  auditors  ;  so  that,  encouraged  by  success,  they  soon  selected  the 
open  fields,  for  the  theatre  of  their  exertions,  and,  indeed,  principally 
such  places  as  had  been  the  scene  of  every  sensual  excess. 

The  acquaintance  of  John  Wesley  with  some  Herrnhutters,  princi- 
pally  with  David  Nitschmann,  whom,  as  a  fellow-passenger  on  a  voyage 
out  to  America,  his  brother  Charles  had,  in  the  year  1735,  learned  to 
know  and  esteem  ;  then  his  connexion  with  Spangenberg — his  visit  to 
the  Hernhutt  communities  in  Germany  and  Holland,  occasioned  a  new 
epoch  in  the  history  of  his  interior  life.  He  became  acquainted  with 
the  doctrine,  that  after  the  previous  convulsive  feelings,  the  clearest 
consciousness  of  grace  before  God,  accompanied  with  a  heavenly,  in- 
ward peace,  must  suddenly  arise  in  the  soul ;  and  this  doctrine  obtained, 
for  a  long  time  at  least,  his  fullest  conviction.  Yet  it  was  only  some 
years  after,  he  was  favoured  with  such  a  moment,  and  (as  he  himself 
declares)  on  the  29th  May,  1739,  in  Aldersgate-street,  London,  at  a 
quarter  before  nine  o'clock.  How,  amid  such  violent,  inward  emotions, 
the  time  could  be  so  accurately  observed,  the  striking  of  the  clock 
heard,  or  the  watch  attended  to,  is,  indeed,  marvellous  to  conceive  ! 
This  genuine  Lutheran  doctrine  was,  thenceforward,  embraced  M'ith 
peculiar  ardour,  was  everywhere  preached  up,  and  never  failed  to  be 
attended  with  sudden  conversions.  The  impressive  eloquence  of  Whit- 
field, especially,  was  very  successful  in  bringing  about  such  momentary 
changes  of  life,  that  were,  very  frequently,  accompanied  with  convulsive 
fits,  the  natural  results  of  an  excessive  excitement  of  the  imagination. 
among  a  people,  for  the  greater  part,  totally  ignorant,  and  deeply  de- 
Inded.  Phenomena  of  this  kind  were  called  *'  the  outward  signs  of 
grace,"  and  were  even  held  to  be  miracles.*    The  pulpits  of  the  Estab- 


*  Southey  relates,  in  vol.  ii.  p.  478  (German  translation,)  that  the  teachers  of  a 
"Methodist  Latin  school  at  Kingswood,  would  not  permit  boys,  of  from  seven  to  eight 
years  of  age,  to  have  any  rest,  "  until  they  had  obtained  a  clear  feeling  of  the  pardon, 
ing  love  of  God."  The  poor  children  were  driven  to  the  verge  of  insanity  ;  and,  at 
last,  the  inward  despairing  contrition  arose,  and  thereupon  the  full  consciousness  of 
Divine  grace  ensued  1  Wesley,  who  was  himself  present  at  this  act  of  extreme  folly 
inK  ingswood,  approved  of  and  encouraged  it.  Of  course,  in  a  very  short  time,  no 
trace  of  any  such  a  regeneration  w£is  any  longer  to  bo  discerned  ;  and  hereupon 


BETWEEN  CATHOLICS  AND  PROTESTANTS.  601 

lished  Church  were  refused  to  the  enthusiasts  and  fanatics,  as  the 
Methodists  were  now  called ;  and,  thereby,  the  occasion  was  alTorded 
to  the  latter,  to  constitute  themselves  into  an  independent  body.  Wes- 
ley now  raised  himself  to  the  episcopal  dignity,  and  ordained  priests  : 
a  pretended  Greek  bishop,  called  Erasmus,  then  residing  in  England, 
was  also  solicited  to  impart  holy  orders.  The  separation  from  the 
Anglican  Church  was  now  formally  proclaimed,  and  the  most  strenuous 
opposition  commenced.* 

The  friendly  relations  between  the  Herrnhutters  and  the  Methodists 
were  also  soon  disturbed.  A  weighty  cause  for  this,  as  Southey  justly 
observes,  was,  doubtless,  to  be  looked  for  in  the  fact,  that  neither  Zin- 
zendorf  nor  Wesley  were  disposed  to  hold  a  subordinate  position,  one 
to  the  other :  and  two  chiefs  could  not  be  honoured  in  the  same  com- 
munity. But,  there  also  existed  strong  internal  motives  for  this  oppo- 
sition, and  they  were  the  two  following.  In  the  first  place,  according 
to  the  Herrnhutters,  all  prayer,  all  Bible-reading,  all  benevolent  actions 
prior  to  regeneration — that  is  to  say,  prior  to  the  occurrence  of  the 
above  described  turning  point  in  life,  are  not  only  fruitless,  but  even 
deadly  poison  ; — a  doctrine,  indeed,  often  put  forth  by  Luther,  but 
which  Wesley  rightly  held  to  be  untrue  in  itself,  and  productive  of  the 
most  fatal  consequences.  An  English  Herrnhutter,  or  Moravian  Bro- 
ther, said,  that  for  twenty  years  he  had  faithfully  observed  all  the 
ecclesiastical  precepts,  but  had  never  found  Christ.  But  hereupon 
having  become  disobedient,  he  immediately  contracted  as  intimate  an 
union  with  Christ,  as  that  which  joins  the  arms  to  the  body.f  Th^ 
second  stumbling-block,  in  the  way  of  union,  was  on  the  part  of  the 
Methodists.  They  taught,  that,  by  the  evangelical  perfection,  which 
the  regenerate  possess,  a  moral  condition  is  to  be  understood,  wherein 
even  all  the  irregular  motions  of  concupiscence — every  involuntary 
impulse  of  sensuality  stimulating  to  evil,  are  utterly  unknown.  Against 
such  a  doctrine  the  Herrnhutters  protested  with  reason  ;  and  Spangen- 
berg  replied  as  follows  :  "  So  soon,"  says  he,  "  as  we  are  justified,  (or 
taken  into  favour  by  God,)  a  new  man  awakes  within  us.  But,  the 
old  man  abideth,  even  to  the  day  of  our  death  ;  and  in  this  old  man 


Wesley  testifies  his  astonishment  in  the  following  passage  :  "  I  passed  an  hour  among 
the  children  at  Kingswood.  Strange  enough !  What  is  become  of  the  wonderful 
work  of  grace,  which  God,  last  September,  wrought  among  the  boys?  It  is  gone! 
It  is  vanished  !"  &c.  &c. 

*  Yet  subsequently  there  were  Methodists,  again,  who  adliered  to  the  Established 
Church. 

I  Southey,  vol.  i.  p.  309.     Compare  an  equally  remarkable  passage  in  p.  313. 


502  EXPOSITION  OF  DOCTRINAL  DIFFERENCES 

remaineth  the  old,  corrupt  heart.  But,  the  heart  of  the  new  man  is 
clean,  and  the  new  man  is  stronger  than  the  old  ;  so  that,  albeit  cor- 
rupt Nature  ever  continues  to  struggle,  it  can  never  conquer,  as  long  as 
we  can  retain  our  eyes  fixed  upon  Christ."*  The  form  of  this  reply 
has  undoubtedly  much,  that  is  objectionable ;  for,  we  are  expressly 
required  to  put  off  the  old  man,  and  to  put  on  the  new  one.  The  same 
idea  is  also  expressed  by  the  words,  "  new  birth,"  "  new  creation,"  and 
the  like  ;  hence,  we  are  to  have  not  two  hearts,  but  only  one.  But, 
on  the  other  hand,  this  reply  to  the  Methodists,  is,  in  substance,  per- 
fectly correct ;  although  the  degrees,  in  the  life  of  the  regenerate,  are 
not  minutely  traced,  the  setting  forth  whereof  might  have  rendered 
possible  a  reconciliation  between  the  Methodists  and  the  Herrnhutters. 
That  Spangenberg,  too,  should,  in  so  unqualified  a  manner,  have  repre- 
sented the  new  man,  as  being  able  to  conquer,  and  the  regenerated,  as 
really  triumphing  in  the  struggle  against  the  incentives  to  grievous  sin, 
proves  the  great  revolution  of  opinion,  which  Spener  had  brought  about 
in  the  Lutheran  Church,  and  wherein  the  Herrnhutters  had  also  taken 
part. 

The  controversy  adverted  to,  divided,  also,  Wesley  and  Whitfield. 
The  latter,  like  the  Herrnhutters,  combatted  the  exaggerated  views  of 
the  former,  respecting  the  perfection  of  the  regenerate,  and,  in  this  re- 
spect, chose  the  better  part  ;  but,  on  another  point,  Wesley  defended 
the  truth  against  Whitfield.  The  latter  was  a  partisan  of  the  most 
rigid  predestinarianism,  which  the  former  classed  among  the  most 
abominable  opinions  that  had  ever  sprung  up  in  a  human  head,  and 
which  could  by  no  means  be  tolerated.  In  this  way,  not  only  did  the 
mutual  approximation  between  the  Herrnhutters  and  the  Methodists 
fail  of  terminating,  in  the  desired  union,  but,  the  one  sect  of  Methodists 
broke  into  two,  that  opposed  each  other  with  bitter  animosity. 

These  sectaries,  however,  by  their  mode  of  reasoning  with  each 
other,  excite  in  the  mind  the  most  painful  feelings.  It  is  not  without 
a  sense  of  insuperable  disgust,  that  we  see  Spangenberg  appeal  against 
Wesley  to  his  ou-n  experience,  and  that  of  the  other  Herrnhutters  ; 
whence,  nothing  else  could  be  inferred,  than  that  they  had  such  par- 
ticular experiences,  but  by  no  means,  that  such  things  must  so  be. 
The  Wesleyans,  in  their  turn,  brought  forward  men  and  women,  who 
appealed  to  their  ou-n  experience,  and  thence  proved  that  the  regenerate 
no  longer  perceive,  in  themselves,  the  disorderly  motions  of  sensuality, 
and  are  in  every  respect  free  from  sin  or  even  failing. j"     The   most 

*  Southey,  vol.  i  p.  317.     Zinzendorrs  Exaggerations,  p.  321. 
t  Southey,  vol.  i.  p.  318. 


BETWEEN  CATHOLICS  AND  PROTESTANTS.  503 

egotistical  exaltation  of  oneself,  to  be  a  pattern  to  all,  meets  us  here  in 
its  most  repulsive,  appalling  form,  against  which  the  slightest  spark  of 
shame,  we  should  think,  would  rise  up,  and  kindle  into  a  flame.  Lastly, 
Whitfield,  too,  came  forward  with  a  shocking  arrogance,  denominated 
by  him  humility,  and  appealed  to  his  inward  experiences,  in  proof  of 
the  theory  of  absolute  predestination.* 

The  prevalence  of  Antinomian  principles,  even  among  the  Wesleyan 
Methodists  was  of  very  important  consequence.  Wesley  distinguished 
between  justification  and  sanctification,  although  he  allowed  both  to 
take  place,  at  the  same  moment.  But,  in  despite  of  an  asserted  inward 
connexion,  between  the  two  things,  the  mere  assumption,  that  Divine 
Grace  could  be  annexed  to  any  other  principle,  in  our  spiritual  life, 
than  that  whereby  man  manifests  his  obedience  unto  God,  necessarily 
led  to  a  contempt  of  the  law  ;  so  that,  even  here  also,  the  doctrine  that 
man  is  justified  by  faith  only,  betrays  its  essentially  Antinomian  charac- 
ter. The  following  account,  coming,  as  it  does,  from  a  quarter  per- 
fectly friendly  to  the  Mathodists,  cannot  lie  under  the  suspicion  of 
misrepresentation.  Fletcher, — a  very  remarkable,  active,  and  amiable 
disciple  of  Wesley, — says,  in  his  Checks  to  Anthiomianism  :  "  Antino- 
mian principles  have  spread  like  wildfire  among  our  societies.  Many 
persons,  speaking  in  th3  most  glorious  manner  of  Christ,  and  their 
interest  in  his  complete  salvation,  have  been  found  living  in  the  grossest 
immoralities  How  few  of  our  societies,  where  cheating,  extorting,  or 
soni3  other  evil,  hath  not  broke  out,  and  given  such  shakes  to  the  Ark 
of  the  Gospel,  that,  had  not  the  Lord  interposed,  it  must  have  been 
overset !  I  have  seen  them,  who  pass  for  believers,  follow  the  strain  of 
<;orrupt  nature ;  and  when  they  should  have  exclaimed  against  Anti- 
nomianism,  I  have  heard  them  cry  out  against  the  legality  of  their  wicked 
hearts,  which  they  said,  still  suggested,  that  they  were  to  do  something 
for  their  salvation,"  (that  is  to  say,  the  voice  of  their  conscience  ever 
cried  out  against  their  immoral  conduct ;  but,  they  held  that  voice  to 
be  a  temptation  of  Satan,  who  wished  to  derogate  from  the  power  of 


t  Southey,  vol.  i.  p.  337.  "  Pardon  me,"  wrote  Whitfield  to  Wesley,  "  that  I  ex- 
hort you,  in  humility  no  longer  to  resist.,  with  this  boldness,  the  doctrine  of  election, 
since  you  yourself  confesis  that  you  have  not  the  testimony  of  the  Spirit  within  you, 
and  are  thus  no  competent  judge  in  this  matter.     This  living  testimony,  God  several 

years  ago  granted  to  me  ;  and  I  stand  up  for  election Oh  I  I  have  never  read 

a  syllable  of  Calvin's  writings  ;  my  doctrine  I  have  from  Christ  and  His  apostles; 
God  himself  hath  announced  it  to  me ;  as  it  pleased  Him  to  send  me  out  first,  and  to 
enlighten  me  first  so  I  hope  he  gives  me  now  also  the  light."  The  separation  of  the 
jtwe  occurred  in  the  year  1740. 


504  EXPOSITION  OF  DOCTRINAL  DIFFERENCES 

faith.)     **  How   few  of  our   celebrated  pulpits,"   continues  Fletcher, 
"  where  more  has  not  been  said  for  sin,  than  against  it !" 

Fletcher  cites  the  Methodist  Hill  in  particular,  as  asserting,  "  That 
even  adultery  and  murder  do  not  hurt  the  pleasant  children,  but  rather 
work  for  their  good  :  God  sees  no  sin  in  believers,  whatever  sins  they 
may  commit.  My  sins  may  displease  God,  my  person  is  always  ac- 
ceptable to  Him.  Though  1  should  outsin  Manasses,  I  should  not  be 
less  a  pleasant  child,  because  God  always  views  me  in  Christ.  Hence^ 
in  the  midst  of  adulteries,  murders,  and  incests ;  He  can  address  me 
with  '  thou  art  all  fair,  my  love,  my  undefiled  ;  there  is  no  spot  in  thee/ 
It  is  a  most  pernicious  error  of  the  schoolmen,  to  distinguish  sins  accord- 
ing to  the  fact,  not  according^  to  the  person.  Although  I  highly  blame 
those  who  say,  '  let  us  sin,  that  grace  may  abound,'  yet  adultery,  incest^ 
and  murder,  shall,  upon  the  whole,  make  me  holier  on  earth,  and  mer- 
rier in  heaven  ;"  that  is  to  say,  the  more  I  need  the  pardoning  grace  of 
God,  the  stronger  becomes  my  faith,  the  holier  I  become.* 

John  Wesley  was  extremely  concerned  at  the  spread  of  such  opinions. 
He  therefore  summoned  a  Conference,  in  the  year  1770,  which  took 
into  deliberation  the  principles,  hitherto  professed  by  the  Methodists, 
and  justly  acknowledged,  that  all  the  evil  entirely  originated  in  the 
opinion,  that  Christ  has  abolished  the  moral  law  ;  that  believers  are 
thus  not  bound  to  its  oteervance  ;  and  that  Christian  liberty  dispenses 
them  from  keeping  the  Divine  Commandments.  The  following  re- 
marks of  Wesley,  at  the  same  conference,  as  to  the  merit  of  works,  to 
which  he  was  by  necessity  urged,  are  well  entitled  to  attention.  "Take 
heed  to  your  doctrine  !  We  have  leaned  too  much  towards  Calvinism. 
With  regard  to  man's  faithfulness :  our  Lord  himself  taught  us  to  use 
the  expression,  and  we  ought  never  to  be  ashamed  of  it.  2.  With 
regard  to  working  for  life:  this  also  our  Lord  has  expressly  commanded 
us.  Labour,  e^yx^ii'e,  literally,  work  for  the  meat  that  endureth  to 
everlasting  life.  3.  We  have  received  it  as  a  maxim,  that  a  man  is  to- 
do  nothing  in  order  to  justification.  Nothing  can  be  more  false.  Who- 
ever desires  to  find  favour  with  God,  should  cease  from  evil,  and  learn 
to  do  well.  Whoever  repents,  should  do  works  meet  far  repentance. 
And  if  this  is  not  in  order  to  find  favour,  what  does  he  do  them  for  t 
Is  not  this  salvation  by  works  ?  Not  by  the  merit  of  works,  but  by 
works  as  a  condition.  What  have  we  then  been  disputing  about,  for 
these  thirty  years  ?     I  am  afraid,  about  words.     As  to  merit  itself,  of 


*  See  Fletcher's  Checks  to  Antinomianism,  vol.  ii.  pp.  22,  200,  21.5.  Works  ;  toL 
iii.  p.  50 ;  vol.  iv.  p.  97.  Compare  Dr.  Milner's  End  of  Religious  Controversy,  let- 
ter vi. 


BETWEEN  CATHOLICS  AND  PROTESTANTS.  505 

which  we  have  been  so  dreadfully  afraid,  we  are  rewarded  according  to 
our  tvorJcs,  yea,  because  of  our  works.  How  does  this  differ  from  for 
the  sake  of  our  works  ?  And  how  differs  this  from  secundum  merita 
operum,  as  our  works  deserve  ?  Can  you  split  this  hair  ?  I  doubt  I 
cannot."*  Wesley  was  evidently  very  near  the  truth.  Thus  much  as 
to  the  peculiarities  of  the  Methodists,  so  far  as  they  fall  within  the 
scope  of  the  present  inquiry. 

We  shall  conclude  with  observing,  that  the  Methodists  have  acquired 
great  merit  by  the  instruction,  and  the  religious  and  moral  reform,  of 
rude  and  deeply  degraded  classes  of  men  ;  as  for  instance,  the  colliers 
of  Kingswood,  and  the  negro  slaves  in  America.  Their  wild  way  of 
preaching,  which  is  not  entirely  the  result  o^  their  doctrines,  has  evinced 
its  fitness  for  the  obtuse  intellect  and  feelings  of  auditors,  who  could 
only  be  roused  to  some  sort  of  life,  by  a  violent  method  of  terrifying  the 
imagination.  It  is  worthy  of  remark,  that  on  one  occasion,  to  a  minis- 
ter, who  declared  it  impossible  to  convert  a  drunkard,  and  who  said,  that 
at  least  no  example  of  such  a  conversion  had  ever  come  to  his  know- 
ledge, Wesley  replied,  that  in  his  society,  there  were  many  converts  of 
that  kind.  There  are  certain  moral  and  intellectual  capacities  and 
conditions,  which  only  a  certain  style  of  preaching  suits  ;  and  on  which 
every  other  makes  no  impression.  Hence,  it  is  to  be  considered  a 
great  misfortune,  when,  in  any  place,  all  things  are  modelled  after  a 
uniform  plan.  This  is  to  render  the  Spirit  at  once  inaccessible  and 
inoperative,  for  many  preachers  and  many  descriptions  of  people ;  for 
the  Spirit  delighteth,  at  times,  even  in  eccentric  forms. 


*  Southey,  vol.  ii.  p.  366. 


CHAPTER    IV. 

THE    DOCTRINE    OF    SWEDENBOR6.* 

§  Lxxvii. — Some  preliminary  historical  Remarks. 

One  of  the  most  mysterious  phenomena  in  history,  is  the  director  of 
mines,  Emanuel  Swedenborg,  the  son  of  a  Swedish  bishop,  and  who 
departed  this  life  in  the  year  1772.  He  was,  on  one  hand,  distinguished 
for  acuteness  of  intellect,  and  for  a  wide  range  of  knowledge, — parti- 
cularly in  the  mathematics  and  the  natural  sciences,  which  he  culti- 
vated with  great  success,  as  is  evinced  by  many  writings,  highly  prized 
in  his  day  ;  and  on  the  other  hand,  he  was  noted  for  his  full  conviction, 
that  he  had  held  intercourse  with  the  world  of  spirits,  whereby  he  be- 
lieved that  he  obtained  information  on  all  matters  in  anywise  claiming 
the  attention  of  the  religious  man.  He  imagined  himself  to  be  trans- 
ported into  heaven,  and  to  be  there  favoured,  with  oral  instructions  by 
the  Deity  and  His  angels,  as  to  the  Divine  essence — the  emanation  of 
the  world  from  God — the  purport  of  the  Divine  revelations,  and  the 
consummation  of  the  Church — the  nature  of  heaven  and  hell,  and 
many  other  things. 

Professor  von  Gorres  has,  in  his  work,  entitled,  "  Emanuel  Sweden- 
borg, his  visions,  and  his  relations  to  the  Church,"  and  likewise  in  his 
Introduction  to  the  writings  of  Henry  Suso,  newly  edited  by  Diepen- 
brock,  very  convincingly  proved,  that,  from  the  very  high  character  of 
this  visionary,  acknowledged  by  his  contemporaries  to  be  pure  and 
blameless,  the  idea  of  intentional  deceit,  on  his  part,  cannot  be  at  all 
entertained ;  and  that  his  ecstacies  may  best  be  explained  by  animal 
magnetism.  As  I  am  unacquainted  with  the  nature  of  this  latter 
science,  I  must  abstain  from  offering  any  opinion  on  the  matter ;  par- 
ticularly, as  the  object  of  this  inquiry  demands  no  elucidation  of 
Swedenborg's  psychological  state.  We  are  here  merely  engaged  with 
his  peculiar  doctrinal  and  ecclesiastical  views,  and  will  leave  out  of 
question  his  theosophistical,  cosmogonic,  and  other  like   theories  ;  for, 


*  This  article  I  inserted  in  the  fourth  number  of  the  Quarterly  Review  of  Tubin. 
gen,  for  the  year  IWSO.     It  appears  here  with  only  a  few  alterations  and  additions. 


EXPOSITION  OF  DOCTRINAL  DIFFERENCES,  &,c.  507 

these  form  no  part  of  the  tenets  of  faith  constituting  the  New  Church. 
These  doctrines  we  shall  now  set  forth,  chiefly  as  they  are  stated  in  his 
last  writing,  published  shortly  prior  to  his  death,  and  entitled  :  "  True 
Christian  Religion,  containing  the  Universal  Theology  of  the  New 
Church."* 

The  relation,  wherein  Swedenborg  placed  himself  in  regard  to  the 
new  community  he  founded,  is  the  first  thing  which  claims  our  atten- 
tion. He  considers  himself,  not  only  to  be  a  restorer  of  primitive 
Christianity,  and  to  be  a  divine  envoy,  in  the  same  comprehensive 
sense,  as  Luther  ;  but,  he  was  under  the  firm  conviction,  that  he  had, 
in  the  most  solemn  way,  been  commissioned  by  God  in  heaven,  to  in- 
troduce a  new  and  imperishable  era  in  the  Church.  The  second  com- 
ing of  the  Lord,  which  is  promised  in  the  Gospel,  was  to  take  place  in 
him.  Not  that  he  held  himself  to  be  an  incarnation  of  the  Deity  ;  on 
the  contrary,  he  taught  that  God  could  no  more  appear  in  a  human 
form,  and  that  the  foretold  second  advent  of  the  Lord  must  be  inter- 
preted, as  only  the  general  and  victorious  establishment  of  His  truth 
and  love  among  men — as  His  manifestation  in  the  word.  This  con- 
summation of  the  Christian  Church,  he  calls  the  new  heaven  and  the 
new  earth,  the  new  celestial  Jerusalem,  whereof  the  Scripture  speaketh."}" 
This  new  kingdom  of  God  on  earth  began,  according  to  Swedenborg, 
on  the  19th  June,  1770; — precisely  the  very  day  after  the  termination 
of  the  work,  from  which  we  have  taken  the  above  statements,  and 
which  was  to  go  forth  into  all  the  world,  and  win  over  the  elect.  For, 
as  soon  as,  according  to  our  authority,  the  last  words  of  this  book  were 
written  down,  Jesus  Christ  sent  his  apostles  throughout  the  whole 
spiritual  world,  to  announce  to  the  same  the  glad  tidings,  that  hence- 
forth He,  whose  kingdom  hath  no  end,  shall  reign  for  ever  and  ever; 
and  all  this,  in  order  that  what  stands  written  in  Daniel  (vii.  13,  14,) 
and  in  Revelations  (xi.  15,)  might  be  fulfilled.  The  aforesaid  mission 
of  the  apostles,  was  also  foretold  in  Matthew  (xxiv.  31.):j: 

*  "  True  Christian  Religion  ;  containing  the  Universal  Theology  of  the  new 
Church."  By  Emanuel  Swedenborg,  servant  of  the  Lord  Jesus  Christ.  Translated 
from  the  original  Latin  work,  printed  at  Amsterdam,  in  the  year  1771,  vol.  ii.  5th  edi. 
tion.     London  :  1819.     The  Latin  original  I  have  not  been  able  to  procure. 

t  Loo.  cit  vol.  ii.  p.  502. 

t  Loc.  cit.  p.  547.  "  After  this  work  was  finished,  the  Lord  called  together  His 
twelve  disciples,  who  followed  Him  in  the  world  ;  and  the  next  day  He  sent  them 
throughout  the  whole  spiritual  world  to  preach  the  Gospel,  that  the  Lord  Jesus  Christ 
reigncth,  whose  kingdom  shall  endure  for  ever  and  ever,  according  to  the  prophecy  in 
Daniel,  c.  vii.  13,  II;  and  in  the  Revelations,  c.  xi.  15;  and  that  they  are  blessed, 
who  come  to  the  marriage  supper  of  the  Lamb." — Revel,  xix.  9.  This  was  done  on 
the  19th  day  of  June,  m  the  year  1770. 


508  EXPOSITION  OF  DOCTRINAL  DIFrERENCES 


§Lxzviii. — Practical  tendency  of  Swedenborg. — His  judgment  on  the  Reformers, 
and  his  account  of  their  destiny  in  the  next  hfe. 

The  doctrinal  system  of  the  Swedish  prophet  has  by  no  means,  as  we 
should  be  disposed  to  believe  from  many  of  his  speculations,  a  mainly 
theosophistic  tendency,  but  on  the  contrary,  an  eminently  practical 
one.  It  sprung  out  of  an  opposition  to  the  Protestant  principle  of  justi- 
fication, and  the  ulterior  doctrines  therewith  connected  ;  for,  Sweden- 
borg also  held  this  whole  body  of  Lutheran  and  Calvinistic  tenets  to  be 
subversive  of  morality,  and  extremely  pernicious  to  practical  Christi- 
anity. From  this  polemical  spirit,  all  the  virtues  and  the  defects  of 
this  sectary  are  to  be  deduced.  That  such  is  really  the  case,  is  mani- 
fest from  the  very  great  and  unwearied  attention,  which,  in  lengthened 
portions  of  his  writings,  he  devoted  to  the  consideration  of  the  above- 
mentioned  doctrines  of  the  Reformers,  as  well  as  from  the  fact,  that  on 
every  occasion,  and  when  we  least  expect,  he  recurs  to  the  subject,  and 
sets  forth  the  pernicious  influence  of  these  errors,  on  moral  and  rehgi- 
ous  life.  Swedenborg  is  wont  to  support  his  peculiar  tenets,  by  an  ap- 
peal to  the  immediate  teaching  of  the  higher  spirits,  wherewith  he  bad 
been  favoured.  Hence,  to  the  several  articles  of  doctrine  he  affixes  an 
appendix,  wherein  he  gives  a  description  of  these  celestial  conferences, 
often  with  great  minuteness,  and  entering  into  many  subordinate  cir- 
cumstances. But,  none  of  his  doctrinal  views  does  he  uphold  by  such 
numerous  visions,  as  that  of  his  hostility  to  the  Protestant  doctrine  of 
Justification.*  Angels  inform  the  visionary,  that  not  faith  alone,  but 
together  with  the  same,  charity  also  justifies  and  saves.  In  proof  of 
this,  he  relates  the  substance  of  a  dialogue  heard  by  him,  and  which  oc- 
curred between  some  angels  and  several  Protestants,  who  had  arrived 
in  the  other  world.  To  the  most  various  questions  the  latter  con- 
stantly replied,  that  for  them  faith  must  supply  the  place  of  all  things, 
and  hence  they  received  the  final  sentence, — that  they  were  like  an 
artist,  who  could  play  but  one  tune,  and  therefore  showed  them- 
selves unworthy  of  the  society  of  superior  spirits.  In  contrast  with 
this,  the  following  conversation  between  angels,  and  some  other  new- 
comers from  this  world,  is  given.  "  What  signifies  Faith  ?  To  believe 
what  the  Word  of  God  teacheth.  What  is  charity  1  To  practise  what 
that  word  teacheth.  Hast  thou  believed  only  what  thou  hast  read  in 
the  word,  or  hast  thou  acted  also  according  to  it  ?  I  have  also  acted 
according  to  it.     My  friend,  come  with  us,  and  take  up  thy  dwelling  in 


•  Forinstance,  vol.  i.  p.  314,  317,  647,  649 ;  vol.  ii.  p.  80,  92, 100, 169. 


BETWEEN  CATHOLICS  AND  PROTESTANTS.  509 

the  midst  of  us."  With  Luther  and  Melancthon,  also,  Swedenborg,  in 
his  celestial  travels,  made  acquaintance,  and  he  gives  us  the  following 
account  of  them.  Luther  (when  Swedenborg  visited  the  spiritual 
kingdom,)  was  not  in  heaven,  but  in  a  sort  of  purgatory — an  intermedi- 
ate place,  where  attempts  for  his  improvement  were  practised  on  him. 
When  Luther,  we  are  further  told,  arrived  in  the  next  world,  he  found 
himself  in  a  locality,  which  Swedenborg  honoured  with  a  visit,  and 
which  perfectly  resembled  his  domicile  in  Wittenberg.  With  the 
greatest  self-complacency,  Luther  collected  around  him  all  his  disciples 
and  adherents,  as  they  successively  entered  into  the  spiritual  kingdom, 
and  in  proportion  as  they  had  evinced  more  zeal  and  penetration  in  de» 
fence  of  his  doctrine,  he  honoured  them  with  a  seat  nearer  to  himself 
as  their  leader. 

With  the  greatest  enthusiasm,  and  firmest  confidence,  Luther  was 
incessantly  setting  forth  his  doctrine  of  Justification  by  faith  alone,  be 
fore  this  circle,  when  he  was  suddenly  disturbed  by  the  information, 
that  that  doctrine  was  thoroughly  false,  and,  that  if  he  wished  to  enter 
into  beatitude,  he  must  utterly  renounce  it.  For  a  long  time  he  would 
not  yield,  until  at  last  he  began  to  doubt,  whether  he  were  in  the  truth. 
Swedenborg,  on  his  departure,  received  from  an  angel  the  consolatory 
assurance,  that  Luther  seemed  really  to  perceive  his  errors,  and  afforded 
ever}'  hope  of  a  thorough  amendment.  Swedenborg  assigns  the  follow* 
ins:  reason  for  this.  Before  the  beginning  of  his  Reformation,  Luther 
was  member  of  a  Church,  which  exalts  charity  above  faith.  Educated 
in  this  doctrine  from  infancy,  he  was  so  thoroughly  imbued  with  it, 
that,  though  without  a  clear  consciousness  of  it,  it  ever  regulated  his 
inward  spiritual  life  ;  and,  on  this  account,  even  after  he  had  declared 
■war  against  the  Catholic  Church,  he  was  enabled  to  give  such  excellent 
instruction  in  respect  to  charity.  His  own  doctrine  of  Justification  by 
Faith  alone,  on  the  other  hand,  so  little  set  aside  the  conviction  of  his 
youthful  days,  that  it  belonged  more  to  his  external,  than  internal  man.* 
It  was  otherwise  with  his  disciples,  who  had  been  confirmed  in  his  doc- 
trine.    As  an   illustrative   instance,  he  recounts  the  destinies,  which 


•  Vol.  ii.  p.  553.  "  I  was  informed  by  the  examining  angels,  that  this  chieftain  o  f 
the  Church  is  in  a  state  of  conversion,  far  before  many  others,  who  have  confirmed 
themselves  in  the  doctrine  of  Justification  by  faith  alone  ;  and  that,  because  in  his 
youthful  days,  before  he  began  his  work  of  Reformation,  he  had  received  a  strong 
tincture  of  the  doctrine,  which  maintains  the  pre-eminence  of  charity  :  this  was  the 
reason,  why,  both  in  his  writings  and  sermons,  he  gave  such  excellent  instruction  in 
regard  to  charity ;  and  hence,  it  came  to  pass,  that  the  faith  of  Justification  with 
him,  was  implanted  in  his  external  natural  man,  but  not  rooted  in  his  internal  spirit- 
ual man." 


610  EXPOSITION  OF  DOCTRINAL  DIFFERENCES 

after  his  death,  befell  Mclancthon.  He,  too,  was  no  inhabitant  of  heft' 
ven  : — on  the  contrary,  he  must  previously  abandon  his  opinions  respect' 
ing  Justification  by  faith  alone,  before  he  can  enter  into  eternal  life.— 
Philip  Mclancthon  was  seen  by  Swedenborg,  as  he  was  zealously  en- 
gaged in  the  composition  of  a  book  ;  but,  he  was  unable  to  make  any 
progress  in  his  work.  He  was  ever  writing  down  the  words  :  "  Faith 
alone  saves  ;"  when  the  v^ords  as  often  again  disappeared.  The  reason 
of  this  phenomenon  is,  that  they  are  utterly  devoid  of  truth,  and  in  the 
next  world  no  error  can  endure.  All  attempts  to  bring  this  Reformer 
to  a  better  way  of  thinking,  have  hitherto  failed.  On  one  occasion,  in- 
deed,  he  wrote  down  the  proposition,  "  Faith  together  with  charity, 
justifies  ;"  but,  as  that  proposition  did  not  spring  out  of  the  inmost  feel- 
ings of  his  soul,  but  had  only  been  taught  him,  it  could  be  attended 
with  no  success.  In  vain  we  seek  for  an  assurance,  that  Mclancthon 
too,  could  look  forward  to  a  termination  of  his  painful  state  ;  Calvin 
experiences  a  still  worse  fate,  because  he  was  always,  as  Swedenborg 
says,  a  sensual  man  ;  and,  beside  the  Lutheran  doctrine  of  Justification, 
maintained  also  the  revolting  error  of  an  absolute  and  eternal  predesti- 
nation of  some  to  beatitude,  and  of  others,  to  damnation.  Swedenborg 
saw  him,  on  that  account,  thrown  down  into  a  pit,  filled  with  the  most 
abominable  spirits. 

The  Catholics,  too,  according  to  our  seer,  must,  in  many  respects 
change  their  convictions,  before  they  can  quit  the  immediate  state  in 
the  next  life,  and  enter  into  a  higher  sphere.  Strangely  prejudiced, 
however,  as  Swedenborg  is,  against  the  Catholic  Church — ill  as  he  is 
wont  to  speak  about  popes,  bishops,  and  saints,  he  yet  communicates 
the  information,  that  if  Catholics  perform  works  of  charity  only  in  sim- 
plicity, and  think  more  of  God  than  of  the  pope,  their  transition  to  pure 
truth,  and  thereby  to  eternal  felicity,  is  as  easy,  "  as  it  is  to  enter  into 
a  temple,  when  the  doors  are  thrown  open  ;  or,  into  a  palace,  by  passing 
between  the  sentinels,  who  keep  guard  in  the  outer  courts,  when  the 
king  enjoins  admission  ;  or,  as  it  is  to  lift  up  the  countenance  and  look 
toward  heaven,  when  angelic  voices  are  heard  therein."* 

Evident,  as  it  now  is,  that  Swedenborg's  reforming  zeal  was  particu- 
larly  directed  against  the  errors  in  the  Protestant  doctrine  of  Justifica- 
tion ;  yet,  his  attempts  to  undermine  the  same,  were  conducted  with  a 
destructive  ignorance ;  for  he  undermined  withal,  the  very  foundations 
of  Christianity.  Looking  for  the  connexion,  wherein  the  notion  of 
faith,  as  prevalent  among  his  former  fellow-religionists,  stood  with  other 


*  Vol.  ii.  p.  578. 


fifeTWEEN  CATHOLICS  AND  PROTESTANTS.  511 

dogmas,  he  fell  into  the  error,  that  the  doctrine  of  the  Trinity  was  the 
oasis  of  the  former  opinion,  and  hence,  he  thought  it  incumbent  upoa 
him  to  subvert  it.  Secondly,  he  observes  (and  in  this  instance  with 
perfect  justice,)  that  the  Lutheran  and  Calvinistic  doctrine  of  original 
sin,  forms  the  ground-work  of  the  Protestant  theory  of  Justification  — * 
He  rejected,  accordingly,  the  article  of  the  fall  of  man  in  Adam ;  and» 
human  freedom,  which  the  Reformers  had  denied,  he  exalted  to  the 
highest  pitch.  Lastly,  he  assailed  the  doctrine  of  the  vicarious  death 
of  Christ,  in  order  to  cut  off  the  last  link,  which  could  connect  the 
notion  of  Justification,  by  faith  alone,  with  any  other  dogma.  A  nearer 
investigation  of  these  three  points  will,  therefore,  be  our  next  task. 

§  hxxix. — Swedenborg's  doctrine  on  the  Trinity. — His  motive  for  assailing  that 
of  the  Church. 

The  connexion,  which  Swedenborg  established  between  the  dogma  of 
the  Trinity,  and  the  Protestant  doctrine  of  Justification,  attacked  by 
him  with  such  extreme  vehemence,  is  as  follows  : — »"  After  men  had 
discovered  three  persons  in  the  Deity,  they  were  forced  to  allot  to  each 
a  separate  office.  The  first  Person,  accordingly,  was  regarded  as  the 
One  which  had  been  offended  by  mankind  ;  and  the  second,  was  con- 
sidered to  be  the  Mediator.  By  the  establishment  of  so  powerful  a  medi- 
ation, the  Father  has  been  involved  in  the  necessity  of  bestowing  uncoU' 
ditional  pardon  ;  that  is  to  say,  without  regard  to  moral  worthiness, 
through  faith  in  the  merits  of  the  Son  alone.*  In  order  to  prevent  the 
possibility  of  the  very  idea  of  such  an  intercession,  the  new  Reformer 
turned  against  the  doctrine  of  the  Trinity  itself,  and,  indeed,  with  that 
decided  hostility,  which,  whenever  a  dogma  is  assailed  from  a  practical 
point  of  view,  is  ever  wont  to  arise.  Swedenborg  says,  the  falsity  of 
the  doctrine  of  three  Divine  Persons,  is  clear  from  the  fact,  that  the  an- 
gels,  with  whom  he  held  intercourse,  declared  to  him,  that  it  was  inipos- 


*  Vol.  i.  p.  255.  "That  this  idea  concerning  redemption  and  concerning  God, 
pervades  the  faith,  which  prevails,  at  this  day,  throughout  all  Christendom,  is  an  ac- 
knowledged truth ;  for,  that  faith  requires  man  to  pray  lo  God  the  Father,  that  He 
would  remit  their  sins,  for  the  sake  of  the  cross  and  the  blood  of  His  Son,  and  to  God 
the  Son,  that  He  would  pray  and  intercede  for  them  ;  and  to  God  the  Holy  Ghost, 
that  He  would  justify  and  sanctify  them,"  &c.  Vol.  ii.  p.  319  :  "Since  a  mental 
persuasion  of  three  Gods  has  been  the  result,  it  was  impossible  for  any  other  system 
of  faith  to  be  conceived  or  formed,  but  what  was  applicable  to  those  three  Persons,  in 
their  respective  stations ;  as  for  instance,  that  God  the  Father  ought  to  be  approach- 
ed, and  implored  to  impute  the  righteousness  of  His  Son,  or  to  be  merciful  for  the 
sake  of  His  Son's  suiFering  on  the  cross,"  &.c. 


hl2  EXPOSITION  OF  DOCTRINAL  DIFFERENCES 

sible  for  them  to  designate  in  words  that  opinion,  and  that  if  any  one 
approached  them,  with  the  intention  of  giving  utterance  to  it,  he  was 
compelled  to  turn  away  from  them  ;  and  that  if  he  really  uttered  the 
opinion,  he  was  immediately  transformed  into  a  block  in  human  shape. 
A  man,  who  seriously,  and  with  full  conviction  professes  the  Church 
doctrine  of  the  Trinity,  he  compares,  in  consequence,  to  a  statue  with 
moveable  limbs  ;  in  whose  interior  Satan  lodges,  and  speaks  by  its  arti- 
ficial mouth.  The  old  Christian  faith  in  a  Triune  God  he,  accordingly 
places  on  a  level  with  Atheism  ;  for  there  is  not,  in  fact,  he  says,  a 
God-head  with  three  Persons,  or,  as  he  expresses  himself,  there  are  not 
three  Gods.* 

He  teaches,  on  his  part,  that  in  the  Divinity  there  is  but  one  Person, 
the  Jehovah  God  (probably  the  Jehovah  Elohim)  of  the  Old  Testament. 
The  same  hath  in  Christ  assumed  human  nature ;  and  the  energy  of 
this  God-Man,  that  is  ever  working  for  our  renovation,  is  the  Holy 
Ghost,  whom  Swedenborg  calls  the  Divine  Truth,  and  the  Divine 
Power,  which  worketh  the  regeneration,  renovation,  vivification,  sanc- 
tification,  and  justification  of  man.  Hence,  he  adopts,  indeed,  a  Trinity 
of  Father,  Son,  and  Holy  Spirit ;  but  in  his  language,  he  explains  it  to 
be  three  objects  of  one  subject,  or  three  attributes  of  one  Divine  Per- 
son.f  In  other  words,  he  conceives  the  Trinity,  to  be  three  different 
manifestations  of  one  and  the  same  Divine  Person,  who,  in  the  Father, 
reveals  Himself  as  Creator  of  the  world,  in  the  Son  as  the  Redeemer, 
and  in  the  Spirit  as  the  Sanctifier.  He  refers,  moreover,  the  expres* 
sion,  "  Son  of  God,"  to  the  humanity,  which  Jehovah  assumed,  and 
then  compares  the  Father^  Son,  and  Holy  Spirit,  with  the  soul  and  body, 
and  the  operations  of  man,  resulting  from  the  union  of  the  two-l 

Of  what  is  called  Scriptural  proof,  Swedenborg  has  not  the  slightest 
notion.  It  is  a  mere  accident,  if  in  support  of  any  one,  even  of  his 
truest  propositions,  he  assigns  satisfactory  exegetical  grounds.  He 
usually  heaps  passages  upon  passages,  without  much  troubling  himself 
about  usage  of  speech,  the  context,  parallel  passages,  or  in  general,  the 
strict  application  of  hermeneutic  rules,  although  with  these,  he  was  not 


»  Vol.  i.  p.  46  .  .  .  p.  339.  "  The  present  faith  of  the  Church  .....  is  a  faith  in 
three  Gods." — Compare  p.  45,  p.  335. 

t  Log.  cit.  p.  327.  "  Hence,  then,  it  is  evident,  that  there  is  a  Divine  Trinity, 
consisting  of  Father,  Son,  and  Holy  Spirit  But,  in  what  sense  this  Trinity  is  to  be 
understood,  whether  as  consisting  of  three  Gods,  who  in  essence,  and  consequently 
in  name,  are  one  God,  or,  as  three  objects  of  one  subject,  and  thus  that  what  are  so 
named,  are  only  the  qualities,  or  attributes  of  one  God :  human  reason,  if  left  to 
itself,  can  by  no  means  discern." 

t  Loo.  cit.  p.  330. 


BETWEEN  CATHOLICS  AND  PROTESTANTS.  513. 

unacquainted.  It  is  so  in  the  inattor  under  discussion.  Let  any  one 
only  read  the  passages  he  cites  from  Isaiah,  Jeremiah,  Osee,  and  the 
Psalms,  in  order  to  prove,  that  it  was  not  the  Son  bcgotteu  of  the  Father 
from  all  eternity,  but  he,  whom  he  calls  Jehovah,  that  became  Man  and 
Redeemer  ;  and,  such  a  one  must  be  convinced,  that  witii  a  like  course 
of  reasoning,  any  conceivable  fancy  of  the  brain,  might  be  supported 
by  Scripture* 

Swedenborg's  total  ignorance  of  ecclesiastical  and  dogmatic  history, 
and  his  presumption,  in  despite  of  this  ignorance,  to  allege  their  testi- 
mony in  support  of  his  opinion,  are  particularly  afilicting.  He  ventures 
on  the  assertion,  that  from  the  time  of  the  Apostles,  down  to  the  Coun- 
cil of  Nice,  his  notion  of  the  Trinity,  was  the  prevailing  belief  of  the 
Church,  till  of  a  sudden  in  this  Council,  the  true  belief  was  lost !  !  It 
is  remarkable,  withal,  that  elsewhere  he  includes  among  the  heretics  of 
the  first  ages  the  Sabellians  ;  although  it  is  precisely  among  these  that 
he  might  have  found  the  most  accurate  resemblance  to  his  own  errors. 
In  truth,  had  he  known,  that  in  the  second  and  third  centuries,  the  very 
few  persons,  who  professed  principles  similar  to  his  own,  were  menaced 
V/ith  exclusion  from  ecclesiastical  communion,  if  they  refused  to  re- 
nounce their  opinions,  utterly  repugnant  as  they  were  to  the  universal 
doctrine  of  the  Church  :— had  he  been  aware,  that  Praxeas  was  forced 
to  exhibit  a  document,  wherein  he  revoked  his  error  ;  that  Beryllus,  at 
the  Synod  of  Bostra,  was  prevailed  upon  by  the  Arabian  bishops,  as  well 
as  by  Origen,  whom  they  had  summoned  to  their  aid,  to  take  the  same 
step  ;  and,  that  Sabellius  excited  such  great  agitation  in  the  Egyptian 
Church,  and  became  the  object  of  such  general  abhorrence  ; — how  could 
he  have  had  the  hardihood  to  put  forth  the  assertion,  that  down  to  the 
Council  of  Nice,  his  opinion  was  the  faitli  of  the  Church  !  If,  in  mod- 
ern days,  many  since  the  time  of  Souveran  have  asserted,  that  the  ante- 
Nicene  period  was  addicted  to  the  Arian  heresy  ;  a  superficial  study  of 
authorities,  at  least,  might  have  led  to  such  a  result ;  but  Swedenborg's 
assertion,  presupposes  the  utter  absence  of  all  historical  inquiry.  Yet  a 
book,  in  which  such  gross  and  palpable  errors  are  found,  he  dares  to 
extol  as  a  work  of  such  Divine  contents,  that  on  its  completion,  the 
Apostles  entered  upon  a  mission  through  the  whole  spiritual  world  ;  that 
on  its  publication,  the  very  salvation  of  futurity  depends  ;  and  that 
with  it  commences  the  new  eternal  Church ! 

In  respect  to  the  reasoning  of  Swedenborg,  it  J)ears  occasionally,  in 
its  main  features,  a  striking  resemblance  to  that  of  the  earlier  Arians, 
especially  ^Etius  and  Eunomius,  except  only  that  these  two  Arian  lead- 

*  Loc.  cit,  p.  163. 
33 


6M  EXPOSITION  OF  DOCTRINAL   DIFFERENCES 

ers  evince  far  more  acuteness  and  dexterity.  It  is  equally  certain,  that 
those  Unitarians,  in  the  earliest  period  of  the  Church,  who  bear  most 
affinity  to  Swedenborg,  knew  how  to  allege,  in  behalf  of  their  tenets, 
far  more  plausible  and  more  ingenious  Scriptural  arguments,  as  we  may 
perceive  from  the  work  of  Tertullian  against  Praxeas,  from  the  frag- 
ments of  Hippolytus  against  Noetus,  and  of  the  Pseudo-Athanasius 
against  the  followers  of  Sabellius.  Whosoever,  therefore,  possesses  but 
the  slightest  acquaintance  with  the  writings  of  Athanasius,  Hilary, 
Basil,  Gregory  Nazianzen,  Gregory  of  Nyssa,  and  Augustine,  (who, 
with  such  decided  superiority,  have  defended  the  doctrine  of  the  Church, 
against  the  earlier  and  the  later  Arians,  as  well  as  against  the  Sabel- 
lians,)  must  consider  with  amazement  the  efforts  of  Swedenborg,  who, 
with  powers  immeasurably  inferior,  attempted  to  undermine  the  belief 
in  a  dogma,  which,  in  consequence  of  the  defence  that  it  had  met  with, 
on  the  part  of  these  intellectual  giants,  had  received  even  a  stronger 
scientific  demonstration. 


§  hxxx. — Swedenborg  denies  the  fall  of  man  in  Adam. — Contradictions  in  his  theory 

on  this  matter. 

We  pass  now  from  the  most  striking  peculiarity  in  Swcdenborg's 
theology*  to  his  Anthropology,  where,  however,  it  will  be  only  his  doc- 
trine on  human  sinfulness,  and  particularly  original  sin,  that  will  engage 
our  attention.  The  latter,  as  we  remarked  above,  he  denies  ;  but,  he 
falls  into  the  most  singular  self-contradictions.  The  account  in  the 
Bible,  respecting  the  fatal  disobedience  of  our  first  parents,  he  explains 
as  an  allegory,  and  regards  Adam  and  Eve,  not  as  real  personages,  but 
only  (to  use  his  own  words,)  as  personifications  of  the  primitive  Church. "f 
And  he  adds,  that  "  if  this  be  well  understood,  the  opinion  hitherto  re- 
ceived and  cherished,  that  the  sin  of  Adam  is  the  cause  of  that  evil, 
which  is  innate  in  man  from  his  parents,  will  fall  to  the  ground.":}:  Swe- 
denborg doth  not  deny,  however,  that  a  propensity  to  sin  is  transmitted 
from  parents  to  children  ;  yet,  he  adds,  that  it  is  to  be  deduced  from 
the  parents  only,  as  he  says,  "  hereditary  evil,  my  friend,  is  derived 
solely  from  a  man's  parents ;"  and  elsewhere,  he  even  asserts,  with 
great  exaggeration,  "  that  man  from  his  mother's  womb  is  nothing  but 
evil."§     If  on  one  hand,  the  progagation  of  an  evil  by  descent  be  ad- 


*  The  word  Theology,  is  here  used  by  the  author  in  a  primitiye  sense,  as  doctrines 
that  treat  of  the  nature  and  the  attributes  of  God. — Trans. 

t  Vol.  ii.  p.  110.     "By  Adam  and  his  wife  is  meant  the  most  ancient  Church, 
that  existed  on  our  earth." 

\  Loc.  cit.  p.  196.  ^  Loc.  cit.  p.  195, 


BETWEEN  CATHOLICS  AND  PROTESTANTS.  615 

Wiitted,  and  on  the  other,  the  universality  of  the  evil  itself  be  not  called 
in  question,  how  can  we  stop  at  the  parents  of  a  child  ?  The  question 
necessarily  arises  5  how  then  did  the  parents  come  by  the  evil  ?  And 
if  doubtless,  it  be  answered,  that  they  received  the  bad  heritage  from 
their  parents,  and  these  again  from  theirs,  we  shall  certainly,  at  last,  ar- 
rive  at  the  first  man,  called  in  the  Sacred  Writings,  Adam  ;  and  shall 
be  obliged  to  confess,  that  the  universal  phenomenon  hath  a  primary, 
and  withal,  universal  cause,  and,  consequently,  that  sin  in  the  human 
race,  is  only  the  development  of  sin  in  Adam.  How  can  we  therefore 
say,  that  children  inherit  from  their  parents  a  principle  of  sin,  without 
recurring  to  the  first  man  ?  By  the  allegorical  explanation  of  the  Scrip- 
tural narrative  of  the  Fall,  nothing  is  gained.  For,  in  the  first  place, 
admitting  even  such  an  explanation,  still  the  sexual  propagation  of  man 
must  have  certainly  had  a  beginning  ;  and,  as  even  according  to  Svve- 
denborg,  the  development  of  sin  keeps  equal  pace  with  the  sexual  pro* 
pagation,  we  are  thus  compelled  to  recur  to  some  beginning — to  some 
first  sinner,  in  whose  fall  the  others  were  subsequently  involved.  In  the 
second  place,  if,  with  Swedenborg,  we  even  take  Adam  to  be  a  mere 
collective  name,  yet  it  must,  at  all  events,  be  admitted,  that  the  later 
race  of  men  have  inherited  from  the  earlier  a  principle  of  sin,  since  its 
sexual  transmission  our  seer  does  not  pretend  to  deny.  To  Adam,  ac- 
cordingly, we  must  even  go  back,  whether  by  that  name  we  understand 
an  individual,  or  a  generation  of  men.  But,  whether  Holy  Writ  teach 
the  former  or  the  latter,  no  one,  who  reveres  St.  Paul's  epistles  as  cano- 
nical, can  for  a  moment  doubt ;  for  in  Romans,  c.  v.  12-14,  Adam  is 
very  clearly  designated  as  he,  by  whose  fall,  the  fall  of  all  others  has 
been  determined ;  and  he  is  expressly  characterized  as  one  person 
(^Si  evoi  uv^^aTTov.)  From  whatever  side,  therefore,  we  contemplate 
Swedendorg's  doctrine,  it  appears  full  of  obscurities  and  inconsis- 
tencies. 

The  cause  of  these  contradictions  lies,  as  we  said  above,  in  his  mis- 
guided  opposition  to  the  Lutheran  doctrine,  which  regards  original  sin 
as  a  total  depravation  of  man,  wherein  all  free-will  is  utterly  destroyed. 
Swedenborg  now  endeavouring,  on  one  hand,  to  save  free-will,  and  to 
discover,  in  the  personal  abuse  of  freedom,  the  guiltiness  of  individuals; 
and,  on  the  other  hand,  withheld,  by  a  deeper  feeling,  from  regarding 
the  individual  as  merely  isolated,  and  possessing  evidently  a  glimpse  of 
the  truth,  that  no  man  liveth  for  himself,  nor  severed  from  mankind,  but 
is  vitally  involved  in  the  destinies  of  the  organic  whole, — Swedenborg, 
I  say,  fell  into  such  like  inconsistencies,  that,  in  one  moment,  set  up  a 
proposition,  and,  in  the  next,  subverted  it  again.  He  perceives,  if  we  may 
so  speak,  an  universal  flood  of  sin  j  but  he  dreads  to  examine  it  closely, 


51©  EXPOSITION  OF  DOCTRINAL  DIFFERENCES 

and  conceals  from  himself  its  source.  We  cannot,  by  this  theory,  mi-' 
derstand  how  sin  came  into  the  world  ;  nor  can  Reason  be  satisfied 
with  a  doctrine  of  an  evil,  being  inherited  by  children  from  their  pa-^ 
rents,  when  that  evil  is  considered  as  a  mere  accident,  and  is  referred 
to  no  primary  cause.  Or  does  Swedenborg  derive  this  evil  propensity, 
transmitted  by  sexual  propagation,  from  the  original  constitution  of 
man?  Then,  undoubtedly,  the  undeniable  fact  would  not  be  represented, 
as  a  mere  accident ;  but,  we  find  in  Swedenborg's  writings  no  syllable 
to  justify  such  a  supposition.  On  the  other  hand,  Gustavus  Knos,  pro- 
fessor of  the  oriental  languages  at  the  University  of  Upsal,  who  died 
some  years  ago,  and  who  was  by  no  means  a  slavish  follower  of  Sweden- 
borg, has,  in  his  soliloquies  on  God,  man,  and  the  world,  set  forth  evil, 
as  something  necessarily  connected  with  the  finite  nature  of  man.  But, 
the  question  recurs,  whether  the  other  Swedenborgians  will  subscribe 
to  so  perverse  a  doctrine.  Without  this  tenet,  their  theory  of  here- 
ditary evil  is  the  most  incoherent  rhapsody,  that  can  well  be  im-^ 
agined. 

§  ^xxxi. — Incarnation  of  the  Divinity. — Objects  of  the  Incarnation. — Relation 
between  grace  and  free-will. 

We  must  now  describe  the  objects  of  the  Incarnation  of  the  Divinity, 
as  set  forth  by  Swedenborg.  The  rejection  of  the  great  dogma  of  the 
Atonement,  through  Christ's  bloody  sacrifice  on  the  cross,  so  essentially 
Christian,  so  clearly  founded  in  Scripture  and  Tradition,  is  intimately 
connected  with  the  misapprehension  of  the  origin  of  human  sinfulness. 
The  Scriptural  opposition  between  the  first  and  the  second  Adam,  is  de- 
void of  sense,  in  the  system  of  Swedenborg.  Having  once  abandoned 
the  Scriptural  point  of  view,  he  was  no  longer  able  to  discover,  in  the 
condition  of  mankind,  any  adequate  cause  to  account  for  the  incarnatiort 
of  the  Logos.  He,  accordingly,  in  order  to  assign  sufficient  motives 
for  this  great  event,  looked  for  the  causes,  beyond  the  sphere  of  hu- 
manity. The  human  mind  is  urged  by  an  indomitable  instinct,  to  con- 
sider itself  an  integral  member  of  a  great  spiritual  kingdom  extending 
over  all  worlds,  and  to  connect  the  prosperity  of  the  divine  institutions 
established  on  earth,  as  well  as  the  disorders  and  concussions,  which- 
interrupt  their  normal  development  of  life,  with  occurrences  in  the  next 
world,  and  to  regard  them  as  a  continuance  of  the  vibrations  of  the  lat- 
ter. Of  this  fact,  the  Myths  of  the  Indians,  and  the  religious  doctrines 
of  the  Parsi,  will  furnish  us  with  primitive  proofs.  Christianity,  also, 
points  to  a  connexion  between  the  fall  of  the  human  race,  and  the  pre- 
cipitation of  higher  spirits  into  the  abyss  ;  and  speaks,  with  the  utmost 


BETWEEN  CATHOLICS  AND  PROTESTANTS.  517 

clearness,  of  their  continued  efforts,  to  maintain  and  extend  the  corrup- 
tion,  which,  by  their  means,  had  been  introduced  upon  our  earth.  On 
the  other  hand,  it  teaches  the  active  interest,  which  the  spirits,  who  re- 
mained faithful,  as  well  as  the  souis,  who  here  below  died  in  communion 
with  Christ,  and  are  glorified  in  the  other  world,  exert  for  the  diffusion 
•of  God's  kingdom,  and  its  consolidation  on  earth.  But,  in  Scripture 
and  the  Tradition  of  the  Church,  all  this  is  set  forth,  in  a  very  simple 
and  general  outline.  But,  in  the  hands  of  the  fantastic  Christian 
Gnostics,  particularly  the  Valentinians,  the  simple  doctrine  of  the 
Church  was  transformed  into  a  vast  and  connected,  but  fanciful  drama. 
They  taught  that  the  empire  of  Eons  was  disturbed  by  the  passionate 
desire  of  Sophia — that  the  latter  has  been  redeemed,  and  the  former  re- 
Dovated;  yet,  that  it  was  only  through  the  re-establishment  in  Christ  of 
all  the  Pneumatic  natures,  which,  in  consequence  of  the  aforesaid  per- 
turbations, had  been  transferred  into  this  temporal  life,  perfect  harmony 
has  been  restored  even  in  the  world  of  spirits.  In  the  Gnostic,  as  well 
as  in  the  Manichcan  systems,  the  darker  powers  are  brought  into  a 
more  or  less  artificial,  and  often  utterly  inconceivable  connexion  with 
occurrences  in  the  Kingdom  of  Light,  which  has  to  be  secured  against 
their  strenuous  efforts  to  invade  its  frontiers,  and  to  conquer  it.  Now 
a  similar  course  Swedenborg  pursues.  He  says,  "  Redemption  consisted 
in  reducing  the  hells  into  subjection,  and  bringing  the  heavens  into  an 
orderly  arrangement,  and  renewing  the  Church  on  earth  by  this  means; 
and  there  is  no  possible  method,  by  which  the  omnipotence  of  God 
could  effect  these  purposes,  than  by  assuming  the  humanity  ;  just  as 
there  is  no  possibility  for  a  man  to  work  without  hands  and  arras;  where- 
fore, the  humanity  is  called  in  the  word,  'the  arm  of  Jehovah.'  "* — 
Jos.  xi.  10  ;  xiii.  1. 

Swedenborg  gives  the  following  more  detailed  description  of  the  dis- 
orders, that,  in  consequence  of  the  invasion  of  Satanic  powers,  had 
broken  out  in  the  kingdom  of  happy  spirits,  and  of  the  deliverence  from 
this  danger,  by  the  mediation  of  the  Redeemer.  The  Church  terres- 
trial, says  he,  forms,  together  with  the  orders  of  Spirits  in  the  next 
world,  an  organic  whole,  so  that  both  may  be  compared  to  a  man,  whose 
^entire  members  suffer,  when  one  only  is  diseased.  The  members  of 
God's  community  on  earth,  constitute,  as  it  were,  the  feet  of  this  great 
body  and  its  thighs  ;  the  celestial  spirits,  are  the  breast,  the  shoulders, 
and  so  forth.  The  continued  growth  of  moral  corruption  here  below, 
has,  accordingly,  exerted  the  most  disturbing  infiuence  on  the  whole 
spiritual  world,   and  placed  it  in  a  condition  similar  to  that  of  a  man, 

*  Vol.  i.  p.  168. 


618  EXPOSITION   OF  DOCTRINAL  DIFFERENCES 

obliged  to  sit  on  a  throne  with  a  broken  footstool.  The  dominion  of 
Satan  has,  moreover,  been  so  prodigiously  enlarged,  by  the  very  great 
immigrations  from  the  earth,  that  his  subjects  dared  to  penetrate  be- 
yond the  frontiers  of  the  blessed,  and  even  threatened  to  drag  these 
down  with  them  into  the  abyss.  Now  the  incarnate  God  delivered  the 
good  spirits  from  this  importunity  of  the  demons,  as  He  drove  them; 
back  within  the  limits  of  hell  ;  for,  as  beasts  of  prey  retreat  into  their 
dens ;  as  frogs  dip  under  water,  when  tlieir  enemies  approach  ;  so  fled 
the  demons,  when  the  Lord  came  out  against  them.*  We  see  how 
Swedenborg  here  abused  the  Apostolic  doctrine  of  Christ's  descent 
into  hell. 

He  further  observes,  that,  by  this  judicial  action,  by  this  rigid  sepa- 
ration of  the  good  from  the  wicked,  the  Lord  hath  exhibited  himself  as 
righteousness  itself ;  but  by  no  means  in  rendering  perfect  obedience^ 
during  his  earthly  life  in  the  room  of  men,  and,  in  this  way,  becoming 
their  righteousness.  His  obedience  in  general  (he  continues, )  and  his 
crucifixion — the  last  temptation  of  the  Lord  in  his  humanity,  especially, 
have  merited  for  the  latter,  only  perfect  glorification,  that  is  to  say,  the 
perfect  union  with  the  Deity.  No  merit  of  Christ,  therefore,  according 
to  Swedenborg,  is  imputable  to  man — no  vicarious  satisfaction  can 
exist.  In  his  opposition  against  Lutheran  orthodoxy,  which  appeared 
to  him  to  undermine  all  vital  Christianity,  he  went  so  far,  as  even  ta 
deny  that  evangelical  dogma,  from  which  the  Christian  derives  an  in- 
exhaustible moral  strength — that  dogma,  which  hath  conquered  the 
world.  In  the  great  disfigurement,  which  that  doctrine  had,  doubt- 
less, experienced  in  the  confessions  of  the  Lutherans,  he  could  not  dis- 
cover the  simple,  great,  and  profound  truth — he  misapprehended, 
especially,  its  psychological  importance,  and  even  proceeded  so  far,  as 
to  uphold  a  redemption,  in  part,  at  least,  depending  on  the  application 
of  mere  mechanical  powers.j" 

*  Vol.  i.  p.  237. 

f  Mohler  says,  that  according  to  Swedenborg's  theory,  "  Redemption,  in  pai  t  at 
least,  depended  on  the  application  of  mere  mechanical  powers."  How  so  ?  Because 
the  Swedish  prophet  makes  Redemption  to  consist,  chiefly,  in  the  reducing  the  hells 
into  subjection,  in  delivering  the  blessed  spirits  from  the  importunity  of  demons,  and 
in  producing,  by  this  means,  tlie  renovation  of  the  Church.  The  Catholic  Church, 
on  the  other  hand,  teaches  tliat  the  object  of  the  Redemption,  was  the  restoration  of 
fallen  man,  his  deliverance  from  sin,  and  especially  original  sin.  This  is  the  doc- 
trine  clearly  inculcated  in  Holy  Writ — See  Luke  xix.  10  ;  John  iii.  14  ;  Gal.  iv.  4,  5  ; 
Heb.  V.  1,  seq. ;  John  i.  29;  Rom  v.  12,  15,  21 ;  vi.  vii. ;  1  Cor.  xv.  21,22.  Thus, 
according  to  Swedenborg,  Redemption  produced,  as  it  were,  a  mere  outward  mechan- 
ical change  in  the  moral  condition  of  mankind  ;  but,  according  to  Catholic  dQctrine> 
it  brought  about  a  living,  internal,  and  organic  change. — Trans. 


BETWEEN  CATHOLICS  AND  PilOTESTANTS.  519 

But  here  Swedenborg  could  not  rest ;  aud  the  mode,  wherein  he  still 
describes  the  necessity  of  the  Incarnation  of  the  Deity,  for  the  regene- 
ration of  mankind,  is  certainly  entitled  to  the  epithet  of  ingenious. 
His  view  is  not  new,  and  was  already  unfolded  by  the  Fathers  of  the 
Church,  and  the  Schoolmen,  and  with  greater  clearness,  copiousness, 
and  precision,  than  by  Swedenborg  ;  but,  as  we  have,  however,  no 
ground  for  supposing,  that  he  was  acquainted  with  the  labours  of  ante- 
rior times  on  this  matter,  we  ought  not  to  refuse  him  the  merit  of  an 
original  discovery.  He  says,  without  the  condescension  of  God  in 
Christ,  faith  were  comparable  to  a  look  cast  up  towards  the  heavens, 
and  would  be  utterly  lost  in  the  vague  and  the  immeasurable ;  but 
through  Christ  it  hath  received  its  proper  object,  and  is,  thereby,  become 
more  definite.  Some  fathers  of  the  Church  express  this  thought  in  the 
following  manner  ;  to  wit,  that  by  his  own  powers,  man  is  unable  to 
rise  above  a  mere  void,  meaningless,  unconscious  yearning,  and  that  it 
is  only  through  revelation  this  yearning  is  satisfied,  and  is  blessed  with  a 
true  object.  Swedenborg  adds  (in  common  with  Cardinal  Cusa,  who 
has  treated  this  subject  in  a  most  intellectual  manner,)  that,  in  the  re- 
lations of  man  to  God,  the  human  and  the  divine,  the  earthly  and  the 
heavenly  must  every  where  pervade  each  other  ;  that,  by  communion 
with  the  incarnate  Deity,  faith  and  love  receive  their  higher  aud  eter- 
nal sanction  ;  but,  that  as  God  hath  lived  among  us  in  a  human  shape, 
those  virtues  have,  thereby,  obtained  their  right  foundation,  and  then 
only  became  our  own  ;  for,  the  Divine  in  itself  would  remain  inacces- 
sible to  us.*  The  one  great  work  of  Divine  Mercy,  we  may  contem- 
plate from  many  points  of  view ;  and  the  more  comprehensive  is  our 
contemplation  of  that  work,  the  deeper  will  be  our  reverence  and  ado- 
ration. But,  that  so  important  principle  in  the  Incarnation,  which  is 
so  clearly  expressed  in  Holy  Writ,  so  distinctly  asserted  through  all 
centuries  of  the  Church,  and  plastically  stamped,  if  I  may  so  speak,  on 
her  public  worship — the  principle,  that  the  death  of  the  Lord  is  our  life 
— ought  never  to  be  thrown  into  the  back-ground,  much  less  absolutely 
rejected. 

What  the  northern  prophet  says  as  to  the  duties,  required  on  the  part 
of  man,  in  order  that  he  should  realize,  within  himself,  the  regenera- 
tion, designed  for  him  by  God,  has  much  resemblance  with  the  doctrine 
of  the  Catholic  Church.  In  Christ,  says  Swedenborg,  Divine  truth  and 
love  became  manifest.  Hence,  man  must  approach  unto  him,  and  re- 
ceive the  truth  in  faith,  and  walk  according  to  the  same  in  love  ;  faith 
without  love,  or  love  without  faith,  has  no  value.     Hence,   respecting 

*  Vol.  i.  p.  552. 


520  EXPOSITION  OF  DOCTRINAL  DIFFERENCES 

Justification,  he  has  nearly  the  same  idea,  which  the  Catholic  Church 
has  ever  inculcated  ;  and  in  his  opinion,  it  is  essentially  identical  with 
the  sanctification,  and  inward  renovation,  produced  in  faith  in  Christ.* 
But  here  the  great  distinction  is  to  be  observed,  that  he  deduces  not  the 
forgiveness  of  sins  from  the  merits  of  Christ.  The  relation  between 
Grace  and  Free-Will  is  pretty  well  set  forth  ;  and  in  such  a  way,  that 
he  deviates  not  into  Pelagianism,  and  scarcely  into  Semi-pelagianism — 
a  circumstance,  which  from  Swedenborg's  opposition  to  Luther's  doc- 
trine, must  really  excite  surprise. 

But  the  historian  of  dogmas  will  be  filled  with  astonishment,  when,  on 
these  matters,  he  turns  his  attention  to  Swedenborg's  historical  observa- 
tions. In  order  to  justify  the  connexion,  which  he  has  assumed  be- 
tween the  doctrine  of  the  Trinity,  and  that  of  the  vicarious  Satisfaction, 
he  asserts,  that  with  the  Council  of  Nice,  the  Protestant  doctrine  of  the 
imputation  of  Christ's  merits  has  been  introduced  and  maintained. f 
This  assertion  involves  a  two-fold  error  ;  in  the  first  place,  because,  be- 
fore the  aforesaid  council,  an  imputation  of  Christ's  merits  can  be  prov- 
ed to  have  been  the  universal  belief  of  the  Church  ;  and  secondly,  be- 
cause from  that  council  down  to  the  sixteenth  century,  the  peculiar  Lu- 
theran theory  on  this  subject,  with  the  exception  of  some  slight  and 
scattered  traces,  is  not  to  be  found.  Luther  himself  never  vaunted  of 
this  concurrence  with  the  doctrine  of  the  Church,  subsequently  to  the 
Council  of  Nice.  On  the  contrary,  he  made  it  his  glory  to  have  caught 
a  deeper  insight  into  the  meaning  of  St.  Paul,  than  all  the  fathers  of 
the  Church.  Swedenborg  need  only  have  read  the  commentaries  on 
St.  Paul's  Epistles,  which  Chrysostom  and  Theodoret,  in  the  Greek 
Church,  and  Ambrosiaster  and  Jerome,  in  the  Latin,  have  composed, 
to  see  the  fallacy  of  his  strange  conceit.  As  to  the  theologians  of  the 
middle  age,  every  page  of  their  writings  will  refute  the  assertion  of  Swe- 
denborg. How  then,  would  the  opposition  between  Catholics  and  Pro- 
testants be  explicable,  if,  on  the  article  of  belief  in  question,  the  former 


*  Vol.  i.  p  283.  "  By  means  of  divine  truth  originating  in  good,  that  is,  by- 
means  of  faith  originating  in  charity,  man  is  reformed  and  regenerated,  and  also  re- 
newed, quickened,  sanctified,  justified  ;  and,  in  proportion  to  this  progress  and 
growth  in  these  graces,  is  purified  from  evils ;  in  which  purification  consists  the  re. 
mission  of  sins." 

t  Vol.  iii.  p.  317.  "That  the  faith,  which  is  imputative  of  the  merit  and  righte. 
ousness  of  Christ  the  Redeemer,  first  took  its  rise  from  the  decrees  in  the  Council  of 
Nice,  concerning  three  Divine  Persons  from  eternity ;  which  faith,  from  that  time 
to  the  present,  has  been  received  by  the  whole  Christian  world."  P.  312  :  "  That  im- 
putation and  the  faith  of  the  present  Church,  which  alone  is  said  to  justify,  are  one 
thing." 


BETWEEN  CATHOLICS  AND  PROTESTANTS.  521 

had  ever  put  forth  the  same  doctrine  as  the  latter  ?  Swedcnborg  does 
not  even  adduce  a  single  historical  testimony,  in  support  of  his  asser- 
tion, and  contents  himself  with  mere  round  assurances,  without  reflect- 
ing that,  in  matters  so  important,  proofs,  and  not  mere  assurances,  are 
required.  Swedenborg  was  not  aware^  that  we  can  believe  in  an  im- 
putation of  the  merits  of  Christ,  without  being  in  the  least  forced  to 
adopt  the  peculiar  theories  of  the  Reformers  of  Wittenberg  and  of  Ge- 
neva. In  other  places,  where  he  treats  of  the  separation  of  Protest- 
ants  from  the  Catholic  Church,  and  of  their  peculiar  doctrines,  in  con- 
sequence of  that  schism,  he  even  contradicts  himself,  forgets,  at  all 
events,  the  broad  distinction,  which,  according  to  what  has  been  already 
recounted,  he  had  laid  down  between  Catholics  and  Protestants,  as  to 
their  capability  for  embracing  in  the  next  world,  the  entire  truth,  and 
precisely  in  regard  to  the  article  of  Justification. 

Upon  his  doctrine  of  Free-will,  also,  Swedenborg  did  not  a  little  pique 
himself,  under  the  supposition  that  it  was  utterly  unknown  to  the  whole 
Christian  Church  ;  and  his  English  editor,  in  all  seriousness,  points  to 
this  notion,  as  to  something  quite  new  and  unheard-of.  Truly,  if  we  at- 
tend only  to  the  Formulary  of  Concord,  from  which  Swedenborg  makes 
long  extracts,  as  well  as  to  the  writings  of  Calvin,  we  should  be  justified 
in  believing,  that  the. doctrine  of  Free-will,  is  nowhere  any  longer 
known.  But  how  much  soever  Swedenborg  descants  on  Free-will,  he 
gives,  amid  all  his  images,  no  very  clear  notion  of  it,  although  it  is  not 
to  be  doubted  that  this  idea  floated  before  his  mind.* 

§  Lxxxii. — Swedenborg's  Doctrine  relative  to  the  Sacraments. 

Swedenborg's  doctrine  on  the  Sacraments,  has,  independently  of  its 
peculiar  language,  nothing  very  striking,  although  he  thinks  the  con- 
trary, and  opines,  that  without  knowledge  of  the  spiritual  sense,  that  is 
to  say,  the  mystico-allegorical  meaning,  and  especially  of  the  corres- 
pondences between  heaven  and  earth,  nothing  solid  can  be  adduced  even 
on  this  article  of  belief.  Moreover,  the  two  sacraments,  Baptism  and 
the  Lord's  Supper  (for  more  he  doth  not  acknowledge,)  are,  in  his  opin- 
ion, very  precious  ;  and  he  strives,  with  all  his  powers,  to  promote  a 
lively  reverence  for,  and  worthy  reception  of  the  same.  Of  baptism, 
he  teaches,  that,  through  three  stages,  it  is  designed  to  work  an  inward 
purification.  In  the  first  place  it  conducts  into  the  Christian  Church  ; 
secondly,  by  its  means,  the  Christian  is  brought  to  a  knowledge  and  re- 
cognition of  the  Saviour  and  Redeemer  ;  and,  thirdly,  in  it  man  is  born 

*  Vol.  i.  pp.  108-156.  See  also  Vol.  ii.  p.  273. 


522  EXPOSITION  OF  DOCTRINAL  DirFERENCES 

again  through  the  Lord.  But,  these  three  objects  of  baptism,  are,  in 
themselves  one  and  the  same,  and  are  in  the  same  relation  one  to  the 
other,  as  cause  and  effect,  and  the  medium  between  the  two.* 

But  the  knowledge  of  celestial  correspondences,  above  all,  serves  to 
initiate  Christians  into  the  essence  of  the  holy  communion.  Flesh  and 
bread  are  the  earthly  signs  of  the  Divine  love  and  goodness  (holiness;) 
blood  and  wine  the  emblem  of  God's  truth  and  wisdom.  Eating  is  like 
to  appropriation.  But  now,  flesh  and  bread  in  the  holy  communion, 
are  the  Lord  himself,  considered  in  the  character  of  love  and  goodness. 
Blood  and  wine,  in  like  manner,  the  Lord  himself  in  His  truth  and  wis- 
dom. There  accordingly  are,  as  Swedenborg  expresses  himself,  three 
principles,  which,  in  this  sacrament  especially,  are  interwoven  into  each 
other  : — the  Lord,  his  Divine  goodness,  and  his  Divine  truth ;  and  con- 
sequently, it  is  evident,  that  in  the  Lord's  Supper,  all  the  blessings  of 
heaven  and  the  Church  are,  in  an  especial  manner,  included  and  im- 
parted ;  for,  in  these  three  principles,  which  constitute  the  universal, 
all  particulars  are  contained.  Thus  God,  and  with  Him  faith  and 
charity,  are  the  gifts  vouchsafed  to  man  in  the  participation  of  this  sac- 
rament. That  the  glorified  humanity  is  here  present,  together  with  the 
Divinity,  Swedenborg,  in  a  special  section,  very  clearly  shows,  and  ob- 
serves, at  the  same  time,  that  the  Eucharist  is  a  spiritual  food,  for  the 
very  reason  that  the  glorified  humanity  is  there  proffered  to  us. 

In  order  to  prove  the  possibility  of  such  a  participation,  Swedenborg 
observes  :  every  sound  soul  has  the  faculty  to  receive  from  the  Lord 
wisdom,  that  is  to  say,  truths,  and  to  augment  the  same  to  all  eternity ; 
in  like  manner  to  receive  charity,  and  to  increase  perpetually  in  the 
same.  But  now,  the  Lord  is  charity  and  wisdom  itself;  consequently 
man  is  able  to  unite  himself  to  Him.  It  is  here  evident,  that  wisdom 
and  charity  are  regarded  by  Swedenborg  as  something  substantial — as 
the  subtlest  emanations  from  the  Deity,  and  the  Deity  itself :  in  the 
same  waj^  as  in  the  other  world,  he  beheld  God  as  a  sun,  from  which 
alone  light  and  heat  are  emitted,  that  is  to  say,  wisdom  and  charity. 
To  avoid  probably  pantheistic  views,  the  prophet  adds,  the  Divinity  it  - 
self  cannot  be  idcnli/ied,  but  only  united  with  man  ;  in  the  same  man- 
ner as  the  sun  is  not  conjoined  with  the  eye,  nor  the  air  with  the  ear, 
but  are  only  adjoined  to  those  organs,  in  order  to  render  the  senses  of 
seeing  and  of  hearing  possible. f 


*  Loc.  cit.  p.  389.  "  In  a  like  manner  as  a  first  cause,  a  middle  cause,  which  is 
the  efficient,  and  ultimate  cause,  which  is  the  effect,  and  the  end,  for  the  sake  of 
which  the  former  causes  were  produced." 

t  Loc.  cit.  p.  445.    "  Still,  however,  as  man  is  a  finite  being,  the  Lord,  divinity 


BETWEEN  CATHOLICS  AND  PROTESTANTS.  523 

In  the  same  way,  continues  Svvedenborg,  as  baptism  introduces  us 
into  the  Church,  the  holy  communion  introduces  us  into  heaven.  For, 
the  Lord  and  Saviour  who  is  present  in  the  sacrament,  has  necessarily 
heaven  also  in  his  train,  and  opens  it  to  those,  who  worthily  partake  of 
the  divine  repast.  It  is  otherwise  with  the  unworthy  communicant. 
To  the  worthy,  God  is,  in  this  feast,  inwardly  and  outwardly  present  : 
inwardly,  by  His  love  and  truth :  outwardly  by  His  omnipresence, 
which  determines  the  existence  of  all  things.  In  the  wicked  is  found 
the  mere  general  omnipresence  of  God,  without  the  former.  To  mere 
carnal  and  mere  natural  men,  who  withdraw  from  obedience  to  God, 
and  only  know  and  speak  of  the  Divine  Truth,  but  never  practise  it, 
the  Lord,  in  despite  of  existence,  reveals  not  heaven.  One  might  feel 
disposed  to  conclude  from  this,  that  Swedenborg  agrees  with  Calvin, 
when  he  teaches,  that  to  the  reprobate,  the  glorified  body  of  the  Lord 
is  not  imparted.  Svvedenborg,  however,  is  utterly  opposed  to  the  Ge- 
nevan Reformer,  for,  according  to  the  latter,  the  food  of  eternal  life  is 
not  imparted  to  him,  who  is  predestined  to  eternal  death  ;  but,  accord- 
ing to  the  former,  it  is  only  not  received  by  the  unworthy  communicant, 
that  is  to  say,  not  imbibed  in  the  inmost  life  of  the  spirit,  although  prof- 
fered to  him.*  What  Swedenborg  teaches,  besides,  respecting  the 
Eucharist ;  to  wit,  that  it  worketh  an  union  with  the  Deity,  and  is  the 
stamp  of  the  sons  of  God,  and  so  forth,  is  only  a  further  consequence 
of  what  has  been  hitherto  stated.  Moreover,  in  his  exposition  of  the 
doctrine  of  the  Eucharist,  Swedenborg  entirely  passes  over  the  relation, 
which  the  same  bears  to  the  death  of  our  Lord,  and  to  the  forgiveness 
of  sins,  clearly  as  that  relation  is  pointed  out  in  Holy  Writ.  The  mo- 
tives, for  this  his  omission,  are  to  be  sought  for,  in  the  above  mentioned 
view,  which  he  takes  of  Christ's  passion  and  death. 

§  Lxxxiii. — Swedenborg's  revelations  from  the  other  world. 

With  the  information,  which  Swedenborg  brought  from  the  next 
world,  respecting  its  state  aad  its  relations,  and  which  he  has  recorded 
in  his  writings,  we  wish  not  to  amuse  our  readers  ;  though  to  many, 
undoubtedly,  the  investigation  of  this  subject  would  be,  precisely,  the 
most  attractive.  We  shall  only  communicate  so  much  as  appears  ne- 
cessary, partly  to  complete  our  knowledge  of  the  Swedenborgian   doc- 


itself,  cannot  be  conjoined  with  him,  but  adjoined."    At.  p.  70,  the  author  says,  that 
"  conjoined,''^  signifies  an  unity  like  that  of  the  fruit  with  the  tree,  but  "  adjoined," 
a  more  external  union,  as  when  fruits  are  bound  to  a  tree." 
*  Loc,  cit.  p.  396. 


624  EXPOSITION  OF  DOCTRINAL  DIFFERENCES 

trines,  and  partly  to  explain  much,  that  has  been  hitherto  stated. 
When  souls  quit  the  visible  world,  they  go  to  a  locality  hovering  be- 
tween heaven  and  hell ;  and  feeling  themselves  by  degrees  irresistibly  at- 
tracted to  their  kindred  spirits,  they  gradually  advance  into  heaven  or  hell. 

The  husband,  with  haste,  seeks  his  spouse,  and  vice  versa ;  and  in 
general,  each  one  the  companions  of  his  earthly  sufferings  and  joys, 
among  whom  alone  he  finds  himself  at  home.  In  these  descriptions, 
Swcdenborg  indisputably  displays  a  very  subtle  psychology.  Those, 
moreover,  who  are  neither  ripe  for  heaven,  nor  find  joy  in  hell,  are  in- 
structed and  educated,  until  by  the  use  of  their  freedom,  they  attain  un- 
to  pure  truth  and  charity,  whereby  heaven  becomes  accessible  to  them. 
The  members  of  every  religion,  confession,  and  sect,  receive  teachers  of 
their  own  party,  and  the  Heathen,  Jew,  and  Mohammedan,  are  not  ex- 
cluded from  this  school.  But,  if  they  resist  all  attempts  for  their  im- 
provement or  perfection,  they  are  then  swallowed  up  by  hell.  We  do 
not  see  why  Swedenborg  should  have  manifested  such  a  decided  hostil- 
ity against  the  Catholic  doctrine  of  purgatory,  although,  undoubtedly, 
between  the  latter  and  the  intermediate  place  of  the  Swedenborgians, 
important  differences  are  to  be  found. 

The  relations  in  the  next  world,  according  to  the  depositions  of  our 
eye-witness,  perfectly  resemble  those  on  earth.  There  also,  are  houses, 
and  palaces  with  rooms  and  furniture  ;  there,  too,  are  mountains  and 
valleys,  rivers  and  lakes.  Time,  also,  and  a  very  substantial  space,  rule 
the  world  of  spirits.  Nations  and  individuals  retain  their  peculiarities ; 
hence,  in  the  next  world,  the  Dutch  still  carry  on  commerce.  The  only 
difference  is,  that  all  things  are  in  a  more  glorified  and  spiritual  shape, 
than  here  below,  for  the  gross  body  of  the  present  life  is  thrown  off; 
and  even  the  resurrection  of  the  flesh,  according  to  Swedenborg,  does 
not  take  place.  The  new  body,  however,  retains  quite  the  form  of  the 
old  one,  so  that  many  who  pass  into  the  next  life,  perceive  not  that  they 
no  longer  possess  their  former  corporeal  integument. 

In  1757,  the  last  judgment  was  held,  and  Swedenborg,  as  an  amazed 
spectator,  assisted  at  it.  The  same  is  also  held  from  time  to  time. 
Even  the  damned  could  be  delivered,  if  they  wished.  Swedenborg  saw 
one  of  them,  who  had  once  been  a  highway-robber,  and  had  been  guil- 
ty of  adultery,  and  who,  somehow  or  other,  had  strayed  among  the 
angels.  These  endeavored  to  work  on  his  understanding,  and  he  really 
understood  what  they  said  and  wished.  But,  on  their  demanding  him 
to  love  the  truth,  which  he  recognized  ;  he  replied,  he  would  not,  and 
returned  to  hell.  The  phenomenon  Swedenborg  makes  use  of,  in  order 
to  prove  Free-will.  Here,  the  penetrative  man  evinces  his  sagacity  ; 
for,  certainly,  there  are  reprobates,  who  will  not  be  happy,  and  there- 


BETWEEN  CATHOLICS  AND  PROTEsTANTS.  525 

fore  cannot  bo  so.  This  narrative  agrees  very  well  with  the  other  doc 
triues  of  Swedeuborg,  that  God  is  perpetually  present  with  man  so  long 
as  he  lives,  and  exerts  a  constant  influence  over  him  to  procure  his 
conversion ;  but,  that  those  who  die  in  the  wickedness  of  their  heart, 
are  irreformable,  "  because  the  interiors  of  their  minds,*'  says  Sweden^ 
borg,  "  are  fixed  and  determined/' 

§  tixxiV.-^Blblical  Canon  of  SWedenborg.     Allegorico-niystical  Exegesis. 

With  Svvedenborg's  peculiar  views  on  Holy  Writ,  we  must  now  make 
our  readers  acquainted.*  On  perusing  his  writings,  we  are  soon  very 
painftdly  surprised  with  the  fact,  that  he  makes  no  doctrinal  use  of  St^ 
Paul's  epistles.  At  least,  we  cannot  recall  to  our  recollection,  that  we 
have  ever  found  any  notice  taken  of  them,  even  on  those  points,  where 
such  would  be  indispensable  ;  as  in  the  articles  of  Justification,  and  of 
Faith,  and  of  its  relation  to  Works.  This  fact  we,  at  last,  found  clear- 
ed up,  "  by  the  chief  articles  of  faith  of  the  New  Church,"  subscription 
to  which  is  required,  as  a  condition,  from  all  those  who  desire  to  enter 
into  the  community,  founded  by  Swedenborg.  In  these  "  chief  articles," 
we  find  the  Holy  Scriptures  of  the  Old  and  New  Testament  enumera- 
ted ;  but,  among  the  component  parts  of  the  latter,  the  four  Gospels  and 
the  A[)Ocalypse  are  alone  reckoned.j  The  influence  which  Sweden-" 
borg's  dogmatic  system  exerted  on  the  framing  of  his  Biblical  Canon, 
no  one  can  deny.  Hence,  before  we  could  speak  of  the  latter,  it  was 
necessary  to  set  forth  his  doctrines.  The  rejection  of  the  dogmas  of 
original  sin,  of  the  vicarious  satisfa,ction  of  Christ,  of  the  resurrection 
of  the  flesh,  and  so  forth,  led  him  to  expunge,  from  the  catalogue  of  the 
sacred  writings,  the  Epistles  of  St.  Paul,  the  Acts  of  the  Apostles,  in 
short,  every  thing  which,  even  by  the  most  forced  interpretation,  could 
not  be  made  to  harmonize  with  his  own  errors.  In  the  Acts  of  the 
Apostles,  especially,  the  account  of  the  real  descent  of  the  Paracletcj 
who  was  to  lead  the  Church  into  all  truth,  and  to  abide  with  her  for  ever, 
must,  undoubtedly,  have  been  a  great  stumbling-block  in  his  way.  In 
fact,  the  Swedenborgians  endeavour  to  represent  their  master  as  him 
who  has  at  last  communicated  what  originally  was  inaccessible,  or  un- 
intelligible, to  believers.  I  have  discovered,  at  least,  that  Svvedenborg's 
disciples,  in  proof  of  the  divine  mission  of  their  teacher,  have  appealed 
to  those  promises  of  a  Paraclete,  recorded  in  St.  John's  Gospel.     When, 


♦  Vol.  i.  pp.  373-460. 

t  "  Divine  Revelations  made  known  by  Swedenborg,  translated  into  German  by 
Emanuel  Tafels."     Vol.  ii.     Tubingen,  1824, 


52^  EXPOSITION  OF  DOCTRINAL  DIFFERENCES 

moreover,  the  apostle  saith  :  "  No  eye  hath  seen,  no  ear  hath  heard, 
nor  hath  it  entered  into  the  heart  of  man  to  conceive,  what  God  hath 
prepared  for  those  who  love  Him  ;"  he  must  certainly  have  appeared  not 
very  entitled  to  credence,  in  the  estimation  of  one,  who,  in  his  own  per- 
son had  observed  the  joys  of  the  blessed,  and  in  his  writings  had  lifted 
up,  for  the  edification  of  mankind,  the  veil,  which  the  apostle  had  fain 
have  thrown  over  the  realms  of  eternity.  When  Swedenborg  rejected, 
also,  the  Epistle  of  St.  James,  and  other  scriptures,  as  uncanonical,  he 
was  driven,  for  consistency's  sake,  to  this  step. 

If,  together  with  this  arbitrary  mode  of  dealing  with  the  canon,  we 
consider  the  following  hermeneutical  principles  of  Swedenborg,  we  shall 
not  be  surprised,  that  the  most  fantastic  doctrines  should  have  been  pro- 
pounded by  him  as  Christian.  Swedenborg  says,  that,  in  the  literal 
sense  of  Holy  Writ,  the  Divine  truth  is  contained  in  all  its  plenitude, 
holiness  and  power  ;  and  to  the  demonstration  of  this  truth,  he  devotes 
a  special  treatise.  Yet,  he  supposes  a  mystical  sense,  which  he  calls 
the  spiritual  one,  to  be  concealed  in  the  letter  of  Scripture  ;  so  that  the 
entire  truth  is  comprised  in  its  every  word,  nay,  often  in  its  every  syl- 
lable !  This  doctrine  Swedenborg  establishes  in  the  closest  connexion 
with  those  correspondences,  that,  according  to  him,  exist  between  heaven 
and  earth,  and  he  gives  several  interpretations  of  texts  from  the  Apoca- 
lypse, whereby  he  endeavours  to  render  his  view  more  evident.  These 
theories,  considered  in  themselves,  are  not  so  very  obnoxious  to  censure  ; 
they,  on  the  contrary,  are  based  on  a  great  truth,  and,  to  a  certain  ex- 
tent, are  justified  by  those  relations,  which,  according  to  the  most  ex- 
plicit declarations  in  the  New  Testament,  exist  between  the  Scriptures 
of  the  Old  and  the  New  Covenant.  To  this  mode  of  interpretation,  aa 
an  exercise  for  mystical  acuteness  (if  we  dare  use  such  an  expression,) 
we  even  cannot  entirely  deny  all  value.  It  is,  likewise,  a  well-known 
fact,  that,  according  to  the  character  of  dilferent  ages,  and  the  peculi- 
arities of  individual  men,  it  has  had  great  influence  in  awakening  reli- 
gious feelings,  and,  at  many  periods,  has  guarded  Holy  Writ  against 
the  contempt  of  arrogant,  carnal-minded  men,  or  against  the  neglect  of 
men,  pious,  indeed,  but  utterly  unacquainted  with  the  laws  of  a  gram- 
matical and  historical,  yet  spiritual,  exegesis.  But,  if  such  a  mode  of 
interpretation,  when  not  practised  by  inspired  writers,  opens,  under  all 
circumstances,  boundless  scope  to  the  play  of  an  irregular  lancy,  or  to 
the  effusions  of  mere  individual  feeling,  it  is  sure  to  lead  to  the  grossest 
errors,  when  it  is  made  the  medium  for  discovering,  and  establishing, 
articles  of  doctrine.  Dogmas,  which  by  the  most  unhistorical  method, 
men  had  perhaps  stumbled  on,  may,  by  self-delusion  and  a  small  portion 
of  wit,  be  found  stated  in  every  text  of  Scripture.     This  was  now  ac- 


BETWEEN  CATHOLICS  AND  PROTESTANTS.  527 

tually  the  case  with  Swedenborg,  who  could  discover  the  strangest 
things  in  the  Bible.  Lastly,  the  presumptuous  ignorance,  with  which 
he  judges  the  history  of  the  allegorico-mystical  interpretation  of  Scrip- 
ture, appears  highly  censurable.  The  higher  the  estimation  is,  in  which 
he  holds  the  latter,  the  greater  the  earnestness  wherewith  he  asserts, 
that  it  was  all  but  unknown,  as  well  among  the  Jews,  on  account  of 
their  carnal  sense,  as  among  the  Christians  of  the  first  three  centuries, 
on  account  of  their  too  great  simplicity,  and  among  those  of  subsequent 
ages,  from  the  general  corruption.  He  insists,  that  it  was  only  by  a 
•pecial  revelation  he  was  made  attentive  to  it,  or  at  all  events  favoured 
with  the  true  key  for  its  right  use.  But  what  is  his  distinction  between 
the  various  senses  of  Holy  Writ,  other  than  the  Sod  (body,)  the  De- 
rusch  (soul,)  and  the  Phaschiith  (spirit  of  the  Cabala  ;) — senses  which 
themselves  correspond  to  the  (ruiA.u,,  the  "^vj^^ri,  and  the  vyiuiA-ot,,  of  Philo?* 
And  wherein  do  the  Swedenborgian  correspondences  between  heaven 
and  earth,  so  essentially  differ  from  the  celestial  and  terrestrial  Jerusalem 
(the  «»«  and  the  tturu  'If^ewcraAn'fo,)  the  carnal  and  the  spiritual  Israel 
(the  ''lTp*y]X  Tcc^tciice?-  and  7Tvft;jM,«T/xaV,)  with  which  the  same  Philo  has 
made  us  acquainted  ?  And  what  shall  we  say  to  the  astounding  asser- 
tion, that  in  the  first  centuries  of  the  Church,  the  allegorico-mystical 
exegesis  was  unknown  ?  Just  as  if  Basilides,  Valentinus,  and  Origen, 
had  lived  in  the  sixth  century  !  That  Swedenborg  should  have  possess- 
ed any  acquaintance  with  the  writings  of  Gregory  the  Great,  of  Alcuin, 
of  Richard,  of  St.  Victor,  or  with  the  description  of  the  three  senses 
given  by  Thomas  Aquinas  and  others,  it  would  be  too  much  to  require 
of  him  ;  nor  should  we  have  even  noticed  the  contradictions,  into  which 
he  has  fallen  with  well-known  historical  facts,  had  he  not  vaunted  him- 
self as  an  extraordinary  divine  envoy,  and  represented  his  book  as  one 
written  under  God's  especial  guidance. 

Swedenborg  shows  great  pettiness,  and  even  childishness,  in  making 
a  sort  of  fire-work  out  of  Holy  Writ.  In  the  spiritual  world,  says  he, 
where  the  Bible  is  preserved  in  holy  chests,  in  the  sanctuary  of  the 
Temple,  it  is  regarded  with  respect  by  the  angels;  and  it  is  as  radian* 
as  a  great  star,  and,  at  times,  like  the  sun,  and  its  glimmering  splendou  r 
forms  the  most  magnificent  rainbow  !  If  any  one,  with  his  hands  o'' 
clothes,  touch  the  Bible,  he  is  immediately  environed  with  a  brilliant 
fire,  and  he  appears  as  if  standing  in  the  midst  of  a  star,  bathed  in  light! 
This,  adds  Swedenborg,  he  has  often  seen  and  admired !     But  if  any 


Vol.  i.  p.  378.  "The  spiritual  sense  doth  not  appear  in  the  literal  sense,  being 
within  it,  as  the  soul  is  in  the  body  ;  or  as  the  thought  of  the  understanding  is  in  the 
eye,  or  as  the  affection  of  love  is  in  the  countenance." 


528  EXPOSITION  OF  DOCTRINAL  DIFFERENCES 

one,  entangled  in  errors,  look  into  the  sacred  coffer,  then  hia  eye^ 
are  overclouded  with  deep  darkness ;  and  if  he  venture  to  touch  the 
Word  itself,  an  explosion  immediately  ensues,  which  flings  him  "  into  a 
corner  of  the  room."*  Had  these  descri[)tions  been  mere  allegorical 
representations,  to  point  out  to  sensual  men  the  effulgence  of  divine 
light,  wherewith  a  soul  is  fdled,  that  with  feelings  hallowed  to  God  draws 
from  Holy  Writ  life  and  nurture  ;  and,  on  the  other  hand,  the  profound 
darkness  and  appalling  night  that  encompass  those,  who  pervert  Scrip- 
ture to  the  confirmation  of  the  fancies  of  their  own  brain ;  we  should 
then  have  commended  the  aptness  of  such  illustrations.  But  such  is 
not  Swedenborg's  meaning  ;  he  here  designs  to  state  positive  facts. 
For  our  part,  we  here  discern  an  idolatry  manifested  to  the  dead  word 
of  Scripture,  which  exceeds  all  that  the  slavishness  to  the  mere  letter 
has  ever  exhibited,  and  has  perhaps  no  parallel  in  history,  except  in  the 
controversy  among  Mohammedans,  whether  the  Koran  be  created  or 
uncreated.  Yet  even  the  rational  Moslem  will  reply,  that  the  ideas, 
indeed,  of  the  sacred  book  are  eternal,  but  by  no  means  the  form,  where- 
in they  are  set  forth. 

§  Lxxxv. — Swedenborg's  place  in  History. 

To  form  a  more  comprehensive  knowledge  of  Swedenborgianism,  it 
is  necessary  to  point  out  more  fully  the  idea,  which  its  author  enter- 
tained of  his  own  historical  importance.  He  divides  the  history  of  the 
world  into  so  many  great  periods,  which  he  denominates  Churches  ;  to 
wit,  the  Antediluvian  ;  the  Asiatico-African,  which  attained  its  term  by 
the  introduction  of  idolatry  ;  the  Mosaic ;  and,  lastly,  the  Christian 
Church.  In  the  latter,  he  again  distinguishes  four  Churches,  the  Ante- 
Nicene,  the  Greek,  the  Roman  Catholic,  and  the  Protestant.  The 
last-named,  also,  like  the  preceding  Churches,  has  already  reached  its 
end  :  hence,  with  the  New  Community,  the  times  revert  to  the  origin 
of  the  Church — to  primitive  Christianity,  whose  principles  can  hence- 
forth never  more  be  forsaken.  So  far  Swedenborg,  who  as  is  clear  from 
this,  formed  no  slight  estimate  of  his  own  historical  importance.  Let 
us  first  take  into  consideration  the  view  of  universal  history,  prior  to 
Christ,  as  set  forth  by  him.  He  says,  the  four  great  periods  of  the 
world  follow  each  other,  according  to  the  type  of  the  four  seasons  of  the 
year,  and  the  four  times  of  the  day  ;  and  the  same  regularity,  which, 
on  a  small  scale,  is  observed  in  this  succession  of  times,  exists  there  on 


*  Loc.  cit.  p.  396. 


BETWEEN  CATHOLICS  AND  PROTESTANTS.  529 

a  larger  scale.  On  the  impropriety  of  making  Christianity  fall  in  with 
the  winter  and  the  night,  we  will  not  lay  any  particular  stress,  although 
Christianity  expressly  declares  itself  to  be  the  never-setting  noon-day  of 
ages.  But,  what  Christian  can  tolerate  the  subordinate  position  which 
is  assigned  to  Christ  ?  Instead  of  representing  him,  as  the  great  centre- 
point  of  the  world's  history,  he  is  made  to  begin  a  period  merely  co- 
ordinate with  the  other  epochs  of  the  world  !  This  would  have  been,  at 
least,  no  error  of  the  understanding,  had  Swcdenborg  regarded  Christ 
as  a  mere  man  ;  but,  it  becomes  the  greatest  of  errors,  since  Christ  he 
considers  to  be  the  incarnate  God.  If  the  Deity  manifests  Himself  in 
the  flesh,  so  thereby,  it  is  hoped,  an  epoch  is  introduced,  to  which  no- 
thing can  be  adjoined,  but  all  things  should  be  made  subordinate.  From 
this  point  of  view  alone,  Swedenborg  might  have  discerned  the  essen- 
tial defects  in  this  system. 

The  cause  of  this  perverse  construction  of  human  history,  must  be 
looked  for  in  the  fact,  that  Swedenborg  would  not  acknowledge  a 
general  fall  of  the  human  race,  and,  in  reality,  was  at  a  loss  how  to  ex- 
plain the  very  evident  fact  of  a  radical  sinfulness  in  man.  Had  Swe- 
denborg deeply  considered  the  scriptural  opposition  between  the 
first  and  the  second  Adam,  instead  of  occupying  himself  with  allegories 
in  respect  to  the  first ;  had  he,  in  the  fall  of  Adam,  deplored  with  a 
pious  simplicity,  at  least,  the  fall  of  all  mankind,  though  he  had  been 
incapable  of  comprehending  the  speculative  reasons  of  this  fact,  then 
the  whole  period,  from  Adam  to  Christ,  would  have  appeared  to  him  as 
the  period  of  the  development  of  the  sinful  principle,  and  of  an  apos- 
tacy  from  God  :  but,  on  the  other  hand,  he  would  have  regarded  Christ 
as  the  great  turning-point  in  history,  with  whom  commenced  the  un- 
folding of  the  principle  of  sanctification,  and  of  a  return  to  the  Deity. 
This  one  great  period  he  might  then  have  again,  in  some  manner,  sub- 
divided ;  but  should  never  have  placed  the  period  from  Adam  to  Noah, 
that  from  Noah  to  Moses  (or  what  he  calls  the  Asiatico-African 
Church,)  and  the  period  from  Moses  to  Christ,  on  the  same  level  with 
the  Christian  epoch.  Such  a  parallel  was  only  possible  through  a  total 
misapprehension  of  the  Christian  view  of  the  moral  world.  The  text 
in  Romans  (c.  v.  14-21  ;  xi.  32,)  and  in  Galatians  (c.  iii.  22,)  might 
alone  have  sufficed  to  teach  him  the  right  and  the  true  view,  had  he  not, 
on  that  very  account,  struck  out  St.  Paul's  Epistles  from  the  catalogue 
of  canonical  Scriptures,  precisely  because  they  offer  so  clear  a  contra- 
diction to  his  whole  conception  of  religious  History. 

His  main  point  of  view  being  thus  distorted,  Swedenborg  can  give 
no  satisfactory  explanation  of  any  great  phenomenon  in  religious  his- 
tory ;  on  the  contrary,  in  his  system  all  is  dismembered,  unintelligible, 
34 


530  EXPOSITION  OF  DOCTRINAL  DIFFERENCES 

and  incoherent.  The  idolatry  of  Nature  he  deduces  from  the  acciden- 
tal circumstance,  that  the  correspondences  between  the  material  and 
the  spiritual  world  had  been  forgotten.  The  revelation,  which,  as  Swe- 
denborg  possitively  asserts,  was  made  to  Enoch,  and  transmitted  to  the 
following  generations  (namely,  that  all  objects  in  the  lower  world  had 
their  correlatives  in  tlie  higher,)  and  the  true  knowledge  of  these  mutual 
relations  in  special,  defined  cases,  were,  in  the  course  of  ages,  accord- 
ing to  our  prophet,  effaced  from  the  memory  of  nations  ;  earthly  things 
were  regarded  without  connexion  with  the  things  corresponding  to 
them  above ;  and  the  veneration,  which  was  due  to  the  latter,  was  paid 
to  the  former.  This  view  of  Swedenborg's  has  much  resemblance 
wjth  the  more  common,  but  equally  superficial,  notion,  that  out  of  the 
confusion  of  the  symbol  with  the  object  represented  by  it,  idolatry 
arose.  But,  the  question  must  ever  recur,  how  could  those  relations 
adverted  to  be  forgotten,  and  where  must  we  look  for  the  cause  of  this 
oblivion  1  Wherefore,  also,  must  the  faith  in  the  one  true  God  have 
been  at  the  same  tirfte  abandoned  ?  The  consciousness  of  God  was 
certainly  not  essentially  connected  with  the  knowledge  of  such  corres- 
pondences between  heavenly  and  earthly  things,  since  Enoch  was  the 
first  to  be  instructed  in  them ;  and  yet  before  him,  certainly,  men  had 
also  known  the  true  God.  Had  Swedenborg  acknowledged  a  general 
darkening  of  the  human  mind  through  sin,  a  corruption  transmitted 
from  Adam,  and  with  ever-increasing  intensity,  contaminating  all 
generations,  he  would  not  have  sought  to  account  for  the  idolatry  of 
Nature,  from  such  mere  external  causes.  He  would  have  understood, 
that  the  soul  severed  from  God  by  sin,  necessarily  fell  under  the  do- 
minion of  Nature,  and  chose  those  Powers  for  the  object  of  its  worship, 
with  whom  it  felt  an  especial  affinity,  and  by  whom  it  was  invincibly 
attracted.  The  loss  of  the  essential,  internal,  and  universal  correspon- 
dences between  God  and  man,  led  to  the  ignorance  of  those  external 
and  particular  correspondences,  between  the  inferior  and  the  higher 
order  of  the  world.  The  separation  of  the  soul  from  God,  and  its  con- 
centration within  itself,  first  produced  this  conception  of  nature,  as  dis- 
connected from  all  higher  relations. 

Let  us,  once  more,  call  to  mind  one  of  the  proofs  attempted  by  Swe- 
denborg, in  support  of  the  necessity  of  the  Incarnation  of  the  Deity,  in 
order  to  bring  back  men  to  Himself;  for  it  is  only  here  that  proof  can 
be  perfectly  appreciated.  He  says,  the  faith  of  man,  considered  in  it- 
self, may  be  compared  to  a  look  cast  up  vaguely  towards  the  sky,  but, 
through  the  Incarnation,  is  the  same  circumscribed,  and  directed  to  a 
definite  object.  If,  hereby,  the  necessity  of  an  Incarnation  of  the 
Divinity  be  rendered  perfectly  conceivable,  yet  this  argument  oflfers  no 


BETWEEN  CATHOLICS  AND  PROTESTANTS.  531 

reason,  wherefore  the  Divine  Word  should  have  become  flesh  precisely 
at  the  commencement  of  the  fourth  period  of  the  world.  Swedenborg 
might,  just  as  well,  have  introduced  this  Theophany  immediately  after 
the  creation  of  the  first  man.  Nay,  he  was  forced  to  do  this,  unless  all 
the  aberrations  of  the  ages  prior  to  Christianity — unless  all  Heathenism 
itself  be  regarded  as  perfectly  guiltless.  Did  the  first  men,  unfavoured  as 
they  were  with  the  descent  of  the  Son  of  God,  cast  a  less  vague  look  up 
to  Heaven,  than  those  of  later  times?  For  this  very  reason,  Sweden- 
borg  should  have  placed  the  advent  of  Christ  at  the  very  origin  of  His- 
tory ;  and  thus  the  first,  and  not  the  fourth,  period  of  the  world,  should 
have  begun  with  Him.  Had  he,  on  the  other  hand,  kept  strictly  in  view 
the  teaching  of  the  Bible,  as  to  end  of  the  mission  of  the  Son  of  God, 
then  he  would  have  understood  the  epoch  of  his  coming.  The  whole 
drama  of  History,  as  set  forth  by  our  prophet,  appears  without  a  plan ; 
the  members  of  the  great  historical  organism  appear  to  hang,  as  if  by 
accident,  together,  and  to  mingle  in  bhnd  confusion.  Now  we  can  see, 
wherefore  Swedenborg  himself  seemed  to  have  a  sense  of  the  unsatis- 
factoriness  of  the  cause  assigned  by  him,  for  the  incarnation  of  the 
Deity  at  the  particular  period  wherein  it  occurred ;  and  wherefore  he 
sought  to  aid  his  meagre  representation,  by  a  fantastic  device  as  to  the 
relation  between  heaven  and  hell.  He  saw  himself  forced  to  the  adop- 
tion of  this  device,  in  order  to  account,  by  the  relations  of  the  next  life, 
for  the  incarnation  of  the  Deity,  which  had  no  foundation  in  this  world's 
history  ; — a  device,  whereby  the  error  of  his  whole  historical  construc- 
tion, is  not  in  the  least  degree  obviated. 

When  we  now  come  to  the  Christian  period,  what  a  singular  view 
of  its  history,  what  an  astonishing  spectacle,  presents  itself  here  !  The 
Church  also,  as  we  have  already  observed,  is  divided  into  a  cycle  of 
four  parts  ;  and  yet,  says  Swedenborg,  with  the  Council  of  Nice  be- 
gins the  great  apostacy  from  Christian  truth,  which  lasts  down  to  his 
own  time  !  But  the  notion  of  apostacy,  implies  the  idea  of  perversity 
and  disorder.  How  then  would  it  be  possible  to  find  a  regular  develop- 
ment in  the  four  Christian  Churches,  the  three  last  members  whereof 
are  to  be,  in  the  same  relation  to  the  first,  as  summer,  autumn,  and 
winter,  to  the  spring  ;  or  even  as  youth,  manhood,  and  old  ao-e,  to  in- 
fancy !  Where  a  well-ordered  development  is  observed,  where  a 
regular  transition,  from  one  state  to  another,  is  manifest,  a  rejection  of 
the  original  vital  principle  is  not  conceivable.  Where,  on  the  other 
hand,  this  is  rejected,  as  Swedenborg  accuses  the  whole  Church  subse- 
quent to  the  Council  of  Nice,  of  casting  off  such  a  principle,  there  a 
regular  development  is  not  possible.  Even  our  finisher  of  the  Church 
had  a  sense  of  the  incoherence  of  his  historical  constructions.     On  this 


582  EXPOSITION  OF  DOCTRINAL  DIFFERENCES 

account  he  endeavours  to  excuse,  in  some  manner,  the  apostacy,  and 
speaks  to  the  beneficial  variety  of  reUgious  differences,  that  mutually 
enlighten  one  another,  and  even  lets  the  remark  escape  him,  that  he 
had  been  informed,  that  those  Churches,  which  are  in  different  goods  and 
truths,  if  only  their  goods  have  relation  to  the  love  of  the  Lord,  and  their 
truths  to  faith  in  him,  are  like  so  many  precious  jewels  in  a  king's 
crown."*  If,  hereby,  a  kind  of  necessity  in  the  marked  out  succession 
of  Churches  is  acknowledged,  so  no  one,  who  holds  the  maxim,  that 
above  all  things,  a  writer  should  never  contradict  himself,  would  expect 
Swedenborg  to  designate  all  the  Christian  ages,  that  have  elapsed  since 
the  Council  of  Nice,  "  as  the  very  night ;"  "  as  the  abomination  of  deso- 
lation ;"  "  as  that  Church,  wherein  nothing  spiritual  is  left  remaining  ;"f 
*'  which  in  name  only  is  Christian  ;":j:  or  (as  the  Anglican  writer  of  the 
preface  to  the  book,  from  which  we  have  made  our^extracts,  expresses 
himself,)  "  as  the  revelation  of  the  mystery  of  iniquity  ;"  "  as  the  man 
of  sin;"  or  whatever  other  predicates  may  please  him.  A  marvellous 
expansion,  truly,  of  childhood  to  youth,  to  manhood,  and  to  age  ! 

After  such  a  confused  succession  of  times  and  of  Churches,  Sweden- 
borg fitly  follows  as  the  extremest  link.  In  a  true  development,  the 
continuation  and  the  end  are  so  connected  with  the  beginning,  that  not 
only  doth  the  latter  follow  the  preceding  in  gentle  transitions,  but  it 
grows  out  of  it,  and  is  in  the  same  relation  to  it,  as  the  bud,  the  blossom, 
and  the  fruit,  are  to  the  seed.  Yet  Swedenborgianism  doth  not  grow 
out  of  the  sequence  of  historical  phenomena,  but  breaks  suddenly  in 
upon  them.  We  have  already  had  occasion  to  observe,  that,  accord- 
ing to  Swedenborg,  the  corruption  of  the  Church  began  at  once,  at  a 
single  stroke,  as  if  by  some  magical  interruption,  to  the  train  of  thought 
of  all  her  members.  Equally  abrupt  and  unexpected  is  the^^rise  of  his 
own  religious  system.  He  charges  the  Church  existing  before  him, 
with  having,  by  the  abuse  of  free-will,  abandoned,  and  never  again  re- 
turned, to  the  fundamental  principles  of  Christianity ;  and  asserts,  at 
the  same  time,  that  it  is  impossible  to  attain  to  them  again,  without  an 
intercourse  with  the  spiritual  world, — without  the  knowledge  of  certain 
truths,  which  no  man,  before  him,  possessed,  because  none  had  been 
favoured  with  the  like  revelations.     But,  as  the  revelations  were  the 


*  Loc.  cit.  p.  515. 

t  Loc.  cit.  p.  5l2.  "  That  the  last  time  of  the  Christian  Church  is  the  very  night, 
in  which  the  former  Chm'ches  have  sat,  is  plain  from  the  Lord's  prediction,"  &c. 
Vol.  i.  p.  253  :  "  Nothing  spiritual  is  left  remaining  in  it"  (the  whole  Chui'ch.) 

t  Vol.  ii.  p.  373  :  "  The  former  Church  being  Christian  in  name  only,  but  not  in 
essence  and  reality." 


BETWEEN  CATHOLICS  AND  PROTESTANTS.  533 

result  of  an  extraordinary  grace  of  God,  and  as,  in  the  Church'itself, 
all  elements  for  a  true  regeneration  had  been,  since  the  Nicene  Council, 
utterly  lost,  how  could  the  Svvedenborgian  Church  follow  the  preced- 
ing Churches,  in  a  regular  order  of  development  ?  All  sects,  that 
seceded  from  the  Cathohc  Church,  could,  in  a  certain  degree,  give  a 
plausible  justification  to  their  charges  against  her,  inasmuch,  as  they 
appealed  to  Scripture,  whereby  her  regeneration  were  possible.  The 
censure  of  the  Reformers,  indeed,  must  always  be  termed  incomprehen- 
sible, since  it  presupposed  the  free-will  of  those,  against  whom  it  was 
directed  ;  and  this  faculty  the  Reformers  denied  to  men,  representing 
the  Deity  as  the  exclusive  agent  in  all  spiritual  concerns,  on  whom  it 
entirely  depended  to  set  aside,  as  by  a  magical  stroke,  all  errors,  and 
who,  in  consequence,  was  alone  obnoxious  to  any  charge,  if  in  His 
household  any  thing  were  amiss.  These  reproaches,  nevertheless, 
might,  to  men,  who  are  not  wont  to  reason  with  consistency,  appear 
well-founded.  But  Swedenborg  boasts  that  the  true  spiritual  sense  of 
Holy  Writ  was  revealed  to  him  in  Heaven  only,  and,  in  consequence, 
quite  independently  of  the  ordinary  channels,  furnished  through  the 
original  institution  of  the  Church  ;  and  he  therefore  denies  to  the  three 
preceding  periods  of  Christianity,  the  utter  possibility  of  possessing, 
through  the  then  existing  media,  any  sound  doctrine  whatsoever.  And 
yet  he  describes  the  community  he  founded,  as  the  crown  of  the 
Churches  following  each  other  "  according  to  order  !"  Was  then  the 
apostacy  of  the  Nicene  Council  something  conformable  to  order  ?  Was 
the  darkness  of  the  Greek,  the  Roman  Catholic,  and  the  Protestant 
Churches,  founded  in  the  very  ordinance  of  God  ?  In  the  same  way, 
too,  as,  according  to  the  theory  of  our  sage,  Christ  might  have  appeared 
in  the  time  of  Adam,  Noah,  and  Moses ;  so  he  himself,  from  the  desti- 
nation assigned  to  him,  might  have  commenced  his  career  in  the  fourth, 
fifth,  or  sixth  century  of  our  era.  And  yet,  the  succession  of  the 
Churches  was  defined  and  systematic  !  Not  the  slightest  reference  to 
final  causes  can  be  discovered,  in  this  contradictory  view  of  History,  and 
its  result  appears  totally  unworthy  of  the  Deity. 

But  here,  we  must  draw  the  attention  of  the  reader  to  a  special  cir- 
cumstance. Wherefore  had  Christ  not  power  enough  to  stem,  by  his 
manifestation,  the  progress  of  sin,  and  to  ensure  the  truth,  he  had 
brought  to  mankind,  against  the  possibility  of  extinction  ?  Wherefore 
did  the  Word,  which  was  uttered  from  his  lips,  which  was  preserved 
and  explained  by  his  spirit,  lose,  so  shortly  after  his  ascension,  its  world- 
subduing  energy  ?  And  wherefore  doth  it  work  with  might  and  with 
victory,  and  become  for  ever  permanent,  only  when  proclaimed  by 
Swedenborg  ?     We  should  yet  be  disposed  to  think,  that  when  God 


EXPOSITION  OF  DOCTRINAL  DIFFERENCES 

himself  speaks,  the  Word  is  at  least  as  lasting,  as  when  a  mortal  bab- 
bles, though  to  him  all  mysteries  in  heaven  should  have  been  disclosed  ! 
The  work  of  Christ  lasted  about  three  hundred  years — a  short  spring- 
tide— till,  at  last,  Swedenborg  converts  all  into  eternal  spring!  Is  not 
this  the  most  evident  blasphemy  ?  Swedenborg  is  really  exalted  to  be 
the  centre-point  of  all  History,  and  to  hold  the  place  of  the  true  Re- 
deemer ;  with  him,  and  not  with  Christ,  the  golden  age  returns ! 


§  Lxxxvi. — Concluding  Remarks. 

The  translations  of  Swedenborg's  writings  find,  as  we  hear,  a  very 
great  sale  in  and  out  of  Germany,  and  the  number  of  his  followers  daily 
increases.  This  we  can  perfectly  understand.  The  unadorned  Gos- 
pel, the  simplicity  of  the  Church's  doctrine,  are  no  longer  capable  of 
exciting  an  age  so  spiritually  enervated,  like  our  own.  Truth  must  be 
set  forth  in  glaring  colours,  and  represented  in  gigantic  proportions,  if 
we  hope  to  stimulate  and  stir  the  souls  of  this  generation.  The  infinite 
void  and  obtuseness  of  religious  feeling  in  our  time,  when  it  cannot 
grasp  spirits  by  the  hand,  and  see  them  pass  daily  before  us,  is  inca- 
pable of  believing  in  a  higher  spiritual  world  ;  and  the  fancy  must  be 
startled,  by  the  most  terrific  images,  if  the  hope  of  prolonging  existence, 
in  a  future  world,  is  not  entirely  to  be  extinguished.  Long  enough 
was  the  absurd,  as  well  as  deplorable  endeavour  made  to  banish  mira- 
cles  from  the  Gospel  History ;  to  undermine,  with  insolent  mockery, 
the  belief  in  the  great  manifestation  of  the  Son  of  God ;  to  call  in 
question  all  living  intercourse,  between  the  Creator  and  the  creature ; 
and  to  inundate  nations  with  the  most  shallow  systems  of  morality  ;  for 
these  followed  in  the  wake  of  such  anti-Christian  efforts.  But,  the 
yearning  soul  of  man  is  not  to  be  satisfied  with  such  idle  talk ;  and 
when  you  take  from  it  true  miracles,  it  will  then  invent  false  ones. 
Our  age  is  doomed  to  witness  the  desolate  spectacle  of  a  most  joyless 
languor,  and  impotence  of  the  spiritual  life,  by  the  side  of  the  most 
exaggerated  and  sickly  excitement  of  the  same  ;  and  if  we  do  not, 
with  a  living  and  spiritual  feeling,  return  to  the  doctrine  of  the  Church, 
we  shall  soon  see  the  most  wretched  fanaticism  obtain  the  same  as- 
cendancy, as  we  saw  the  most  frivolous  unbelief  established  on  the 
throne.  But  by  such  phenomena  will  no  one  be  conducted  to  the  faith 
acceptable  unto  God  ;  and  the  answer,  which  in  the  Gospel  (Luc.  xvi. 
19)  that  luxurious,  hard-hearted,  rich  man  received  from  Abraham, 
when  he  begged  him  to  send  Lazarus  to  his  brethren,  to  the  end  that 
they  might  be  converted,  may  perfectly  apply  to  Swedenborg's  fol- 


BETWEEN  CATHOLICS  AND  PROTESTANTS.  535 

lowers,  when  they  hold  that  the  world  needs  a  visionary,  in  order  to 
bring  it  back  to  the  truth,*  and  will  be  found  to  contain  a  vahd  testi- 
mony against  their  prophet.  We  have  Moses  and  the  Prophets,  and 
now  also  we  have  Christ  and  the  Apostles,  and  the  Church  ;  and  when 
we  hear  not  these,  we  shall  give  no  ear  to  him,  who  pretends  to  bring 
us  tidings  from  the  other  world.  With  these  words  alone,  hath  Christ 
annihilated  all  expectations,  which  might  attach  to  Swedenborg's 
visions. 


*  See  the  letter  from  Thomas  Hartley,  rector  of  Wcnwick,  in  Northamptonshire, 
in  the  preface  to  the  True  Christian  Religion,  p.  vii. 


CHAPTER  V. 

THE    SOCINIANS. 


§  Lxxxvii. — Relation  of  the  Socinians  to  the  Reformers. — Historical  Remarks. 

In  the  Catholic  system  of  doctrine,  two  elements — tha  Divine  and  the 
human,  the  natural  and  the  supernatural,  the  mystical  and  the  rational, 
or  however  else  we  may  please  to  denominate  them — move  in  uniform 
and]  harmonious  combination  ;  so  that  the  rights  of  either  appear  ad- 
justed in  a  manner,  that  must  certainly  extort  esteem  and  admiration, 
from  every  reflecting  mind.  And  whoever  unites  a  pious.  Christian, 
and  ecclesiastical  spirit  to  a  cultivated  intellect,  must  feel  himself  im- 
pelled to  acknowledge,  that  God's  protection  hath  guarded  His  Church 
in  an  eminent  degree.  But  of  the  contrarieties,  which  in  the  Church 
are  so  beautifully  harmonized,  the  one  or  the  other  can  easily,  in  the 
individual  believer,  obtain  the  preponderance.  Yet  this  preponderance 
will  remain  innocuous,  if  the  one-sided  principle  will  not  proceed  to  a 
total  misapprehension  of  its  opposite,  unduly  appreciated  as  it  is ;  and 
if  the  bonds  of  love,  which  unite  the  individual  to  the  body  of  the 
Church,  be  maintained  inviolate ;  for  it  is  these,  which  oppose  a  bene- 
ficial check  to  the  excess  of  one  or  other  of  the  aforesaid  elements,  that 
both  form  the  life  of  Christianity.  Such  one-sided  tendencies,  existing 
more  or  less  at  all  times,  were  found  in  the  period  immediately  prior  to 
the  Reformation ;  and  the  classical  studies,  which  had  then  once  more 
come  into  vogue,  gave  to  the  rational  principle,  in  many,  a  melancholy 
preponderance  ;  as  this  may  be  perceived  even  in  the  celebrated,  and, 
in  many  respects,  meritorious,  Erasmus.  Yet  the  opposite  tendency 
was,  by  far,  more  prevalent,  as  the  rapid  diffusion  of  the  Reformation 
itself  will  prove,  wherein  the  mystical  element  had  predominated,  to  the 
utter  exclusion  of  the  contrary  one.  But  after  this  element,  exceeding 
all  bounds,  had  dissevered  the  bonds  of  the  Church,  the  one-sided 
rational  principle,  in  its  turn,  detached  itself  from  the  Church,  pursued 
its  own  course,  and  after  many  unsuccessful  attempts,  of  a  Lewis 
Hetzer  of  Bischofzeth  in  Thurgovia,*  of  a  John  Carapanus,"}"  of  a 


*  Executed  at  Constance,  in  1529. 

t  Bom  in  the  territory  of  Juliers,  flourished  from  the  year  1520  till  1580,  when  he 
was  thrown  into  prison  in  his  own  country. 


EXPOSITION  OF  DOCTRINAL  DIFFERENCES,  &c.        537 

Michael  Servetus,*  and  of  a  Valentine  Gentilis,f  formed  a  community, 
which  received  its  name  from  two  Italians  of  Sienna,  Laelius  Socinus, 
who  in  the  year  1562  died  at  Zurich,  and  his  nephew,  Faustus  Socinus, 
who  died  in  1604,  at  Luclawicze  in  Poland.  J 

Socinianism  and  the  old  orthodox  Protestantism  are,  accordingly,  two 
extremes,  whereof  the  one  laid  hold  of  the  human,  the  other  of  the 
divine  element  in  Christianity,  which  is  itself  one,  and  so  diverged  into 
opposite  paths,  that  Catholicism  alone  can  unite.  If,  in  the  Protestant 
system,  the  Divinity  of  Christ  be  rightly  and  truly  upheld,  yet  the 
Humanity  of  the  Redeemer  is,  by  the  doctrine  of  ubiquity,  absorbed  in 
His  Divinity  ;  but  among  the  Socinians,  Christ  appears  as  a  mere  man. 
If  Luther  asserted,  that  the  object  of  the  manifestation  of  the  Son  of 
God,  was  solely  and  exclusively  the  reconciliation  of  men,  with  the 
Deity  in  the  Redeemer's  blood ;  and  all  the  rest,  which  Jesus  taught 
and  wrought,  was  purely  accidental ;  the  Socinians,  on  the  other  hand, 
hold,  that  Christ  has  offered  up  no  sacrifice,  for  the  sins  of  the  world, 
but  wished  only  to  deliver  unto  men  a  new  doctrine,  and  be  to  them  a 
model  of  virtue.  Luther  and  Calvin  could  set  no  bounds  to  the  malig- 
nant consequences  of  Adam's  sin,  that  from  him  had  infected  his 
whole  posterity  ;  but  the  two  Socini  know  absolutely  nothing  of  any 
moral  evil,  that  our  great  progenitor  had  brought  upon  his  children. 
According  to  the  former,  God  alone  worketh  the  deliverance  of  man 
from  the  empire  of  Satan,  and  bringeth  him  into  communion  with 
Christ,  and  man  is,  in  this  process,  purely  passive ;  according  to  the 
latter,  man  is  alone  active,  and  God,  after  communicating  to  him  His 
doctrine  and  His  promises,  respecting  a  future  life,  leaves  him  almost 
entirely  to  himself.     If  the  old  Protestants  speak  only  of  grace,  we 


*  A  Spaniard,  who  at  Calvin's  instigation  was  burned  at  Geneva,  in  1553. 

+   A  Neapolitan,  beheaded  at  Bern,  in  1566. 

t  On  the  first  authors  of  Socianism,  the  Protestant  historian,  Turretinus,  (in 
Compendium  Hist.  Eccles.  p.  373,)  has  the  following  notice:  "  Antitrinitarii  hSlc 
aetata  multi  occurrunt ;  quorum  pars  maxima  Photinianismum  et  Sabellianismum ; 
nonnulli  etiara  Arianismum  renovabant.  Tales  fuere  Itali  quidam,  numero  quadra- 
genarium  excedente,  qui  circa  annum  1546  in  Veneta  ditione  propre  Vicentiam  con- 
venticula  et  colloquia  inter  se  habebant.  In  his  memorantur  Leonardus  Abbas  Bu- 
salis,  Lcelius  Socinus,  Senensis  Patricius,  Bernadinus  Ochinus,  Nicolaus  Paruta, 
Valentinus  Gentilis,  Julius  Trevisanus,  Franciscus  de  Ruego,  Paulus  Alciatus, 
aliique.  Sed  cum  detecti  essent,  imo  et  duo,  J.  Trevisanus  et  Franciscus  de  Ruego 
comprehensi  et  supplicio  aflFecti,  ceeteri  sibi  consulturi  in  varias  oras  dispersi  sunt." 
Of  all  these,  Valentine  Gentilis  had  the  most  melancholy  fate.  After  having  with 
diiBculty  escaped  the  fiery  death,  destined  by  Calvin  for  him,  as  well  as  Servetus,  ha 
was  condemned,  by  the  Zwinglians  of  Bern,  as  an  anti-Trinitarian,  and  beheaded.— 
Trang. 


688  EXPOSITION  OF  DOCTRINAL  DIFFERENCES 

hear,  on  the  other  hand,  from  the  lips  of  the  Socinians,  but  the  word^ 
laws,  and  precepts.  If  it  be  the  custom  of  the  Wittenberg  theologians, 
constantly  to  despise  reason,  and  if,  at  the  origin  of  the  Reformation, 
they  were  scarcely  able  to  endure  its  name,  it  is  a  maxim  with  the 
above-mentioned  Italians  to  consult  it  in  every  thing,  to  admit  no- 
thing which  was  impervious  to  that  degree  of  culture,  that  it  had 
attained  to  in  their  own  persons,  just  as  they  had  stood  at  the  very 
summit  of  all  attainable  knowledge.  If  we  listen  to  the  Reformers, 
man  has  only  to  take  the  Bible  in  hand,  and  its  contents,  in  a  magical 
way,  will  be  conveyed,  through  the  Spirit  of  God,  to  his  mind  ;  but,  if 
we  turn  to  Laelius  and  Faustus,  they  will  tell  us  that,  we  must  under- 
stand all  the  languages  in  the  world,  and  all  the  rules  and  arts  of  bib- 
lical criticism  and  interpretation,  in  order  to  penetrate  into  the  obscurity 
of  Holy  Writ.  But,  if  these  two  species  of  religious  reformers,  in  the 
aforesaid,  and  other  like  points,  pursued  courses  so  totally  different, 
they  again  frequently  concur  in  other  matters.  Not  only  did  both 
promise  to  restore  primitive  Christianity,  and  look  upon  the  Bible,  as 
the  only  standard  and  source,  from  which  it  was  to  be  drawn,  and  by 
which  all  religious  tenets  must  be  tested,  but  the  peculiar  starting  point 
of  both  was  also  the  same.  They  united  in  asserting  Christianity  to 
have  a  purely  practical  tendency,  adapted  to  life ;  this  practical  tendency 
being  taken  in  the  narrow,  and  one-sided  signification,  as  opposed  to 
all  speculation  and  high  scientific  inquiries.  In  this  matter,  however, 
the  other  differences  between  the  Reformers  and  the  Socini,  exerted, 
doubtless,  a  decisive  influence  ;  the  practical  tendency  of  the  former 
being,  in  its  fundamental  tone,  exclusively  religious  ;  that  of  the  latter, 
exclusivel}'  moral. 

Protestantism  and  Socinianism  have  this,  too,  in  common  ;  that  as 
the  former  checked  its  own  development,  and  left  to  later  sects,  that 
sprang  out  of  its  bosom,  the  task  of  carrying  out  its  own  principles  ;  so 
Socinianism  bequeathed  to  a  later  period  the  work  of  its  own  consum- 
mation,— namely,  the  entire  abandonment  of  those  elements  of  super- 
naturalism,  which,  in  its  origin,  it  had  not  wholly  rejected.* 

Having  now  pointed  out  the  historical  connexion,  between  the  Pro- 
testant and  the  Socinian  systems  of  doctrine,  we  shall  proceed  to  state 
a  few  historical  details.  Poland,  as  hinted  above,  was  the  first  seat  of 
the  Socinians.  Here,  nearly  contemporaneously  with  the  Reformation  of 
Luther  and  of  Calvin,  the  religious  system,  which  denied  the  dogma  of 
the  Trinity,  had  penetrated.    However  much  the  opponents  of  the  latter 


•  Moehler  here  makes  an  allusion  to  the  Rationalists,  who  completed  the  work  of 
destruction,  begun  by  the  Socinians. — Trans, 


BETWEEN  CATHOLICS  AND  PROTESTANTS.  53» 

doctrine,  were  in  hostility  with  the  partisans  of  the  Reformation,  they 
tolerated  each  other,  lived  in  mutual  concord,  and  formed  together  one 
Protestant  community ;  a  fact,  which  it  is  by  no  means  difficult  to 
account  for,  since  the  enemies  to  the  fundamental  doctrines  of  Chris- 
tianity, rendered  timid  from  their  small  numbers,  were  for  a  long  time 
cautious  in  avowing  their  sentiments.  So  soon,  however,  as  their 
numbers  were  sufficiently  increased,  and  they  had  assured  themselves 
of  the  protection  of  some  powerful  patrons,  they  were  no  longer  able  to 
maintain  silence,  or  to  confine  their  sentiments  to  a  mere  whisper.  At 
the  synods  of  Pinczow  and  Petricow,  the  two  parties  separated  from 
each  other,  in  the  years  1563  and  1565  ;  and,  everywhere  held  in  ab- 
horrence, ^like  by  Catholics  and  Protestants,  the  Socinians,  under  the 
name  of  Unitarians,  formed  a  separate  sect,  for  the  moment,  undis- 
turbed from  without,  yet  inwardly  divided  by  the  most  various  opinions. 
Under  these  circumstances,  Faustus  Socinus  repaired  to  them,  and 
succeeded,  by  degrees,  in  uniting  their  discordant  views  respecting 
Christ,  and  in  setting  aside  the  anabaptism  advocated  by  the  Unita- 
rians. Henceforward  the  Unitarians  exchanged  their  name  for  that  of 
Socinians. 

In  the  year  1638,  however,  their  tranquillity  was  disturbed  in  Poland 
also.  They  saw  themselves,  partly  owing  to  their  own  fault,  deprived 
of  their  school,  their  church,  and  their  printing-press,  in  Racovia,  where 
their  chief  settlement  existed  ;  till  at  last,  chiefly  at  the  instigation  of 
the  Jesuits,  they  were  forced  to  emigrate.  The  political  confederacies 
of  the  Unitarians  with  the  Swedes,  who  had  penetrated  into  Poland, 
very  much  contributed  to  excite  general  indignation  against  them.  Un- 
der the  guidance  of  their  leaders,  Schlichting,  Wissowatius,  Przypkovi- 
us,  and  Lubienisky,  they  endeavoured  now  to  establish  settlements  in 
Transylvania,  (where  already,  in  the  sixteenth  century,  by  means  of  the 
Italian  physician,  Blandrata,  Unitarian  principles  had  taken  root,)  and 
also  in  Silesia,  Prussia,  Brandenburg,  the  Palatinate,  and  the  Nether- 
lands. It  was  only  in  Prussia  and  the  March  of  Brandenburg,  that 
they  succeeded  in  founding  some  unimportant  congregations  ;  for,  the 
general  abhorrence  for  their  principles,  and  for  all  attempts  to  propa- 
gate them  (even,  as  in  Manheim,  where  they  thought  themselves  se- 
cure,) opposed  great  obstacles  to  their  progress.  In  the  Netherlands, 
though  individual  Unitarians  were  tolerated,  they  were  not  allowed  to 
form  congregations  at  least.  The  greater  part  went  over,  by  degrees, 
to  the  other  Christian  communities,  among  which  they  lived  dispersed. 
It  was  in  Transylvania  only,  that  the  sect  maintained  itself. 

The  chief  sources  of  information  for  the  history  of  Socinianism,  are 
the  numerous  writings  of  Faustus  Socinus,  who  made  use  of  the  papers 


54 P  EXPOSITION  OF  DOCTRINAL  DIFFERENCES 

bequeathed  to  him  by  his  uncle  ;  the  writings  of  John  Crell,  Jonah 
Schlichting,  John  Lewis  Wollzogen  (the  works  of  all  these  writers  are 
found  in  the  Bibliotheca  Fratrum  Polonorum,)  and  of  several  others. 

Among  the  Socinian  catechisms,  the  larger  one  of  Racovia,  edited 
by  Moscorovius  and  Schmalz,  in  the  year  1605,  and  that  by  Ostorod, 
a  Socinian  preacher  at  Buscow,  near  Dantzic,  are  particularly  distin- 
guished. (Rak.  1604.)  A  regular  symbolical  writing  the  Socinians 
do  not  recognize  ;  although  the  Racovian  Catechism  may  pass  for 
such. 


§  Lxxxviii. — Principles  of  the  Socinians,  as  to  the  relation  between  Reason  and  Rev- 
elation, and  the  functions  of  the  former  in  the  interpretation  of  Holy  Writ. 

It  is  our  first  duty  to  state  the  views  of  the  Socinians,  as  to  the 
sources  of  all  religious  and  moral  knowledge.  They  assert,  that,  through 
bis  own  powers,  man  arriveth  at  the  knowledge  and  distinction  of  good 
and  evil  ;*  and,  on  the  other  hand,  they  think  that  the  idea  of  God,  and 
of  divine  things,  is  conveyed  to  man  only  from  without,  to  wit,  by  in- 
struction.l  In  accordance  with  this  theory,  they  represent  the  Divine 
image  in  man,  as  consisting  in  the  dominion  of  the  latter  over  animals. 
This  is  avowedly  the  meanest  view,  which  it  is  possible  to  entertain  of 
the  affinity  to  God  in  man  ;  a  view,  which  renders  it  utterly  inconceiv- 
able, how,  when  God  announces  Himself,  or  lets  Himself  be  announced, 
from  without,  man  would  be  even  capable  of  receiving  the  doctrine  on 
the  Deity.  Clearer,  and  yet  withal  more  frivolous  and  powerless,  the 
one-sided  moralizing  tendency  of  Socinianism  could  not  well  appear, 
than  in  these  conceptions,  which  evidently  have  in  view  to  represent 
the  ethical  principle,  as  the  primary  and  most  deeply-seated  idea  in 
man  ;  and  the  religious  principle,  on  the  other  hand,  as  something  sub- 
ordinate, only  extraneously  annexed  to  the  mind,  only  to  be  grasped  by  the 
finite  understanding,  like  the  geography  of  Peru,  for  instance,  and 
therefore,  in  a  manner,  accidental.  Thus,  while  Luther  assigns  to  mo- 
rality a  mere  temporal,  perishable,  earthly  value,  Socinianism,  in  the 
most  direct  opposition,  allots  the  highest  place  to  it.  In  the  sequel, 
we  shall  also  see,  that  the  religious  is  made  to  minister  entirely  to  the 
ethical  principle.  Not  less  do  we,  here,  recognize  the  instinctive  force, 
which  urged  Socinianism  to  carry  out  that  opposition,  that  it  formed 
against  the  elder  Protestantism  ;  the  latter,  in  its  extreme  sects,  repre- 


»  Faust,  Socin.  Prselect.  theol.  c.  2  ;  Bibliotheca  Fr.  Pol.  torn.  i.  fol.  537;  Volkel. 
^e  vera.  Relig.  hb.  iv.  c.  4. 

t  FauBt.  Socin.  de  auct.  Sta.  Script.  Bibl.  Fr.  Pol.  torn.  i.  p.  273. 


BETWEEN  CATHOLICS  AND  PROTESTANTS.  541 

senting  the  divine  idea  in  man  (as,  for  instance,  the  inward  light,  the 
inward  Christ  of  the  Quakers),  to  be  so  all-powerful  as  to  need  no  ex- 
traneous aid,  for  its  rise  and  development  in  human  consciousness  ; 
while,  on  the  other  hand,  the  Socinians  will  deduce  this  divine  idea 
solely  from  an  external  source.  The  truth  is  on  neither  side.  Ration- 
al nature,  the  religious,  intellectual,  and  moral  capability,  is  innate  in 
man  ;  but,  in  both  respects,  it  needs  the  outward  excitation,  proceeding 
from  a  being  of  a  like  spiritual  essence,  in  order  to  unfold  its  own  ener- 
gy, and  consummate  its  own  history. 

One  would  be  inclined  to  suppose,  that,  in  virtue  of  these  principles, 
Socinians  would  have  adhered  literally  to  the  sense  of  any  record  of  re- 
velation, and  have  embraced  it,  with  unhesitating  faith  ;  since  they  de- 
nied to  man  the  capacity,  as  it  were,  for  any  ulterior  criticism  of  such, 
or  the  divine  similitude,  in  the  true  sense  of  the  word.  But,  in  such 
an  expectation  we  should  be  totally  deceived.  There  are  not,  indeed, 
wanting  numerous  passages,  that  inculcate  an  unconditional  submission 
to  Holy  Writ  ;*  but  the  very  reverse  is  practised,  and  the  maxim  is 
not  only  enforced,  but  clearly  avowed  ;  that  any  thing  contrary  to  rea- 
son, that  is  to  say,  to  the  understanding  of  the  Socinians,  must  not  be 
considered  as  a  doctrine  of  our  records  of  revelation.  Hence  the  mem- 
orable declaration  of  some  Socinians,  that  in  cases,  where  a  Scripture 
text  does  not  harmonize  with  what  they  denominate  reason,  they  should 
rather  invent  a  sense,  than  adopt  the  simple  and  literal  signification  of 
the  words. f  Hence  we  find,  among  them,  the  first  outlines  of  the  sub- 
sequent accommodation-theory, — a  theory  which  is,  indeed,  closely  con- 
nected with  the  conception  they  had  formed  of  Christ  ;  for,  with  the 
nature  of  a  mere  man,  an  adaptation  to  errors  is  perfectly  consistent. 
Yet,  this  point  the  Socinians  did  not  fully  develop.  They  did  not 
even  uphold  the  theory  of  inspiration,  in  all  its  rigour  ;  and  admitted 


»  Faust.  Socin.  Ep.  iii.  ad  Mat.  Redec.   Bib.  Fratruin  Pol.   torn.  i.  fol.   386. 

"  Equidem  contra  id  sentio :  Nihil  in  lis  Scriptis  legi,  quod  non  verissimum  sit 

Praestat,  mi  frater,  mihi  crede,  cum  in  aliquem  Scripturae  locum  incidimus,  qui  nobis 
falsam  sententiam  continere  videatur,  una  cum  Augustino  hac  in  parte  ignorantiam 
uostram  fateri,  quam  cum,  si  alioquin  indubitatus  plane  sit,  in  dubium  revocare." 
Faustus,  after  having  observed,  that  if  we  wish  to  charge  on  Holy  Writ  any  im- 
truth,  we  can  do  this  only  through  reason,  or  other  grounds,  says,  "  Ratione  vix  ullo 
modo  fieri  id  potest,  cum  Christiana  religio  non  humanoG  rationi  ullo  pacto  innitatur." 

t  Bengel  (in  Suskind's  Magazine,  No.  xv.  p.  128)  has  excellently  proved,  that  the 
Socinians,  in  the  interpretation  of  Holy  Writ,  adopceQ  as  a  rule,  a  negative  use  of 
reason.  The  passages  relative  hereto,  extracted  from  the  writings  of  Faustus  Soci. 
nus  and  Schmalz,  may  be  seen  in  p.  132  of  the  above-cited  work.  See  also  Mar. 
heineke  Instit.  Symbol,  p.  173. 


542  EXPOSITION   OF  DOCTRINAL  DIFFERENCES 

that  errors,  though  only  in  unimportant  matters,  might  have  crept  into 
the  Bible.*  From  the  analogy  of  the  whole  Socinian  system,  especial- 
ly from  the  representation  it  gives  of  the  Holy  Spirit,  the  higher  guid- 
ance, under  which  the  sacred  Scriptures  were  composed,  was,  accord- 
ino'  to  these  sectaries,  merely  confined  to  a  Providential  ordinance, 
which  permitted  only  virtuous,  honourable,  and  well-informed  men  to 
write  the  same.  That  the  followers  of  Socinus  should  reject  tradition, 
and  the  authority  of  the  Church,  was  naturally  to  be  expected. 


§  Lxxxix. — Doctrine  of  the  Socinians  respecting  God,  and  the  person  of  Christ. 

Even  in  the  doctrine  of  the  Divine  attributes,  the  opposition,  which 
the  Socinians  form  to  the  elder  Protestants,  is  very  manifest.  If  the 
Reformed  (and  herein  the  Lutherans  had  set  them  the  example)  sacrifi- 
ced the  free-will  of  man  to  the  Divine  omniscience,  the  Socinians,  on  the 
other  hand,  in  order  to  uphold  the  capacity  of  self-determination  in  man, 
set  limits  to  God's  fore-knowledge.  The  one  party  annihilates  man, 
the  other  disfigures  the  idea  of  God.  The  former  represents  man  as 
so  determined  that  he  can  no  longer  be  regarded  as  an  independent  be- 
ing ;  the  latter  teaches,  that  God  is  determined  by  man,  and  subjects 
the  immutable  to  extraneous  influences. 

By  all  the  sects,  which  we  have  hitherto  described,  the  doctrine  re- 
specting the  person  of  the  Redeemer,  as  handed  down  by  the  Catholic 
Church,  namely,  that  he  is  at  once  God  and  man,  was  ever  retained. 
The  Socinians,  on  the  other  hand,  in  this  article  of  belief,  departed  from 
the  ancient  truth  in  such  a  way,  that  the  errors  they  adopted  in  its 
room,  determine  almost  all  their  other  deviations.  The  Father  only  of 
Jesus  Christ  they  hold  to  be  God.f  They  are  not,  indeed,  of  opinion, 
that  salvation  depends  on  the  denial  of  the  doctrine  of  the  Trinity.  On 
the  contrary,  distinguishing  between  truths,  the  knowledge  whereof  is 
absolutely  necessary  to  the  gaining  of  eternal  life,  and  such,  the  adop- 
tion of  which  is  only  very  useful,  they  asserted,  that  the  dogma  of  the 
unity  of  God  belongs  to  the  first  class  ;  the  dogma  of  the  unity  of  per- 
sons to  the  second  ;:]:  yet  it  is  singular,  that,  at  the  same  time,  the  So- 


*  Faust.  Socin.  de  auct.  S.  Script.  Bibl.  Fr.  Pol.  fol.  267. 

t  Catechism.  Racov.  qu.  73.  "  Qunenam  est  hffic  Persona  divina?  Resp.  Est 
illc  Deus  unus  Domini  nostri  Jesu  Christi  Pater." 

X  Loc.  cit-  Qu.  53.  "  Quaenam  sunt,  quse  ad  essentiam  pertinent,  ad  salutem 
prosue  necessaria  ?     Resp.  Sunt  ea,  quod  Deus  sit,  quod  sit  tantum  unus,"  etc.     "  Qu. 


BETWEEN  CATHOLICS  AND   PROTESTANTS.  643 

-cinians  wished  to  prove,  that  the  unity  of  person  is  inseparable  from  the 
unity  of  essence,  and,  accordingly,  from  the  unity  of  God.*  For,  here- 
by, they  certainly  thought  to  prove,  that  the  Trinity  of  persons  destroys 
the  unity  of  nature,  and,  consequently,  that  the  belief  in  the  unity  of 
person  is  indispensably  necessary  to  salvation. 

The  Son  of  God  they  hold  to  be  a  mere  man,  who  was  conceived  of 
the  Holy  Ghost,  and  therefore  called  the  Son  of  God.  He  also  enjoy- 
ed the  distinction  (as  the  Socinians  further  teach,)  to  have  been,  prioi 
to  entering  on  his  office,  admitted  into  heaven,  where  he  received  his 
commission  relative  to  mankind.  This  article  of  belief  the  Socinians 
evidently  put  forward,  not  only  in  order  to  set  aside  the  difficulties, 
which  several  Scripture  texts  presented, — difficulties  which,  on  the  re- 
jection of  Christ's  divinity,  must  have  proved  very  weighty,f — but  also 
because,  from  the  views  they  entertained  as  to  the  origin  of  religious 
ideas,  they  were  unable  otherwise  to  explain,  how  Christ,  even  accord- 
ing to  the  meagre  conception  they  had  formed  of  his  doctrines,  could 
have  attained  to  his  peculiar  religious  system.  On  account  of  his  obe- 
dience, they  proceed  to  say,  he  was,  after  the  consummation  of  his 
work  of  redemption,  exalted  to  divine  dignity  and  honour,  and  all  things 
were  given  unto  him  ;  so  that  Christians  may  turn  with  confidence  un- 
to him,  as  a  God,  and  one  invested  with  Divine  power,  and  may  adore 
him,  nay,  are  bound  to  do  so.ij:  Faustus  Socinus  was  so  zealous  for  the 
worship  of  Christ,  that  Blandrata  called  him  to  Transylvania,  in  order 
to  overcome  the  repugnance  of  the  consistent  Unitarians  in  that  coun- 
try, who,  with  reason,  were  unwilling  to  ofifer  to  any  creature  an  act  of 
adoration.     Faustus   even  fell  under  suspicion  of  having  contributed, 


71.  Expone,  quae  ad  earn  rem  vehementer  utilia  ccnseas?  Resp.  Id  quidcm  est,  ut 
cognoscamus,  in  essentia  Dei  unam  tantum  personam  esse."  Christ.  Relig.  Instit. 
Bibl.  Fr.  Pol.  torn.  i.  fol.  652.  Col.  ii. 

*  Catech.  Rac.  Qu.  74.  "  Demonstra  hoc  ipsum.  Resp.  Hoc.  sane  vel  hinc 
patere  potest :  quod  essentia  Dei  sit  una  numero,  quapropter  plures  numero  persons 
in  e&,  esse  nullo  pacto  possunt,"  etc. 

t  Catechism.  Rac.  qu.  194  and  195. 

t  Socin.  de  Justif.  Bibl.  Fr.  Pol-  torn.  i.  fol.  601,  Col.  i.  "  Ipsi  Jesu  tantam  in 
ccbIo  et  in  terra,  tanquam  obedientiae  scilicet  usque  ad  mortem  crusis  insigne  prne- 
mium,  potestatem  dedit,  ut,"  etc.  Catech.  Racov.  "  Qu.  236.  Quid  prceterea  Do- 
minus  Jesus  huic  prEecepto  addidit  ?  Resp.  Id  quod  etiam  Dominura  Jesum  pro 
Deo  agnoscere  tenemur,  id  est,  pro  eo,  qui  in  nos  potestatem  habet  divinam,  et  cui 
nos  divinum  exhibcre  honorem  ohstricti  sumus.  Qu.  237.  In  quo  is  honor  divinus 
Christo  debitus  consistit  ?  Resp.  In  eo,  quod  quemadmodum  adoratione  divina  eum 
prosequi  tenemur,  ita  in  omnibus  necessitatibus  nostris  ejus  opem  implorare  possumus. 
Adoramus  vero  eum  propter  ipsius  sublimem  et  divinam  ejus  potestatem."  Christ. 
Relig.  Instit.  fol.  656.     Ostorod  Instruction,  cap.  xix.  p.  134. 


544  EXPOSITION  OF  DOCTRINAL  DIFFERENCES 

with  all  his  power,  towards  the  imprisonment  of  Simon  David,  who  was 
particularly  zealous  in  upholding  the  consistency  of  his  own  religious 
system.  Even  in  the  Racovian  Catechism,  those  are  declared  unwor- 
thy of  the  Christian  name,  who  testify  not,  in  the  aforesaid  manner,  their 
homage  to  Christ.*  Once  accustomed  to  admit  self-contradictory  pro- 
positions into  their  religious  system,  the  Unitarians,  who  adored  Christ, 
now  introduced  a  distinction  in  their  worship,  allotting  supreme  adora- 
tion to  God, 'and  an  inferior  one  to  Christ.f  In  this  way,  they  who 
had  resolved  to  maintain  so  rigidly  the  unity  of  the  Godhead,  admitted, 
by  the  side  of  the  one,  true,  and  supreme  Deity,  a  second,  unreal,  and 
inferior  God,  whom,  compelled  by  the  clearest  texts  of  Scripture,  they 
resolved  to  adore  ;  so  that  they  immediately  revoked  their  resolution, 
as  well  as  enfeebled  the  doctrine  of  one  God,  by  the  setting  up  of  a  se- 
cond. Had  (hey  been  acute  thinkers,  they  must  have  discerned,  that 
if  the  Gospel  represents  the  Son  as  a  person,  and  at  the  same  time  as 
God  (and  this  the  Socinians  do  not  pretend  to  deny,):]:  no  other  relation 
between  Him  and  the  Father  is  conceivable,  but  that  which  the  Catho- 
lic Church  hath  from  the  beginning  believed.  But  what  strange  theol- 
ogy is  this,  which  can  teach,  that  in  the  course  of  ages,  God  permits 
a  change  in  the  government  of  the  world  ;  so  that  having,  down  to  the 
time  of  Christ,  conducted  that  government  in  his  own  person,  he  now 
resigned  it,  just  as  if  he  had  been  weary  of  it,  and  appointed  a  vicege- 
rent, to  whom  he  probably  communicated  omnipotence,  certainly,  at 
least,  omniscience,  and  such  like  attributes ;  just  as  if  things  of  this 
kind  could,  without  any  difficulty,  be  transferred,  and,  as  it  were,  ap- 
pended to  any  individual ! 

It  is  remarkable,  that  man,  when  he  has  once  formed  a  mean  con- 
ception of  his  calling,  can  rarely  rise  in  speculation,  as  in  will,  above 
the  point  of  elevation,  which  that  conception   had  fixed.     Whoever 


*  Catech.  Racov.  "  Qii.  246.  Quid  vero  sentis  de  iis  hominibus,  qui  Christum 
non  invocant,  nee  adorandum  censent  ?  Resp.  Prorsus  non  esse  Christianos  sentio, 
cum  Christum  non  habeant.  Et  licet  verbis  id  negare  non  audeant,  reipsa.  negant 
tamen." 

t  Loc.  cit.  "  Qu.  245.  Ergo  is  honor  et  crltus  ad  eum  modum  tribuitur,"  ut 
nuUam  sit  inter  Christum  et  Deum  hoc  in  gen^re  discrimen  ?  Resp.  Imo  permag- 
num  est.  Nam  adoramus  et  colimus  Deum,  nquam  causam  primam  salutis  nos- 
trse  ;  Christum  tanquam  causam  secundam ;  aut,  ut  cum  Paulo  loquamur,  Deum 
tanquam  eum,  ex  quo  omnia,  Christum  ut  eum,  per  quem  omnia."  Compare  the 
letters  to  Nicmojovius  (Bibl.  Frat.  Pol.  tom.  ii,  fol.  466,)  where  we  see,  that  to  Christ 
a  species  of  invocation  is  addressed,  bearing  some  resemblance  to  the  Catholic  invo- 
cation of  saints. 

t  Christ.  Relig.  Instit.  loc.  cit.  fol.  655.  "  The  words  of  St.  John's  Gospel,  i.^1  to 
20,  21,  are  here  cited. 


BETWEEN  CATHOLICS  AND  PROTESTANTS.  545 

imagines,  that  he  is  absolutely  incapable  of  satisfying  certain  moral 
claims,  will  certainly  never  act  up  to  them  in  life  ;  and  whoever  obsti- 
nately  persists  in  the  prejudice,  that  his  powers  are  unequal  to  any 
speculative  problem,  will  assuredly  never  solve  it.  Would  it  not  appear, 
that  such  so-called  fancies,  at  times,  at  least,  determine  instinctively 
the  measure  of  intellectual  power  in  those,  who  possess  them?  It  was 
so  with  Socinus.  The  Divine  similitude,  the  highest  faculty  in  man, 
that  wherein  the  real  man  alone  consists,  he  places  in  the  calling  to 
hold  dominion  over  animals.  From  all  the  specimens  we  have  given  of 
his  religious  system,  we  see  a  man  before  us,  who  judges  of  Divine 
things,  like  a  shepherd,  a  goat-herd,  or  a  cow-herd ;  but  we  see  no 
theologian.  The  following  way  of  dealing  with  Scriptural  texts  by 
Socinus,  is  certainly  not  calculated  to  overturn  the  judgment  we  have 
pronounced  upon  his  very  narrow-minded  views.  In  order  to  get  rid 
of  the  proof,  which  may  bo  so  strictly  drawn  in  favour  of  the  pre- 
existence  of  Christ,  from  those  words  of  John  (i.  1,)  "  In  the  beginning 
was  the  Word,"  the  two  Socini  thus  interpreted  this  passage  :  "  In  the 
beginning  of  John's  preaching,  Christ  already  was  the  envoy  of  God." 
On  that  text,  "  Before  Abraham  was,  I  am,"  (John  vi.  5S),  they  foisted 
the  following  sense  :  "  Before  Abram  becometh  Abraham,  I  am  the 
light  of  the  world  !"  As  the  change  of  name  of  the  aforesaid  patriarch 
was  connected  with  the  promise,  that  he  should  be  the  father  of  many 
nations;  but  as,  before  Christ,  he  was  the  father  only  of  one  nation, 
and  it  was  only  through  the  latter  many  nations  entered  into  the  relation 
of  sonship  to  him,  so  the  Saviour  wished  to  say,  before  Abram,  in  fact, 
merits  the  name  of  Abraham,  I  will  be  the  light  of  the  world  ;  for,  I 
am  destined  by  God  to  ba  the  mediator  of  the  transformation  of  the 
one  name  into  the  other !  Taat  Christ  is  termad  by  John  the  Creator 
of  the  world,  they  denied  ;  because  the  text,  "  Through  Him  all  things 
were  made,"  &c.,  was  to  be  referred  to  the  new  creatiou  occasioned 
by  Him.*  Yet  it  is  not  here  our  business  to  bring  forward  the  exegeti- 
cal  arguments,  \yhich  the  Socinians  advance,  in  support  of  their  doc- 
trines ;  we  shall  therefore  return  to  the  exposition  of  their  peculiar 
tenets. 

The   Holy  Ghost,  they  represent  as  a  power  and  efficacy  of  the 


*  Catech  Rac.  Qu.  107,  123.  Ojder,  a  Protestant  Dean,  whose  edition  of  the 
Racovian  Catechism,  in  the  year  1 73 J,  Iinakc  use  of,  says,  at  p.  146,  at  the  ques- 
tion  Hi7,  as  follows:  *•  Pervcrsio  clarissimi  loci  (Jolin  vi  58)  ita  fffida  et  simul  man!, 
festa  est,  ul  fieri  noa  potuisse  crcdarn,  ut  homines  sans  alioquin  mentis,  in  eas  cogi. 
tatioacs  incidoreat,  nisi  qui  ob  abjuctum  amorem  veri'atis  in  reprobum  scnsum  traditi 
Bunt."     He  IS  right.     Compare  Christ.  Rel;g.  Instit.  Bibl.  Frat.  Pol.  torn.  i.  fol.  656. 

35 


646  EXPOSITION  OF  DOCTRINAL  DIFFERENCES 

Deity  ;  but  the  more  exact  description  they  give  of  this  power,  will 
claim  our  attention  later.*  The  question  has  often  been  proposed,  with 
what  ancient  heresy  doth  the  Socinian  conception  of  Christ  agree?  It 
would  be  easy  to  discover  many  points  of  resemblance  with  ancient 
sects  j  but  the  Socinians  are  unable  to  show  a  perfect  concur- 
rence with  any  one.  With  the  Arians  they,  doubtless,  agreed  in  the 
veneration  and  worship  of  one,  who  became  a  God — who  was  a  mere 
creature.  But  the  heretics  of  the  fourth  century  taught,  that  the  Son 
of  God  existed  before  the  world,  and  that  through  him  the  universe 
was  created,  and  from  the  beginning  governed  ;  a  doctrine  which  their 
friends,  in  the  sixteenth  century,  called  in  question,  since  they  repre- 
sented the  existence  of  the  Saviour  as,  in  every  respect,  commencing 
with  his  earthly  nativity  ;  and  therefore  could  not  teach  a  creation  of 
the  world  by  him,  and  even  dated  from  his  ascension,  only  his  govern- 
ment of  the  world,  which,  even  now,  according  to  them,  is  of  a  limited 
nature. 

With  the  Artemonites  the  Socinians  Avillingly  associated  themselves  ; 
and  about  the  period  of  their  first  rise,  others  (as,  for  instance,  the 
author  of  the  Augsburg  Confession,)  compared  the  Unitarians  with  the 
disciples  of  Paul  of  Samosata.  The  affinity  is,  doubtless,  not  to  be 
denied,  since  all  these  families  of  heretics  held  Christ  to  be  a  mere 
man,  who  was  conceived  of  the  Divine  Spirit,  and  was  sent  to  men, 
with  a  Divine  commission.  But  if  the  Socinians  denied,  that  before 
his  birth  from  Mary,  Christ  had  already  existed,  and  was  a  secondary 
Lord  of  the  universe  (and  by  this  denial  they  take  a  position  below  the 
Arians,)  the  Artemonites,  on  the  other  hand,  together  with  the  disciples 
of  Paul  of  Samosata,  rejected  even  the  doctrine,  that  Christ,  after  his 
ascension,  was  exalted  to  Divine  dignity,  and  to  the  government  of  the 
world  ;  and  hereby  fell  as  far  below  the  Socinians,  as  these  fall  below 
the  Arians.  Some  disciples  of  Artemon,  as  well  as  of  Theodotus, 
rejected,  as  a  later  interpolation,  the  beginning  of  the  Gospel  of  St. 
John,  and  were  therefore  called  Alogi ;  while  Artemon  himself  asserted, 
that,  before  Pope  Zephyrinus,  Christ  was  not  held  to  be  God.  Paul  of 
Samosata  suppressed  the  hymns,  wherein  Christ  was  addressed  as  God, 
and  thereby  endeavoured  to  prevent  the  worship  of  Christ.  The  So- 
cinians, accordingly,  occupy  the  middle  place  between  the  Arians  and 

*  Catech.  Racov.  "  Qu.  271.  Spiritum  Sanctum  non  esse  in  Dcitate  personam,  et 
hine  discere  potes,"  etc  Christ.  Rclig.  Instit.  ii.  fol.  652,  Col.  ii.  "  Quid,  quaero,  de 
Spiritti  sancto  nunc  mihi  dicis  ?  Rcsp.  Nempe,  ilium  non  esse  personam  aliquam,  a 
Deo,  cujus  est  Spiritus,  distinctam,  sod  tantummodo  ipsius,  Dei  vim  et  efficaciam 
quandam,"  etc.  What  an  absurd  answer,  in  more  than  one  respect  I  In  general,  tlis 
whole  catechetical  exposition  is  very  unsuccessful. 


BETWEEN  CATHOLICS  AND  PROTESTANTS.  bA7 

the  disciples  of  Artemon  ;  and  have  something  in  common  with  the 
errors  of  all  these  sectaries,  without,  however,  entirely  coinciding  with 
ihem. 

They  are  also  wont  to  be  placed  in  the  same  category  with  the 
Photinians.  But  as  these  taught,  that  in  Christ  there  was  an  union  of 
the  Logos,  whom  they  conceived  to  be  impersonal,  with  the  man  Jesus, 
they  herein  differed  from  the  doctrine  of  the  Socinians.  They  preached 
up,  moreover,  that  the  kingdom  of  the  Redeemer  would  have  an  end  ; 
that  the  union  of  the  Logos  with  the  man  Jesus  would  again  be  dis- 
solved, and  thereby  the  dominion  of  Christ  cease  ^  whereas  the  reverse 
of  this  was  inculcated  by  the  Socinians, 

§  xc. — On  the  Fall  and  the  Regeneration  of  Man. 

With  reason  the  Socinians  assert,  that,  by  the  creation,  Adam  was 
endowed  with  free-v/ill,  which,  in  consequence  of  the  Fall,  he  forfeited 
neither  for  himself  nor  for  his  posterity  ;  for  it  is  essentially  inherent  in 
human  nature.  Adam,  moreover,  they  say,  was  created  mortal  in  him- 
self; yet  so,  that  if  he  had  persevered  in  his  obedience  to  God,  he  was 
not  under  the  necessity  of  dying.  Immortality  would  have  been  vouch- 
safed to  him,  as  a  gratuitous  gift.  Original  sin,  they  contend,  there  is 
none ;  and  the  consequences  of  Adam's  fall  extend  not  beyond  his 
person,  with  the  exception  of  a  certain  defectiveness,  which  occasions 
death  to  extend  to  all  his  posterity.  This  was  a  concession,  which  the 
undeniable  phenomena  of  ordinary  life  wrung  from  the  Socinians  ;  but 
in  their  religious  system,  this  concession  is  so  isolated,  as  to  be  utterly 
untenable;.* 

Corresponding  to  their  notion  of  the  moral  malady  of  mankind,  was 
that  of  the  remedies,  which  they  represented  Christ  to  have  proffered 
us  against  it.  These  the  Socinians  make  to  consist,  in  the  granting  of 
a  purer  and  more  perfect  legislation,  as  well  as  in  the  opening  the 
prospect  of  a  future  life,  confirmed,  as  it  is,  by  Christ's  resurrection, 
and  which,  according  to  them,  was  not  covenanted  in  the  Old  Testa- 
ment, but  now  only  is  promised  to  penitent  sinners,  and  to  the  observers 
of  the  moral  precepts.f  The  Socinians  saw  themselves  compelled  to 
circumscribe,  as  much   as  was  practicable,   the  ethical  and  religious 


*  Catech.  Racov.  Qu.  422,  42,  45. 

t  Catech.  Racov.  "  Qu.  1 97.  Quid  vero  hoc  novum  fcedus  ccmprehcndit  ?  Re^. 
Duplex  rerum  genus,  quorum  unum  Deimi,  alteram  nos  rcspicit.  Qu.  198.  Sunt 
perfecta  mandala  et  perfecta  Dei  promissa,"  etc.  Socin.  de  Justif.  Bibl.  Frat.  Pol. 
torn.  i.  fol.  601,  Cok  i.  Resp,  ad  object.  Cuteni.  Bibl.  Frat.  Pol.  tom.  ii.  fol.  454,  n.  q. 


548  EXPOSITION  OF  DOCTRINAL  DIfFERENCfiS 

knowledge,  and  hopes  of  the  ancient  world ;  for,  otherwise^  there  would 
scarcely  have  remained  any  thing,  for  which,  as  Christians,  we  were 
bounden  in  gratitude  to  God  and  to  Christ.  How,  otherwise,  m  as  Christ  te 
be  distinguished  from  the  prophets  ?  Hence,  they  allege  even  the  Lord's 
Prayer,  among  the  especial  revelations,  which,  through  Christ,  the  Deity 
hath  vouchsafed  to  men.  And  had  they  known  that  the  Saviour  found 
this  form  of  prayer  already  existing,  and  only  strongly  recommended  it, 
then  their  account  of  the  peculiar  services  of  the  envoy  of  God,  would 
have  occupied  a  totally  imperceptible  space.*  The  most  remarkable 
indirect  act  of  Christ  must,  according  to  the  Socinian  system,  when 
we  closely  investigate  the  matter,  be  evidently  the  abolition  of  the  ritual 
and  legal  ordinances  of  the  Mosaic  dispensation  ;  an  abolition,  to  which, 
they  refer  the  establishment  of  a  more  spiritual  worship  of  the  Deity. 
But  this  is  a  merit  of  Christ,  which,  after  all  that  the  prophets  of  the 
old  law  had  taught  upon  the  subject,  is  certainly,  in  respect  to  the 
novelty,  at  least,  of  its  fundamental  idea,  not  to  be  so  highly  estimated* 
Thus,  admitting  no  vicarious  satisfaction  on  the  part  of  Christ — no 
imputation  of  his  merits,  which  they  reject  as  pernicious  to  morality — < 
the  Socinians  know  only  of  a  certain  meagre  communication  of  Divine 
power  supporting  human  exertion,  and  co-operating  with  it ;  a  power, 
whereof  we  must,  beforehand,  form  only  a  very  modest  idea.'}'  The 
Holy  Ghost,  whose  personality  they  deny,  as  was  above  stated,  is,  ac- 
cording to  them,  even  in  its  workings,  very  far  from  corresponding  to 
the  idea  which  Scripture,  and  the  perpetual  faith  of  the  Church,  give  of 
it.  They  divide  his  gifts  into  two  classes,  into  temporal  and  extra- 
ordinary, under  which  they  include  tlie  apostolic  power  of  miracles,:^ 
and  into  permanent,  which  they  term  the  Gospel,  and  the  sure  hope  of 
eternal  life.§  The  former  they  designate  as  the  outward,  the  latter  as 
the  internal  gift  of  the  Holy  Ghost.  In  order  that  no  one  might  deem 
the  Holy  Spirit  necessary  for  the  formation  of  Christian  faith,  and,  con- 
sequently, for  the  beginning  of  all  true  virtue  in  man,  the  Racovian 
Catechism  devotes  a  special  question  and  answer  to  the  denial  of  this 
opinion. II  Nay,  whether  the  internal  operation  of  the  Divine  Spirit  be 
necessary,  ibr  implanting  in  the  aoul  a  tirm   hope  of  eternal  life,  is  a 


*  Loc.  cit.  "  Qu.  217.  Quid  vcro  ad  haec  addidit  Dominus  Jesus  ?"  (Namely,  ta 
the  commandment  in  the  Old  Testament,  to  worship  Gfld  alone.)  "  Resp.  Primum 
hoc,  quod  nobis  certam  orandi  rationem  prfpscripsit,"  etc. 

t  Socin.  de  Justif.  loc.  cit.  fol.  6Ui  ;  Relig.  Christ.  Instit.  loc.  cit.  fol.  6G5  ;  Ca- 
tech.  Racov.  Qu.  374. 

X  Catech.  Racov.  Qu,  361.  §  Loc.  cit.  Qu.  365,  seq.  430. 

II  Loc.  cit.  Qu.  370, 


BETWEEN  CATHOLICS  AND  PROTESTANTS.  549 

iBatter  of  doubt  to  the  authors  of  this  Catechism  ;  for  they  make  use 
of  the  expression,  it  seemeth  that  the  outward  promise  afforded  us,  by 
the  preaching  of  the  Gospel,  needs  an  inward  sealing  in  our  hearts. 

As  regards  the  fulfilment  of  the  moral  law,  the  above-mentioned 
inward  gift  of  the  Holy  Ghost  is  limited,  solely,  to  cases  of  peculiarly 
grievous  temptation.*  In  illustration  of  this  doctrine  of  the  Catechism, 
the  following  propositions,  taken  from  a  series  of  answers,  made  by 
Faustus  Socinus  to  the  objections,  which  a  certain  Cutenus  had  pro- 
posed to  him,  deserve  to  be  cited.  "  Every  man,"  says  this  Reformer, 
"  in  case  he  be  not  corrupted  by  his  associates,  can  live  without  sin, 
when  the  most  attractive  and  stimulating  recompense  be  promised  to 
him,  as  the  reward  of  his  virtues.  But,  such  a  recompense  is  promised 
in  the  Gospel  ;  therefore,  he  can  perfectly  conform  his  life  to  the  pre- 
cepts of  Jesus."  To  this  the  still  stronger  proposition  is  subjoined: 
*'  Man,  not,  indeed,  by  his  natural  strength,  but  by  the  powers  afforded 
to  him  by  God,  through  the  hope  of  eternal  life,  can  act  up  to  the  Divine 
will.""!"  Hence  we  see,  that  the  opposition  between  natural  and  super- 
naturptl  powers,  in  the  Socinian  system,  has,  in  part,  quite  another 
signification,  than  it  has  ever  received  in  the  Church,  and  still  retains 
among  Protestants,  as  well  as  Catholics.  This  phenomenon,  moreover, 
is  grounded  in  the  fact,  that,  according  to  Socinus,  man  has  no  innate 
sense  of  religion — not  even  the  slightest  sense  of  the  immortality  of  his 
own  soul :  for  the  doctrine  of  immortality  is  represented  as  one  in 
every  respect  extrinsically  communicated — supernaturally  revealed  ;  and 
therefore  he  denominates  even  belief  in  it  a  supernatural  power.  Fur- 
ther below,  Socinus  recurs  to  the  same  subject,  improving,  as  it  were, 
on  himself.  The  Christian,  according  to  him,  by  calling  to  mind  eternal 
life,  can  rise  again,  by  his  own  strength,  even  from  a  grievous  fall ; 
yet  nothing  is  safer  and  more  praiseworthy,:}:  says  he,  than  to  turn  to 
God,  for,  one  ought  not  to  trust  too  confidently  in  one's  own  powers. 
But  a  vicious  life,  he  continues  to  say,  man,  without  a  special  favour 
and  grace  of  God,  is  not  able  to  reform.  The  question,  however,  arises, 
whether  to  this  grace  we  are  to  attach  the  orthodox  notion  ;  or  whether, 
on  the  contrary,  we  are  not  to  understand,  by  this  special  favour,  the 
judgments  of  God  ?§  How  extremely  similar  the  sentiments  of  the 
Socinians  are  to  those  of  the  Pelagians,  must  be  evident  to  all  minds. 


*  Loc.  cit.  Qu.  368. 

t  No.  6.  "  Homo  in  h^c  vita  non  quidem  viribus  naturalibus,  sed  viribus  sibi  a 
Deo  per  spem  vitse  seternfE  tantum  subministratis,  potest  ejusdem  voluntatem  perfi- 
icere.'' 

t  "  Laudibilius  et  securius."  §  Bibl.  Fr.  Pol.  torn.  ii.  fol.  454. 


550  EXPOSITION  OF  DOCTRINAL  DIFFERENCES 

Christ  also,  according  to  the  Socinians,  still  exerts,  after  his  ascen- 
sion, a  perpetual  influence  over  our  destiny.  But  the  influence  which 
he  exercises,  they  represent  as  only  external.  lie  protects  us,  they 
say,  hy  the  fulness  of  his  power :  and,  in  a  certain  degree,  turns  away 
from  us  the  wrath  of  God,  which  is  wont  to  be  poured  out  against  sin- 
ners :  and  this  it  is,  we  understand,  by  his  intercession.  He  sets  before 
us,  in  his  own  person,  the  blessed  effects  of  virtue  ;  but  this  is  to  be  re- 
ferred, solely,  to  the  reading  of  the  Gospel  historj^  that  has  been  be- 
queathed to  us,  and  by  means  whereof  he  constantly  worketh.  Lastly, 
he  purifies  from  sin  by  punishments  and  aids.  The  notion  of  the  latter, 
by  being  associated  with  punishmerrts,  is  necessarily  confined  to  the 
granting  of  earthly  prosperity,  as  an  encouragement  to  virtue.*  Hence 
the  Socinians  assert,  that  Christ  discharges  his  priestly  functions  solely 
in  heaven,  and  his  sufferings  and  ministry  on  earth  have  only  procured 
for  him,  this,  his  celestial  influence. 

From  all  we  have  now  stated,  the  notion  which  the  Socinians  con- 
nect with  justification,  may  easily  be  inferred.  That  they  would  avoid 
the  errors  of  the  Lutherans  and  the  Calvinists,  on  this  matter,  may 
naturally  be  expected  ;  but  it  i-s  equally  certain,  that  they  rush  into  the 
opposite  excess.  Justification  they  conceive  to  be  a  judicial  act  of  God, 
whereby  He  graciously  absolves  from  sin  and  its  guilt,  all  men,  who, 
with  faith  in  Christ  fulfil  the  moral  precepts. ■[  This  definition  would 
be  very  just,  if  the  Christian  obedience  required  by  them  were  not,  from 
its  very  nature,  even  in  the  best  case,  purely  finite  ;  for,  it  usually  is 
begun  only  by  the  natural  powers  ;  and  to  Christ  scarcely  any  other 
share  is  allotted  therein,  save  that  of  a  credible  and  trustworthy  guide. 
In  other  respects,  what  the  Socinians  advance  touching  justifying  faith, 
that  it  possesses  in  itself,  as  an  essential  form,  a  power  effic  cious  in 
works,  and  can  be  separated  from  the  same  only  in  thought,  is  very 
good,  and  has  been  borrowed  from  the  Catholic  schools  {fides formata.) 
It  is  only  to  be  lamented,  that  the,  in  itself,  very  laudable  earnestness, 
which  applied  its  energy  to  moral  conduct,  should  have  been  devoid  of 


*  Cathech.  Rac.  Qu  479. 

t  Socin.  de  Juslif.  loc.  cit.  602,  Col.  ii.  "  Justificatlo  nostra  coram  Deo,  ut  uno  ver- 
bo  dicam,  nihil  est  aliud,  quam  a,  Deo  pro  justis  haberi  .  .  .  Ratio  igilur,  qua  nobis  ilia 
contingit,  ad  nos  respicit.  Ciuod  ad  Deum  attinet,  nihil  Deura  inovet  ad  nos  pro  justis 
habendos,  nihilne,  uttantum  bonum  consequamur  in  Deo  esse  necesse  est,  preetcr  gra- 
tuitam  voluntatem...  Quod  vero  ad  nos  pertinet,  non  alitor  reipsa  justi  coram  Deo 
habemur,  et  delictorum  nostrorum  veniam  ab  ipso  consequimur,  quam  si  in  Jesum 
Christum  credamus.... Credere  autem  in  Jesum  Christum,  nihil  aliud  est,  quam  Jesu' 
Christo  confidere,  et  idcirco  ex  ejus  praescripto  vitaiuinstituere,"  Catech..  Racov. 
Qu.  452,  an  ill-composed  article. 


BETWEEN  CATHOLICS  AND  PROTESTANTS.  551 

the  Divine  blessing  and  unction  ;  and  we  are  at  a  loss  to  discover  how- 
it  can  attain  its  ends  * 

Directed  by  the  truest  instinct,  the  Socinians  further  assert,  that 
works,  or  obedience  to  the  Divine  precepts,  do  not,  of  themselves,  merit 
heaven  ;  for,  as  in  the  performance  of  these,  they  refer  the  larger  share 
to  human  exertion,  and  therefore  admit  no  truly  Divine  works,  it  does 
honour  to  their  understanding  to  have  allowed  no  inward  relation  to 
eternal  bliss,  in  works  founded  in  such  a  principle.  But  if  they  per- 
ceived this,  it  is  then  the  more  inconceivable,  how  they  could  deem 
man  capable  of  future  rewards,  since  with  these,  according  to  their  sys- 
tem, his  earthly  feelings  and  actions  possess  no  true  affinity  and  uni- 
formity. Even  from  this  point  of  view,  they  might  have  discerned  the 
unsatifactoriness  of  their  own  system,  and  have  been  brought  round  to 
the  doctrine  of  the  Church.f 

In  respect  to  the  concurrence  of  the  Socinian  view  of  justification, 
with  the  Cathohc  and  the  Protestant  belief,  as  well  as  its  divergence 
from  the  doctrine  of  either  Church,  we  shall  here  make  a  few  brief  ob- 
servations. The  Socinians  agree  with  Luther  and  Calvin,  in  holding 
Justification  to  be  a  mere  judicial  act  of  God.  To  justify,  according  to 
them,  signifies  only  to  acquit — to  declare  men  just.  But,  both  parties 
stand  in  direct  hostility  one  to  the  other,  inasmuch  as  the  former  make 
this  Divine  declaration  to  follow  upon  sanctification ;  the  latter,  on  the 
contrary,  deduce  sanctification  only  from  the  belief  in  this  declaration. 
Catholics  reconcile  these  contrarieties,  by  teaching,  that  sanctification 
and  forgiveness  of  sins  concur  in  the  one  act  of  justification.  While 
the  Protestants  hold,  that  for  the  sake  of  Christ's  merits,  heaven  is 
thrown  open  to  the  believer,  in  despite  of  his  sins  ;  that  not  moral 
worth,  but  only  grace,  decides  our  salvation,  in  order  that  praise  may 
be  rendered  unto  God  alone  ;  while  the  Socinians,  on  the  other  hand, 
maintain,  that  merit  of  Christ  there  is  none,  but  only  merits  on  the  part 
of  man,  and  therefore  no  real  grace  in  Christ,  because  otherwise  moral 
exertions  v.ould  be  paralyzed  ;  the  Catholic  Church  lays  hold  on  the 
truth  in  both  parties,  and,  at  the  same  time,  rejects  the  errors  of  either ; 


*  Socin.  loc.  cit.  fol.  610,  Col.  ii.  "  Fides  obedientiam  praeceptorum  Dei,  non 
quidem  ut  cfFectum  suum,  sed  ut  suam  substantiam  et  formani  continct  afque  com- 
plectitur.  Meminisse  enim  debemus  ejus,  quod  supra  recte  conclusum  est,  fidem, 
hanc  scilicet,  queejustificamur,  Dei  obedientiam  esse."  Compare  de  Christo  Serva- 
tore.  Bibl.  Frat.  Pol.  torn.  ii.  P.  i.  c.  iv.  fol.  129;  P.  rv.  c.  xi.  fol.  234.  These  pas- 
sages, as  containing  the  refutation  of  the  Protestant  doctrine  on  faith  and  works,  have 
an  especial  importance  ;  and  many  remarks  are,  contrary  to  all  expectation,  acute 
and  ingenious. 

t  Socin.  fragment,  de  Justi.fic.  loc.  cit.  fol.  620. 


552  EXPOSITION  OF  DOCTRINAL  DIFFERENCES 

as  she  inculcates,  that  by  grace  man  can  and  must  let  himself  be 
moved,  exalted,  and  thoroughly  purified  in  morals  ;  and  only  inasnuich 
as  he  doth  this,  hath  he  a  living  conception  of  the  institution  of  grace, 
and  doth  he  place  himself  in  due  relation  to  it.  That,  however.  Pro- 
testantism is  far  more  fitted  than  the  system  of  the  two  Socini  (much 
as  the  latter  may  perpetually  exalt  morality,)  to  call  forth  moral  exer- 
tion, and  to  found  a  pure  morality,  although  Protestantism  misappre- 
hends its  nature,  and  doth  not  truly  understand  its  due  relation  to 
religion,  is  a  truth,  which  cannot  be  called  in  question.  Socinianism 
is  utterly  wanting  in  humility,  and  in  all  deeper  insight  into  the  great 
necessities  of  human  nature,  since  in  man,  even  in  his  present  condi- 
tion, it  finds  nothing  essentially  amiss  ;  and  accordingly,  it  is  deficient 
in  the  vivifying  and  morally  inspiring  principle.  A  mere  lawgiver,  as 
Christ  mainly  appears  to  the  Socinians,  cannot  exert  a  deep  and  power- 
ful influence  on  man.  They  protest,  indeed,  against  the  notion,  that 
they  regard  Christ  exclusively  in  this  light,  since  they  consider  the  de- 
liverance of  the  human  race,  as  the  true  object  of  his  mission,  and  they 
look  upon  his  legislation,  as  only  a  means  to  that  higher  end*  Doubt- 
less, it  is  precisely  so ;  but  it  is  this  very  one-sided  view  of  the  means 
selected  by  God,  which  forms  the  great  gulf  between  Socinian  Chris- 
tianity, and  the  old  genuine  Christianity.  The  Socinians  want  the 
Emanuel ;  and,  therefore,  all  which  for  eighteen  hundred  years  hath 
wrought  the  great  moral  renovation  of  the  world.  How  weak,  how 
impotent,  is  their  legislative  Jesus,  compared  with  the  Son  of  God,  re- 
conciling,  by  his  self-immolation,  the  world  with  his  Father  !  The  Son 
of  God  it  is,  who  hath  overthrown  heathenism,  and  tamed  barbarism. 
And  what  means  the  vague  expression,  "  deliver  ?"  From  what  was 
he  to  deliver  ?  From  a  moral  corruption,  that  was  unavoidable,  since 
no  one  before  Christ,  Jew  or  Gentile,  was,  according  to  the  Socinians, 
instructed  in  the  relations  of  the  present  to  a  future  life  ?  At  most,  by 
the  word  "  deliverance,"  can  here  be  understood  only  the  liberation 
from  inculpable  ignorance,  and  therefore  from  guiltless  immorality 
also. 

§  xci. — On  the  Sacraments. 

The  sacraments  of  baptism  and  of  the  altar,  the  Socinians  hold  to  be 
mere  ceremonies ;  as,  indeed,  from  their  rejection,  or,  at  least,  misap- 
prehension of  the  inward  operations  of  grace,  such  a  view  necessarily 

*  Faust.  Socin.  Respons.  ad  object.  Cut.  loo.  cit.  "  Nee  sane  ob  id  praacipue  in 
mundum  venit,  ut  legem  ferret,  nostervc  legislator  esset,  sed  ut  nos  servaret,  in  quem 
etiain  finem  suam  legem  dedit." 


BETWEEN  CATHOLICS  AND  PROTESTANTS.  553 

follows.  Baptism  is  regarded  only  as  a  rite  of  initiation,  of  the  carnal 
Jews  and  Heathens  into  the  Christian  Church  ;  for,  these  needed  an 
outward  symbol  of  the  forgiveness  of  sins,  and  of  inward  purification. 
As  regards  its  retention  in  the  Christian  Church,  this  is  considered  by 
the  Socinians  to  have  arisen  out  of  a  misunderstanding  of  the  mere 
temporary  ordinance  of  Christ.  To  children,  moreover,  baptism  is  in- 
applicable, for  these  certainly  comprehend  not  the  nature  of  the  act. 
These  sectaries  deem  it  a  great  concession,  on  their  parts,  when  they 
refrain  from  damning  those,  who  administer  baptism  to  infants  ;  and 
this,  with  them,  is  certainly  not  surprising,  since  they  deny  original 
sin,  and  naturally  look  on  the  sprinkling  with  mere  water  as  a  ceremony 
in  itself  void.* 

Of  the  Lord's  supper  they  believe,  at  least,  so  much,  that  it  hath  been 
instituted  for  all  ages  ;  but,  indeed,  only  to  announce  the  death  of  the 
Lord-t 

Lastiv,  the  Socini  taught  an  annihilation  of  the  damned,  and  accord- 
ingly rejected  the  eternity  of  hell-torments. 


*  Catech.  Rac  Qu.  346351. 

t  Loc.  cit.  Qu.  333.     It  appears  perfectly  superfluous  to  allege  any  testimonies,  on 
this  matter,  from  the  writings  of  Socinus  and  others. 


CHAPTER    VI. 

THE    ARMINIANS,    OR    REMONSTBANXS. 


9  xcii. — Some  historical  preliminary  remarks. 

This  sect,  as  has  been  already  observed  in  the  Introduction,  owes  its 
name  and  origin  to  an  inhabitant  of  South  Holland,  who,  in  the  year 
1560,  was  born  in  Oudewater.  The  very  solid  and  extensive  learning, 
which  he  had  acquired  at  several  learned  academies  at  home  and 
abroad, — especially  his  philosophic  studies  at  Paris  and  at  Padua, — 
certainly  made  him  acquainted  with  the  dogma  of  free-will,  and  the 
doctrines  connected  therewith  ;  so  that,  he  must  have  entertained 
doubts,  as  to  the  truth  of  his  own  confession,  and  the  divine  origin  it 
laid  claim  to.  Yet,  he  would  scarcely  have  resolved  to  take  up  an  at- 
titude of  formal  opposition,  against  the  doctrine  of  his  Church,  had  not, 
even  contrary  to  his  hesitating  will,  a  concurrence  of  circumstances 
determined  him  thereto.  The  parties  of  the  Supralapsarians  and  the 
Infralapsarians,  already  stood  opposed  to  each  other,  in  battle  array. 
The  former  asserted,  that,  prior  to  the  fall,  the  predestination  to  eternal 
felicity  and  damnation  was  already  decreed  ;  the  latter,  that  it  was  so 
only  subsequently  to  that  event.  The  Supralapsarians  alone,  as  is  evi- 
dent, maintained  Calvin's  doctrine  in  all  its  rigour.  Under  these  cir- 
cumstances, it  happened,  unfortunately,  that  while  Arminius  was  pastor 
of  a  congregation,  he  received  the  commission  to  refute  some  Calvinistic 
adversaries  of  the  rigid  doctrine  of  predestination ;  and  the  investigation 
which  he  then  undertook,  led  him  to  a  still  more  decided  rejection  of 
what  he  had  been  called  upon  to  defend.  As  professor  of  theology  at 
Leyden,  he  found  in  his  opponents,  particularly  Gomar,  adverse  spies, 
who  took  offence  at  anything,  which  in  any,  even  the  slightest,  degree 
betrayed  an  opposition  to  the  harsh  Calvinistic  theory  of  election,  and 
summoned  him,  in, consequence,  to  an  account.  Thus  was  Arminius 
led  to  express  his  opinions,  ever  more  clearly  and  distinctly  ;  and,  in 
proportion  as  this  occurred,  the  partisans  of  his  views  increased,  and, 
consequently,  the  fermentation  among  the  Calvinists  of  the  United  States 
augmented.     The  civil  authorities  soon  saw  themselves  forced  to  take 


EXPOSITION  OF  DOCTRINAL  DIFFERENCES,   &c.  555 

cognizance  of  the  prevailing  controversies  ;  but,  the  attempts  at  concil- 
iation, which  they  deemed  the  most  suited  to  their  position,  proved 
abortive. 

Arminius  died  in  the  year  1609  ;  but  his  principles  survived  him,  and 
found  in  Uytenbogart  and  Simon  Episcopius,  defenders  not  less  able 
than  courageous.  Accused  of  a  departure  from  the  formularies  of  the 
national  Faith,  and  of  disturbing  the  peace  of  the  country,  they  delivered 
to  the  States,  in  the  year  1610,  a  remonstrance,  which,  in  five  articles, 
embodied  their  principles.  From  this  declaration,  they  derived  the 
name  of  Remonstrants.  At  last,  after  repeated,  but  ever  ineffectual, 
attempts  on  the  part  of  the  civil  authorities,  to  bring  about  a  pacific  ad- 
justment of  these  disputes,  the  adversaries  of  the  Remonstrants,  especi- 
ally after  Maurice,  Prince  of  Orange,  had  declared  in  their  favour, 
succeeded,  in  the  year  1618,  in  convoking  the  Synod  of  Dort.  Con- 
demned by  that  Synod  as  heretics,  all  Arminians  were,  in  consequence, 
deprived  of  their  places,  and  even  banished  the  country  ;  till  at  length, 
after  the  death  of  Prince  Maurice,  they  came  by  degrees  to  be  tolerated 
again,  and  even,  as  a  separate  ecclesiastical  community,  were  insured 
a  legal  existence. 

We  shall  describe  their  doctrinal  peculiarities  after  the  Confession, 
which  Simon  Episcopius  published  in  the  year  1622,  under  the  title 
Confessio she  Declaratio  sententicB  Pastoriim,qui  infcederafo  Belgio  Re- 
monsiranies  vocantur,  etc.  Its  author  soon  saw  himself  induced  to  put 
forth  a  defence  of  his  declaration  ;  for  some  rigid  Calvinistic  preachers 
had  published  a  censure  on  it.  The  apology,  termed  Examen  CensurcB, 
etc.,  is  distinguished  by  the  most  dexterous  logic,  and  would  well  serve  to 
illustrate  the  confession  of  the  Remonstrants,  had  this  stood  in  need  of 
illustration.  For,  the  latter  is  written  with  the  utmost  clearness  and  vi- 
gour, and  only  in  respect  to  certain  points,  is  deficient  in  that  explicit- 
ness,  which  should  characterise  a  public  formulary.  In  these  rare  cases, 
the  Apology,  or  Examen  CensurcB,  will  be  very  serviceable,  for  in  it,  the 
Arminians  were  forced  to  make  the  most  unreserved  declarations. 


§  xciii. — Doctrine  of  the  Arminians. 

The  subject  of  the  controversy,  between  the  Arminians  and  the  Go- 
marists,  turned,  doubtless,  more  immediately  on  Calvin's  doctrine  of  pre- 
destination. But,  as  may  easily  be  conceived,  a  series  of  other  dog- 
mas were  soon  involved  in  this  dispute;  for,  the  aforesaid  error  doth 
not  stand  isolated,  but,  in  part,  presupposes,  and  is  grounded  on  other 
notions,  or  rather  mistakes  ;  and,  in  part,  has  them  in  its  train.  But, 
as  the  controversy  arose  on  the  question  of  absolute  election,  we  shall 


656  EXPOSITION  OF  DOCTRINAL  DIFFERENCES 

commence,  with  the  exposition  of  the  Arminian  doctrine,  on  that  sub- 
ject, and  then  set  forth  the  other  points,  on  which  it  exerted  an  influ- 
ence. 

Afrainst  the  rigid  Calvinistic  theory  of  predestination,  the  Arminians 
not  only  alleged,  that,  thereby,  God  was  made  the  author  of  moral  evil, 
but,  they  very  acutely  observed,  that,  by  this  theory,  Christ's  death  of 
atonement  would  be  deprived  of  all  power  and  efficacy,  nay,  become  ut- 
terly inexplicable.  For,  they  said,  if,  from  all  eternity,  the  salvation 
of  the  elect  hath  been  unconditionally  and  immutably  decreed,  it  would 
ensue  in  virtue  of  that  decree,  and  not  for  the  sake  of  Christ's  merits  : 
and  as  to  the  reprobate,  Christ,  undoubtedly,  could  not  have  appeared 
in  their  behalf;  since  God  did  not,  and  could  not,  seriously  wish  for 
their  salvation,  as  this  would  be  in  utter  contradiction  with  their  eter- 
nal destination  to  misery.* 

The  doctrines  of  Calvin,  in  respect  to  the  elect  and  the  reprobate,  as 
combated  by  the  Arminians,  stood  by  no  means  isolated.  They  chang- 
ed the  idea  of  a  government  of  the  world,  and  a  providential  guidance 
of  all  things,  into  the  conception  of  a  destiny,  whereby  all  the  move- 
ments of  creatures  are  absolutely  fettered.  For,  there  could  be  no  con- 
ceivable interest,  in  withdrawing  any  thing  from  the  circle  of  necessity, 
when  the  felicity  and  misery  of  spirits  had  once  been  absolutely  de- 
creed ;  and  any  conception  of  final  causes,  as  to  what  might  yet  be  re- 
served  to  Free- Will,  became  utterly  impossible.  For,  to  deny  to  man 
moral  liberty,  and  leave  him  a  so-called  political  freedom,  as  the  Lu- 
theran Formularies  do,  is  to  betray  the  most  singular  levity  ;  as,  when 
once  the  kernel  has  been  taken  away,  no  interest  can  attach  to  the 
wretched  husk  ;  and  in  the  world  of  man,  every  thing  hath  a  moral  re- 
lation. Accordingly,  the  Remonstrants,  in  their  Confession,  devoted  a 
particular  section  to  the  article  on  Providence,  attaching  thereto  the  no- 
tion of  a  wise,  holy,  and  just  guidance  (not  predetermination)  of  all 
things  ;  and,  in  this  way,  they  conceived  they  steered  the  true  middle 
course  between  the  Epicurean  system  of  casualty,  and  the  Stoical  and 
Manichean  destiny,  or  Fatum  ;  for,  with  the  latter,  they  associated  the 
errors  of  predestinarianism.f 

To  man,  therefore,  they  ascribe  free-will,  which  is  so  inherent  in  his 
nature,  that  it  can  never  be  obliterated.^     The  fall  of  the  first  man  is 


*  Confessio  sive  Declaratio,  etc.  Herdewici,  1622-4,  p.  31.  See  the  defence  in 
the  Examen  Censurfe,  p.  104,  b. 

t  Loo.  cit.  c  vi.  pp   19-23. 

t  Loc.  cit.  p.  22.  "  Naturalem  tamen  rerum  contingentiara  atque  innatam  arbi- 
trii  humani  libertatem,  olim  semel  in  creatione  datara,  nunquam  per  ipsam  (provi- 


BETWEEN  CATHOLICS  AND  PROTESTANTS.  55f 

In  necessary  connexion  with  this,  represented  not  as  a  mere  spontane-* 
ous,  but  as  a  perfectly  free  act.*  As  an  immediate  consequence  of  the 
Fall,  we  see  stated  the  loss  of  true  righteousness,  and  of  the  felicity  it  in- 
sured. Adam  was  doomed  to  the  eternal  misery,  and  the  manifold  tem- 
poral  misfortunes,  wherewith  he  had  been  menaced  ;  and  his  posterity, 
in  consequence  of  their  ties  of  relationship,  with  their  common  progeni'* 
tor,  incurred  the  same  fate.  As  the  Confession  adds,  that  actual  sing 
increase  guilt  in  the  sight  of  God,  obscure  at  first  the  understanding  in 
spiritual  things,  then  render  it,  by  degrees,  totally  blind,  and  at  last^ 
through  the  habit  of  sin,  entirely  corrupt  the  will  ;  it  follows,  that  the 
Arminians  did  not  conceive  original  sin,  in  itself,  had  bereaved  man 
of  all  his  faculties  for  good."]"  By  such  an  opinion,  in  fact,  their  oppo- 
sition to  the  doctrine  of  absolute  predestination,  would  have  become  ut- 
terly untenable. 

Redemption  in  Christ  Jesus  is,  according  to  the  Arminian  system^ 
universal.  To  every  man,  who  heareth  the  Gospel,  sufficient  grace  is 
proffered,  to  enable  him  to  rise  from  his  fall ;  and  where  the  announce- 
ment of  the  doctrines  of  salvation,  is  not  attended  with  these  efl^tcls, 
man  only  is  to  blame.  If,  on  the  other  hand,  grace  prevails  [gracia  ef. 
Jicax),  then  the  reason  of  this  is  to  be  sought  for,  not  in  its  intrinsic  na- 
ture, but  in  the  reception,  which  it  has  found  in  the  soul  of  man.  An 
irresistibly  workmg  grace  is  therefore,  according  to  the  Arminian  sys- 
tem, totally  inadmissible.  With  reason  they  assert,  that  its  notion  is  at 
utter  variance  with  the  rewards  promised  to  obedience  when  rendered, 
and  with  the  penalties  threatened  against  the  refusal  of  obedience,  for 
God  would  in  that  case  extort  obedience,  and  would  work  exclusively 
and  alone.  It  were  absurd,  and  contrary  to  all  reason,  they  add,  to  pro* 
mise  any  one  a  recompense,  as  if  he  had  freely  obeyed,  and  yet  wring 
obedience  from  him,  as  from  a  slave.  On  the  other  hand,  they  finally 
observe,  it  were  cruel  to  inflict  an  eternal  punishment  on  the  disobedi- 
ent, who  yet  cannot  obey  ;  for  they  want  the  irresistible  Grace,  under 
the  condition  whereof,  alone,  obedience  can  be  rendered. J 

dentiam)  tollit  CDeus,)  sed  rerum  naturas  ordinario  salvas  relinquit  :  atque  ita  cum 
hominis  voluntate  in  agendo  concurrit,  nt  ipsam  quoque  pro  sue  geuio  agere,  et  libere 
suas  partes  obirc  sinat :  nee  promde  prsecisam  bene,  nedum  male,  agtiidi  neccssita* 
tem  eideni  anquam  imponit." 

*  Loc.  cit.  c.  viii.  ^  ^,  p.  24.  '♦  Transgressus  est,  inquam,  non  spontanea,,  tanturay 
sed  prorsus  libera  vcluntate." 

i  Loc.  cit.  §  5,  p  25. 

t  Loc.  cit.  c.  xvii.  pp.  55-58,  §  7.  "  Gratiam  tanaen  divinam  aspemari  et  respu- 
ere,  ejusque  operationi  resistere  homo  potest,  ila  ut  scipsum,  cum  divinitus  ad  fidcm 
et  obedientiam  vocatur,  inidoncura  reddere  queat  ad  credendum,  et  diyinee  voluntati 
obediendum,"  etc. 


558  EXPOSITION  OF  DOCTRINAL  DIFFERENCES 

But  if  the  Remonstrants  reject  those  Calvinistic  views  of  grace,  they 
yet  willingly  retain  those  doctrines  respecting  it,  without  which  the 
character  of  Christianity  cannot  be  preserved.  The  grace  of  God,  ac* 
cording  to  them,  determines  the  beginning,  the  progress,  and  the  con-» 
summation  of  all  good.  Their  articles  of  belief  on  these  points  are 
nearly  identical  with  the  Catholic  ;  and  therefore,  hke  the  Council  of 
Trent,  they  speak  of  a  resuscitating  grace,  which  only  awakens  the  dor- 
mant powers  yet  existing  in  fallen  man,*  in  opposition  to  the  Lutheran 
theory,  according  to  which  the  higher  faculties  must  first  be  created 
anew  in  him. 

With  the  clearest  consciousness  of  their  object,  and  with  a  genuine 
scientific  insight  into,  and  prosecution  of  their  task,  the  Remonstrants 
defined  the  notion  of  faith  also.  As  the  usual  Protestant  conception  of 
the  same  excludes  the  idea  of  free-will,  and  is  based  on  the  assumption 
of  the  impracticability  of  the  law,  the  Arminians,  having  once  embraced 
th&4«ie  doctrine  of  free-will,  were  necessarily  compelled  to  assail  the 
favourite  opinion  of  the  Reformers,  as  to  the  saving  nature  of  Faith 
without  works.  He,  who  believeth  in  a  way  acceptable  to  God,  is,  in 
their  opinion,  one,  who,  converted  to  the  precepts  of  the  Gospel,  is  filled 
with  contrition  for  the  sins  he  hath  committed,  and  is  inwardly  renew- 
ed. They  observe,  as  Paul  teacheth,  that  faith  is  imputed  to  man  for 
righteousness  ;  and  James,  that  "  by  works  a  man  is  justified,  and  not 
by  faith  only  ;"  as  the  Epistle  to  Timothy  promises  to  godly  behaviour, 
rewards  in  this  and  in  the  next  life  ;  and  as  the  author  of  the  Epistle  to 
the  Hebrews  moreover  declares,  that  without  being  sanctified,  no  one 
shall  see  God  ;  it  follows  that  the  saving  faith,  required  by  the  Gospel, 
is  certainly  no  other,  than  that  which,  from  its  very  essence,  includes 
in  itself  obedience  ;  is  the  fruitful  parent  of  all  good  works,  and  the 
source  and  the  root  of  all  Christian  piety  and  sanctification.  Hence 
they  sum  up  their  belief  in  these  words, — the  true  saving  or  salutary 
faith,  is  that  "  which  worketh  by  charity. "t 

*  Loc.  cit.  c.  xvii.  §  16,  p.  37.  '•  Gratiam  itaque  Dei  statuimus  esse  principium  et 

complemertum  omnis  boni :  adco  ut  ne  ipse  quidem  regenitus  absque  prsecedente 
isld.,  sive  praeveniente,  excitante,  prosequente,  et  co-opcrante  gratia,,  bonum  uUum 
salutare  cogitare,  velle  aut  peragere  possit :  nedum  ulliB  ad  malum  Irahenlibus  tcnta. 
tionibus  resistere.  Ita  ut  fides,  conversio,  et  bona  optra  omnia,  omnesquo  actiones 
piae  et  salutares,  quas  quis  cogitando  asscqui  potest,  gratise  Dei  in  Christo,  tanquam 
causse  suae  principali  et  primariae,  in  solidum  sint  adscribendrc."  When  the  expres- 
sion "  in  solidum  "  is  here  used,  so  the  reader  should  remember  the  expression  which 
Dr.  Eck  employed  in  the  disputation  at  Lcipzic,  who  very  well  observed,  that  the 
tatum  of  regeneration  is  to  be  ascribed  to  God,  but  only  net  totaliter. 

t  IjOC.  cit.  c.  X.  xi.  pp.  33.38.     "  F.des  salvifica."     The  expression  "  fides  justifi. 
cans  "  I, according  to  the  Examen  Censur.  p.  170,  b,)  they  do  not  make  use  of. 


BETWEEN  CATHOLICS  AND  PROTESTANTS.  569 

The  following  five  acts  of  God,  according  to  the  Remonstrauls,  de* 
note  the  history  of  the  sinner,  who  hath  already  obeyed  the  Divine  call, 
been  converted  to  faith,  and,  under  the  assistance  of  grace,  fulfilleth 
the  Divine  precepts.  The  first  is  election,  whereby  the  true  believers 
are  separated  from  the  profane  multitude  of  those  who  perish,  and  are 
marked  off  as  the  property  of  God.  Election  is  followed  by  adojjtion^ 
whereby  the  regenerated  are  received  into  the  family  of  God,  and  fully 
admitted  to  the  rights  of  the  celestial  heritage,  which  in  its  due  time 
will  be  awarded.  Justification  is  then  described,  as  the  gracious  abso^ 
lution  from  all  sin,  by  means  of  a  faith,  "  working  by  charity"  in  Jesus 
Christ,  and  in  his  merits ;  and  Sanctificaiion  is  distinguished  from  Jus- 
tification as  the  fourth  act  of  God.  Sanctification  the  Remonstrants 
conceive  to  be  a  perfect,  inward  separation  of  the  sons  of  God  from  the 
children  of  this  world.  Lastly,  the  Sealing  through  the  Holy  Spirit,  as 
the  fifth  Act  of  God,  they  represent  as  the  firmer  and  more  solid  confir- 
mation in  true  confidence,  in  the  hope  of  heavenly  glory,  and  in  the  as- 
surance of  Divine  grace.*  Of  the  last  periods  in  the  internal  history  of 
the  regenerated  man,  the  Arminians  formed  so  high  a  conception,  that 
they  say  of  him,  he  can  no  longer  sin  ;  for  the  words  in  the  first  Epis- 
tle of  John,  iii.  4,  and  v.  18,  they  apply  to  him.  Nevertheless,  they 
protest  against  the  notion,  that  the  believer,  who  is  exalted  to  this  high 
degree  of  perfection,  is  no  longer  guilty  of  any,  even  the  slightest, 
fault,  that  may  be  bottomed  in  error,  frailty,  and  infirmity,  especially 
under  grievous  teraptations.f 

It  was  natural  to  suppose,  that  the  Gomarists  would  charge  this  doc- 
trine of  conversion,  with  declaring  war  against  the  whole  Protestant 
Church,  and  with  being  Catholic,  or  even  Socinian  ;  but  it  can  scarcely 
be  conceived,  that  the  Remonstrants  would  deny  the  charge.ij:  For  so 
soon  as  we  overlook  unessential  points,  and  a  diversity  of  expression, 
the  unprejudiced  observer  must  perceive  the  most  striking  concurrence 
with  the  Catholic  doctrine.  Against  their  agreement  with  Catholics, 
the  Remonstrants  appeal  principally  to  the  circumstance  of  their  de* 
daring  justification  to  be  a  judicial  act,  whereby  God  releases  the  sinner 
from  the  merited  punishments ;  whereas  Catholics  regard  it,  as  an 
inward  newness  of  life,  wrought  by  the  Deity.  But  under  one  act, 
which  they  call  Justification,  Catholics  comprehend  the  Divine  forgive- 
ness of  sins ;  whereas  the  Remonstrants  divide  this  one  act  into  a 
series  of  acts,  which  cannot  be  defended  on  scriptural  grounds.  But 
their  opposition  to  the  Calvinists  and  Lutherans  consists  herein,  that 

*  Loc.  cit.  c.  xviii.  p.  59.  t  Loc.  cit.  c.  ii.  p.  37. 

t  Examen  Censuras,  loc.  cit.  p.  107,  et  seq. 


560  EXPOSITION  OF  DOCTRINAL  DIFFERENCES 

they  assert  a  true  and  inward  deliverance  from  sin,  through  regenefa^' 
tion,  and  do  not  recognize  any  imputation  of  Christ's  righteousness, 
through  faith  only,  in  opposition  to  Christian  works  and  to  Christian 
charity.  Next,  they  place  their  divergence  from  Catholics  in  the  dif- 
ference of  ideas,  which  both  attach  to  faith  :  for  they  asserted  of  them- 
selves, they  regarded  good  works  as  only  the  fruits  of  faith,  and  this 
the  Catholics  were  not  wont  to  do.  Were  then  the  Arminians  ignorant, 
that  Catholics  deduce  charity  from  faith,  and  from  both,  good  works, 
as  their  common  fruits  ?  In  many  particular  definitions  of  the  Ar- 
minians, moreover,  the  influence  of  Socinian  principles  is  very  mani* 
fest ;  and,  on  this  account,  they  incurred  the  charge  of  Socinianism, 
which,  however,  was  very  unfounded.  It  was  Hugo  Grotius,  a  Re* 
tnonstrant,  who,  against  the  assaults  of  the  Socinians,  had  defended 
the  doctrine  of  the  vicarious  satisfaction  ! 


§  xciv. — Doctrine  of  the  Arminians  on  the  Sacraments. 

The  Remonstrants  admit  only  two  sacraments,  and  consider  them  as 
signs  of  covenant,  by  means  whereof  God  symbolizes  His  promised 
blessings,  and  communicates  and  seals  them  in  a  certain  way ;  and  the 
faithful,  on  their  part,  publicly  declare  they  will  embrace  them  with  a 
true,  firm,  and  obedient  faith,  and  bear  the  same  in  lasting  and  grateful 
remembrance.*  As  the  expression,  "  communicate  in  a  certain  way," 
is  evidently  very  obscure  and  indefinite,  the  Gomarists  solicited  a  fuller 
explanation,  which,  after  a  long  and  dilatory  parley,  turned  out  to  be 
this  :  that,  touching  the  mode  of  efficacy  in  the  sacraments,  nothing 
Was  really  known,  and  no  internal  communication  of  grace,  connected 
with  their  reception,  could  be  admitted.  That,  moreover,  from  Holy 
Writ  the  notion  of  a  sealing  of  the  Divine  promises,  through  the  sacra- 
ments, can  be  deduced,  was  even  called  in  question. f 

These  definitions  could  not  fail  to  incur  strong  censure  ;  and  they 
Were  even  charged,  as  regarded  baptism,  with  bearing  perfect  resem- 
blance to  the  maxims  of  the  Anabaptists.  In  fact,  there  was,  according 
to  these  principles,  no  longer  a  rational  ground   for  baptizing  infants  ; 

*  Confess.  Remonstr.  c.  xxxiii.  p.  70.  "  Sacramenta  cum  dicimus,  externas  ec- 
clesiae  ceremonias,  seu  ritus  illos  sacros  et  solenncs  intelligimus,  quibus  fcEderalibua 
eignis  ac  sigillis  visibilibus  Deus  gratiosa  bencficia  sua  in  foedere  praesertim  evangeli- 
co  promissa,  non  mode  nobis  representat  et  adumbrat,  sed  et  certo  modo  exhibit  et 
obsignat :  nosque  vicissim  palam  publicequc  declaramus  ac  testamur,  nos  promis- 
siones  omnes  divinas  vercl,  firma  atque  obsequiosa,  fide  amplecti  et  bencficia  ipsiua 
jugi  et  grat&  semper  memoriS.  celebrare  velle." 

t  Exam.  Cens.  p.  245,  et  seq. 


BETWEEN  CATHOLICS  AND  PROTESTANTS.  561 

nay,  baptism  administered  to  them  must  needs  be  regarded  as  super- 
stitious. Even  Episcopius,  in  his  Exnminalion  of  the  Censure,  could 
give  no  other  reply,  than  that  infant  baptism  was  not  discontinued  in 
his  sect,  as  it  was  of  high  antiquity,  and  its  abolition  would  certainly 
be  attended  with  great  scandal.*  Yet  a  rite,  which,  in  itself,  was  held 
to  be  senseless  and  meaningless,  and  was  retained  merely  out  of  respect 
for  custom,  could  not  long  endure.  And,  in  fact,  we  find,  that  the  Re- 
monstrants, a  portion  of  them  at  least,  gradually  adopted  the  practice 
of  the  Mjnnonites;  as,  in  general,  we  discover  an  interchange  of 
opinions  and  rites,  between  these  two  religious  communities. 

But,  in  respect  to  the  Lord's  Supper,  Episcopius,  in  his  Examination 
of  the  Censure,  was  forced  plainly  to  admit,  that  the  Remonstrants 
adhered  to  the  views  of  Zwinglius,  who,  in  the  article  of  the  Sacraments, 
was  to  be  revered  as  the  best  teacher. f 

From  this  point,  a  shallow  conception  of  the  whole  system  of  Chris- 
tianity, penetrated  more  and  more  into  the  sect ;  and,  soon,  even  the 
dogma  of  the  Saviour's  divinity  was  disputed.  Although,  in  the  Con- 
fession of  the  Remonstrants,  this  dogma,  as  well  as,  in  general,  the 
orthodox  doctrine  oa  the  Trinity,  is  expressed  with  the  utmost  clearness 
and  correctness  ;:{:  yet  Limborch,  one  of  the  most  eminent  Arminian 
writers,  early  asserted  a  relation  of  subordination  in  the  Trinity.  Some 
of  his  expressions,  nevertheless,  may  very  well  coincide  with  the 
Catholic  exposition  of  that  doctrine  ;  and  in  so  far  they  place  the 
Father  above  the  Son,  merely  because  the  latter  is  rooted  in  the  former, 
and  subordinate  the  Holy  Ghost  to  the  two,  because,  in  the  two,  He 
hath  the  source  of  His  God-head,  the  expressions  are  perfectly  identical. 
But  Limborch  teaches,  besides,  that,  in  the  strict  sense,  the  Father 
imparts  commands  to  the  Son,  and  both  to  the  Holy  Ghost ;  a  doctrine 
which  is  utterly  absurd,  and  subversive  of  the  Trinity.  By  degrees 
Socinianism  found  its  way  into  the  Arminian  sect — a  way,  which,  it 
cannot  be  denied,  had  been  long  before  prepared ;  so  that,  when  the 
Gomarists,  during  the  first  controversies,  constantly  repeated  the 
charge,  that  Socinian  poison  had  crept  in  among  the  Remonstrants,  we 
must  not  consider  this  accusation  as  the  mere  effect  of  party-hatred. 


*  Exam.  Cens.  p.  249.  "  Eadetn  ratio  est  de  PaBdobaptismo :  Remonstrantes 
ritura  baptizandi  infantes,  ut  perantiquum  et  in  ecclesiis  Cliristi,  prtEsertim  in  Africa, 
permultis  sjBculis  frcquentatum,  haud  illubenter  etiam  in  coetibus  suis  admittunt, 
adcoque  vix  sine  ofFensione  et  scandalo  magno  intermitti  posse  statuunt,  tantura 
abest,  ut  eum  seu  illicitum  aut  nefastum  improbent  ac  daninent." 

+  Loc.  cit.  p.  252.  "  Et  hjic  in  re  assentientes  sibi  habent  non  paucos  Reformatos, 
inter  quos  Zwinglius  optimus  hujus  ceremoniBe  doctor,  princeps  est,"  etc. 

t  Confessio  sive  Declar.  c.  iii.  p.  14, 

36 


362  EXPOSITION  OF  DOCTRINAL  DIFFERENCES,  &.c- 

Doubtless,  this  reproach  was  frequently  unfounded  ;  nay,  as  regards 
the  earlier  history  of  the  Arminians,  the  charge,  with  the  exception  of 
some  subordinate  definitions,  in  the  article  of  justification,  can  nowhere, 
perhaps,  be  fully  established.  But,  nevertheless,  many  among  them 
must  even  then  have  manifested  a  leaning  to  the  hated  system  of  So- 
cinus  ;  for,  otherwise,  the  suspicion  of  the  rigid  Calvinists  could  not  be 
at  all  accounted  for,  and  the  sequel  has  well  justified  that  suspicion. 
Even  from  the  very  copious  treatment  which  the  doctrine  of  the  Trinity 
has  undergone,  in  the  Confession  of  the  Remonstrants,  we  might  feel 
disposed  to  look  for  a  confirmation  of  this  suspicion ;  for,  if  no  special 
grounds  had  existed,  such  detailed  exposition  would  have  been  quite 
superfluous.  Yet,  on  the  other  hand,  it  may  be  observed,  that  as  the 
authors  of  the  formulary,  seem  to  have  proposed  for  their  object,  to 
give  an  outline  of  all  the  more  important  doctrines  of  Christian  faith 
and  morality  ;  an  important  place,  without  any  peculiar  or  secondary 
views,  was,  of  necessity,  assigned  to  the  dogma  of  the  Trinity.  The 
well-known  exegetical  writer,  Daniel  Brenius,  who  was  an  immediate 
disciple  of  Episcopius,  even  at  that  early  period,  openly  professed  So- 
cinian  views  in  respect  to  the  person  of  Christ,  as  Sand,  in  his  book, 
enumerates  him  among  the  Antitrinitarians  ;*  and  in  the  subsequent 
time,  such  doctrines  obtained,  among  the  Remonstrants,  very  general 
dilTusion. 

*  Sard  Biblioth.  Antitrin.  p.  135. 


APPENDIX. 


Note  A,  referred  to  at  'page  307. 

Salig  in  his  Complete  History  of  the  Augsburg  Confession  (book  ii.  c.  8,  ij  7,  p- 
1597,)  gives  an  account  of  a  scene  which  occurred  in  the  general  committee  appoint- 
ed at  Augsburg  to  bring  about  a  reunion  of  the  Churches  ;  from  which   it  will  ap. 
pear  that  Luther   originally,  so    far   fnjm   rejecting    ecclesiastical   punishments,  re- 
nroached  his  adversaries  with    their  remissness  in  imposing  them.     Salig  says  :  "  I 
cannot,  meanwhile,  pass  over  in  silence  what  Cochlseus  has    related  respecting  the 
transactions  of  the  first  and    second    day,  touching   the  matter  of    satisfaction  in 
penance.     On   the  first  evening,  when  the  difference  on  this    point  could  not  be  re- 
conciled,  it  was  agreed  that  CochliEus  on  one  side,  and  Melancthon  on  the   other» 
should  the  next  morning    discover    something   to    bring   about  an    understanding. 
Cochlaeus   accordingly  adduced  a  passage,  where  Luther  wi'ote  as  follows:     'Our 
mother,  the  Christian   Church,  when  from  kindness  of  heart  she   will  obviate   the 
chastening  hand  of  God,  punishes  her  children  with  some  penance   of  satisfaction, 
lest  they  fall   under  the  Divine  rod.     Thus  the  Ninevites,  by   their   self-imposed 
works,  anticipated  the  judgment  of  God.     This  voluntary  punishment  is  not  every 
thing,  as  the  adversaries  will  have  it,  yet  it  is  still  necessary.    For  either  we,  or  men, 
or  God,  punish  sins  :  but  this  the  adversaries  by  their  indulgences  totally  set   asidCi 
If  they  were  pious  pastors,  they  would  rather  impose  punishments,  and,  according 
to  the  example  of  the   Churches,  go  before   the  judgment  of  God,  as   did  Moses, 
when,  on  account  of  the  golden  calf,  he  slew  some   Israelites  [this   example  is    not 
very  relevant.]    But  the  very  best  thing  of  all  were,  if  we  would  chastise  ourselves.'  " 
This   was  an  earnest,  energetic  language  on   the   part  of  Luther,  widely  removed 
fro'Oi  those  effeminate  maxims  subsequently  introduced  by  his    doctrine    on  Faith, 
which  exacts  of  man  nothing  disagreeable — I  might  almost  say,  nothing  incoramo- 
dious.    Salig  continues :   "  This  passage  of  Luther's  which  CochlfEUs  had  communis, 
cated,  Dr.  Eck  read  from  a  schedule  before  the  committee.     Cochlseus  relates  that 
the  seven  Lutheran  deputies  looked  each  other  in  the  face,  and  for  a  while  observ- 
ed   a    dead  silence.      Melancthon,    who   sat  thereby,  reddened,   and    said,  '  I    am 
aware,  indeed,  that  Luther  wrote  this.'      And  as  he  could  say  nothing  more,  the 
elector,  John  Frederick,  asked,  '  At  what  time  did  Luther  write  this  ?'     '  Perhaps, 
about  ten  years  ago.'     The  Catholics    then  replied,  that  it  was    immaterial    when 
Luther  vrrote  this  passage,  but  it   was  enough  that  such   was  his   opinion  on   this 
xioctrine.     Hereupon  Brentius  and  Schnepfius  became  indignant,  and  said :     '  They 
were  there  not  to  defend  Luther's  writings,  but  to  assert  their  Confession.'    Melanc- 
Ihon  then  delivered  his  opinion  in  writing,  to  the  following  effect ;    *  We  may  kold 
^er.ance  to  consist  of  three  parts, — -contrition,  confession,  yet  so  that  in  this  we  look 
in  th"  first  place    to  absolution  and  believe   in  tJie  same  ;  and  next   satisfaction,  to 
wit,  that  worthy  fruits  of  penance  follow.'     In  one  point  all  were  agreed,  that  os> 


564  APPENDIX. 

account  of  satisfaction  sin  was  not  forgiven  as  to  its  gnilt.  But  whether  in  respec? 
to  the  penalty,  satisfaction  were  necessary  to  the  forgiveness  of  sin,  still  remained 
matter  of  dispute.  So  Jar  Cochlaius.  Now  I  will  not  entirely  call  in  question  his 
account,"  &-c.  The  account  cannot  be  at  all  called  in  question.  This  passage  of 
Luther's  is  still  to  be  found  in  the  Assertio,  41  Art.  contra  indulgent.  Art.  5,  as 
Salig  himself  after  Cochleeus  has  cited  them  in  his  work,  de  aclis  et  scriptis 
Lutheri,  p.  200.  That  the  deputies  of  the  Protestant  States  should  have  fallen  into 
some  embarrassment,  was  in  the  nature  of  thmgs;  for  in  Luther's  Church  his 
variations  were  never  contemplated  with  pleasure.  Melancthon's  expressions, 
however,  perfectly  coincide  with  larger  passages  in  the  Apology,  wherein  he  like- 
wise  enumerates  three  component  parts  in  penance.  "  Art.  v.  Si  quis  volet  addere 
tertium,  videlicet  dignos  fructus  pcenitentiffi,  hoc  est  mutationem  totius  vitffi  ac 
morum  in  melius,  non  refragabimur." 

It  is,  indeed,  surprising  that  he  will  only  not  he  opposed  to  what  harmonizes  very 
well  with  his  doctrine  on  faith,  which  will  not  establish  a  necessary  inward  con- 
nexion between  faith,  and  the  mvtatio  totius  vita.  From  all  this  it  is  clear  that 
Melancthon  annexed  to  his  satisfaction  a  very  diiTerent  notion  from  Catholics,  as 
in  the  negociations  which  took  place  at  that  period  between  the  two  religious 
parties,  there  occurred  from  laudable  motives,  though  not  without  reluctance,  a  sort 
of  mutual  self-delusion.  In  the  Catholic  Church  the  purpose  of  amendment  of  life 
is  included  in  contrition,  and  is  the  first,  not  the  last,  act  of  the  sinner  in  the  sacra- 
ment  of  penance.  But  as,  among  the  Lutherans,  contrition  has  a  very  difRrent 
signification  from  that  which  it  bears  among  Catholics,  consisting  merely  in  fear, — 
and  as  from  this  fear  man  is  liberated  through  absolution,  and  then  only  ensues 
newness  of  Ufe,  the  latter,  according  to  Melancthon,  forms  the  third  part  of  penance, 
and  consequently  is  not  the  Catholic  satisfaction.  This  third  part  the  later 
Lutherans  entirely  threw  aside,  because,  if  amendment  of  life  were  made  an  integral 
portion  of  penance,  the  whole  Lutheran  doctrine  on  faith  would  fall  to  the  ground. 
Here,  as  on  other  points,  Melancthon  became  entangled  in  contradictions,  for  he 
always  sought  to  patch  up  the  defects  in  the  doctrines  of  his  Church,  without  re- 
nouncing her  fundamental  principles.  So  in  this  narrative  of  CochljEUs,  after  ad- 
mitting that  in  penance  there  were  three  parts,  he  turns  round  and  says,  that  "  we 
should  look  in  the  first  place  to  absolution ;"  as  if  all  did  not  exist,  and  claim  our 
attention,  in  a  like  degree. 


Note  B,  referred  to  at  page  312. 

To  bring  our  explanation  of  the  Christian  sacrifice  more  vividly  before  the  minds  of 
our  readers,  it  may  be  useful  to  give  a  few  extracts  from  the  liturgies  of  the  eustem 
and  western  Churches,  and  to  cite  some  of  the  principal  forms.  In  regard  to  the  orien- 
tal liturgies,  they  usually  bear  the  name  of  the  founders  of  the  Churches  wherein  they 
were  used.  So,  for  instance,  the  liturgy  of  the  Church  of  Jerusalem  is  called  the 
liturgy  of  St.  James ;  that  of  the  Alexandrine  Church,  the  liturgy  of  St.  Mark  : — 
or  they  are  entitled  after  some  celebrated  bishop,  who  made  use  of  them,  as  St. 
Chrysostom,  St.  Basil,  St.  Cyril,  and  the  rest.  As  to  their  age,  this  is  a  matter 
which  caimot  be  so  accui-ately  determined.      Certain  it  is,  that  in  the   fourth  cen- 


APPENDIX.  565 

tury  they  were  already  in  existence,  since  the  Monophysites  of  Syria  and  Egypt, 
who  in  part  separated  from  the  Catholic  Church  in  the  latter  half  of  the  fifth  age, 
make  use  of  these  liturgies,  as  well  as  the  orthodox  Greeks.  Moreover,  St.  Cyril 
of  Jerusalem,  in  his  catechetical  discourses,  appeals  to  many  passages  in  the  liturgy 
of  St.  James  ;  and  St.  Chrysostom,  who  in  his  homilies  often  explains  and  employs 
portions  of  the  liturgy,  presupposes  them  to  be  things  of  long  standing.  The  latter 
father  lived  towards  the  close,  the  former  about  the  middle,  of  the  fourth  century. 
In  general  there  is  such  a  striking  conformity  between  the  oriental  and  the  western 
liturgies,  whereof  great  numbers,  through  a  gracious  Providence,  have  been  rendered 
accessible  to  us;  and  this  coincidence  is  so  manifest  even  in  the  forms,  that  their 
formal  groundwork  indisputably  belongs  to  a  period,  where  old  Christians  were  yet 
confined  within  a  small  space.  Already,  in  the  second  century,  St.  Irenaeus  makes 
mention  of  the  £Tj'jcAj;(r»5  ;  and  the  preface  with  the  Sursum  corda,  a.tu  tov  vou», 
or  T«s  x.xpS't'xi,  which  recurs  in  every  liturgy,  St.  Cyprian  speaks  of  in  the  middle 
of  the  third  century.  (Compare  Bona  rer.  lilui'g.  torn.  ii.  c.  10,  where  several  pas- 
sages of  a  like  kind  are  brought  together.)  Respecting  the  antiquity  of  the  liturgies 
m  general,  see  the  excellent  dissertation  by  Renaudot,  Dissertatio  de  Liturg.  orient, 
orig.  et  auctor.  forming  an  introduction  to  his  Collectio  Liturg.  orient,  torn.  ij. 
Paris,  1716.  A  brief  summary  of  all  the  investigations,  pertaining  to  this  subject, 
the  reader  may  see  in  Lienhart  de  antiquis  liturgiis.     Argentorati.  1826.* 

In  the  liturgy  of  St.  Chrysostom  (in  Goar's  Euchologium  sive  Rituale  Grceco- 
rum.  Paris,  1647,  p.  70)  the  first  prayer  of  the  faithful  (in  the  Missa  fidelium 
runs  thus  : 

'^Eupi^et^ic-roZ/^ev  crot^  Ku^te  o  Beoi  t£d  dv^uf^tuv^  rui  x.ctTct.^i&i7-xvri  r'y.ai 
votpt/.TTijvai  xcti  vuK  rui  ix'/ia]<rov  B-vnociTyi^icu^  xeti  ■7r^0T7re<:relv  Toli  o}x7ipy.o7i 
<rov  uTTip  rcov  }]fi.erc^6)ii  ccf^x^Tri/jLUTav  xctt  toZ  tov  XctoZ  uytoi^i^oiTeiiv.  Tipog- 
oi^oti  0  B-eoi  rtiv  ^iijs-iy  tifJiSy.^  'ttoIj^^ci  sjV^^  a^iovi  yevio-^^cct  7r^oi^<pe^eiv 
iroi  aeif  ceii  xxi  <Xfci«5,  x«/  ^vtix^  uvxif^uxrov?-  utti^  Tsruvroi  raw  ?i.!!tev  <rev^ 
X«e<  ixavaxrev  t;/zcii^  out  tjov  eti  Ttjy  oixxovixv  cov  TxuTfjv^  £V  ttj  avvxttst  rou 
TTveutiXTo^  cav  roZ  xytev  uxxTxyvaTTUi  x«t  xTr^os-xoTrra/i-  £v  xxB-x^Si  f^x^- 
Tvpeio)  Tiji  m»e(tf>jce»5  ^f^Zv  iTrtxxXiis-B-xi  ti   Iv  Trxtti  xxtpSi  xxi  tottuj   tvx 

While  the  seraphic  hymn  of  the  sanctus  is  being  uttered,  the  priest,  among 
other  things,  recites  the  following  prayer  (p.  72)  : — 

"  S«  yxp  ei  o  '7C-^aT<pi^av  xxi  7r^o'r<pe^iu.cvoi  xxt  v^oTdc/^ofJLiici:,  xxi  dix- 
etaof/.ev»<;^  Xpto-Ti  o  S'far  tju-^v^  xx]  (rot  r;jv  oozxv  dixTnf^Trof^sv.  <rZv  tm 
uyx^y^ct)  o-ov  TTxr^i,  xxi  Tto  Trxtxyio}.  xxt  ayx^M^  xx)  ^meTroico  (tov  Trveuftxri' 
»ov  xx)   ciet^Kx)  eh  toZ^  xtaovxi  rtuv  xtavMV  i/^Jjy.' 

Further  on  (p.  75)  : — 


*  The  translntnr  begs  to  refer  the  reader  to  Dr.  Rock's  learned  and  interesting  work,  the  ITierurgia, 
Where  he  will  find  copious  infonnation  respecting  the  purport,  arrangement,  and  antiquity  of  the  va- 
aiouB  liturgiM. — Trans. 


666  APPENDIX. 

The  Priest.  'Zraiia  x-^cXai,  c-ra/Luv  y-tia  <Pofiov,  ■^^ot^u/^.b^i  Ty^v  u-yixf 
uix^Q^uv  e'li  el^t'.tyi  (?)  Trpoc-^ipnv, 

The  Choir.      "EAsav  il^^^rii,  ^vt/xv  cc}vc(reaii. 

The  Priest.  ' H  X>^^"'  '^"^  Kv^tcv  })uaJv  'lijo-ew  X^ig-tov,  kcci  *j  uy u-kii 
Tov  9-ieu,  y.oLi    Tictr^oi,  x.«i    '/j    KOtXiiitx  rou    ctytov    TneCftecTci,  itii  f^eru  7r«vr«i< 

The  Choir.      Ka/  fierce  tou  TTveu/iLXToi  <rov. 

The  Priest.      ^'A^eo  c-p/eof^ev  rui  x,xpSioci, 

The  Choir.      "E^of^i^  ^^05  ■'"«''  Ku^io*. 

The  Priest,      Eu^x^icrr^a-a/^iv  r^    Kvpiai. 

The  Choir,  ^A^iov  -xxi  oix.oc.iov  (o-ri  Trpta-ituvilv  ttxtc^u,  vtov,  Koci  Uytov 
7rviuf.LX,  rpixex   enoouo'iot  y.xi  u^a)^is-rov. 

The  Priest.  'A^iav  x.»i  ity-cctov  o-e  u^tvun,  <rt  euXoyttt,  ci  x'tnnv.,  a-oi 
eo^x^ta-Ti'fv,  <r(  TT^oa-Kvveiv  tv  vravri  tottu  tii  S'ecrnoreiui  c-ov,  a-u  yu^  ti  ^ee^ 
u)i£K^pxs-Toi,   UTTiPtyoiiTci,  uofxToi,  UKXT uXt/jTrTe^,  uit  oiv ,  atrxuTUi  at  X.  T.  A. 

In  the  Liturgy  of  St.  Basil  (in  Gear's  Euchologium,  p.  162)  the  first  prayer  of 
the  faithful  runs  thus  : 

"  2u  Ku^(£  xxTiSs^xi;  -/jju-lv  ro  fisyx  raure  riji  c-M7?iptcti  f.tvTr?i^t«yj  <ro  xxtti- 
^I6)(rxi  ij/.(.S.i  Toy^  T«5ri(vo[/s- v.«i  «v(«|<ofr  oovXovc,  irov  ytyve'^'^ui  XiiTou^yovi 
ToZ  uyiov  (70V  B'vs-ixT-rripiov.  Su  Ixxvatrov  --iiicZi  rr)  ovvc(f.Lti  roZ  ctyiov 
wyf6ft«T05  eti  '■»l»  otxy.oyixt  rawTjjv.  (v«  uxxrxy.^tTui  irruvrei  ivuttiov  tth. 
«y<«5  ao^Tii  c-aWj  TrpoFxya/^et  o-ei  ^vtrtxi  utma-tug.  2u  yup  si  0  tupyuv 
T«  TTxvrx  IV  vxTi,  A05  xvpu  xxi  uTTip  ray  tifA-srepuv  ufi,xpr^/.t.etray^  xxi 
ray  rou  XxoZ  «yvo;jM,(«T<yvj  aexriiv  ytyvta-^xt  TSiv  ^v^ixv  i;y.£y.  v.x]  eoTrpoq- 
eexroy  ivaTriov  (rov." 

The  Prayer  at  the  Offertory,  p.  164 : — 

"  Kupie  0  S-eoi  iif.<,2y  0  xriirxi;  >}V«5,  x<«<  xyxyoiy  sli  mv  ^ativ  rxuriiVj  0 
uireoii^xg  ^/jCty  oooui  eli  o-aryjpixy^  0  y^xpiii-xu.iyog  ^/^"iv  oupxytuy  {/.vTrvipiuv 
XTToxxXvipiv,  Fu  el  0  .9-£;n£vo;  7j f.i.Zi  I'li  Tjjv  Sixxoyixy  rxurtiv  ly  rij  ovyx[A.ei 
roo  Tryeuf^XToq  fov  rev  uytov.  Eu^oxi^Toy  orj  xvpis  rou  yevia-.yxi  7j[^.ui  ciee- 
xoyov%  r»ii  xxiytji;  c-ov  otxiTYixy)^^  Xnrovpyoug  ray  uyiuy  irov  /^'jTry,ptaiv 
TT^OTde^xt  TjfiXi  TT^oc-eyytCiOyrXi  rai  ccyiui  cov  S^V!rix<7T)]pioj.  kxtx  ro  '^XniB-ez 
rou  (Xsovi  Few  \vx  yivcof^sB-x  ci^ioi  roZ  yrpoi-^c^eiy  croi  rvjy  Xoytxriy  rxuniv. 
XXI  uvxif.(.xxroy  ^vtixv  uTrtp  r&iy  -/iicsripuv  ui^xprTjfjLXTuy  xxi  ray  rou  A^au 
uyyo}i/u.xray    jjv  7rpos-os^c(f>t.£voi    tn    ro     xytoy    xctt     yeipoy  rov    j-v<rtxirr>i^toy^ 

.        >  /  /      ^^  </  /  1  t     »,  v  /  ~      t      '  / 

en  o^fA-yiy  Eu»d/«5,  xyriXxrx7irtfA.-^oy  ni/^tv  rtiv  x,°^?'^  ''*''  "■V^v  (rev  ?rveuf<tx~ 
To?'  iTTt^Xf^oy  Ip'  vfi.xi  0  3-e'oi  xx)  'e'friSe  tTri  tjJv  Xxrpeixy  XfjcSy  ruurTiv, 
xx)  TT^oTh^xi  xur)}y^  cuj  TrporreSe^&i.  ^AfieX  rx  Sa^x,  'Sae  roe?  Bva-ix^j 
^Afipxu^u,  rxi  oXoxx^7raTsi(;^  Martai;  xxi  ^Apav  rxi  hpaTuvxi^  11xy.o'j7!X  rxi 
el^j^viKUi'  ai  v^oTtde^e  ex  ray  uytav  tov  xTTos-roXay  T>)»  aA^.^/v;jy  rxur^jv 
XxT^eixv  o'jra  xx)  (x  ray  ^ei^ay  jj/icay  ray  a,u.x^raXay  Tr^oTde^xi  rx  oa^x 
rxurx  ly  rvi  ^^TirrortiTi  cod  xu^ie'  tvx  xxrx^iu^eyrei;  Xeirov^ye7v  a,u.e,u.7rrai 
rcfj  xytu  <rov  ^vTtx'mi^tci) ^  ei^aiA.e^x  roy  (^lo-^oy  ray  Tri^ray^  xxi  ^^oytf4.at 
sixovo'^iav,  £»  r^ifpcsoce.  t»i  (po^e^S.  t?5  xyrxTroSo^ea^  too  rri<;  dtxxtxiJ^ 


APPENDIX.  567 

In  the  Alexandrine  liturgy  of  St  Mark,  (Renaudot,  Liturg.  Orient.  Coll.  t.  i. 
page  145),  the  priest  thus  prays  at  the  canon  : — 

"  n(ZvTx  Sc  iTTo tvjTOti;  Sioi  r>if  a-yji  c-otPixi,  toZ  <Peoroi  rov  aAJi-S-zvoi'.  toJ 
ftavtyevoui;  (rati  vtoZ.  Tov  xvotov  y.cti  ^eou  xcti  a^Tij^og  ■/; it-aiv  Ivitov  XpifrroZ' 
ot'  ou  o-ot  c-«v  xuTM  KXi  aylui  TTViui^-sCTi  lu^x^ts-rouVTCij  7rpo!r^e^oi/.iv  tjjh 
Xoytxriv  xeti  u^atf^xxTov  Xarpilxv  rxuTw^  jjv  7r^oa-<Pi^ei  a-oi  Ku^ia  ttxvtx  rv. 
iS'VTi^  K7n>  civXToXSv  -^Xiov  xx)  l^i}C?'  ^VTf^uv  uTTo  u^ycrov  xxi  f^ecri]f4.^^toci;- 
oTi  (jLiyx  TO  ovofyLX  <rov  it  Ttrx^i  roii  fS'vfS'/j  x.*t  fv  ttxvti  tottui  B-vf^ixicof, 
Trpoo'tpe^erxi  ru  ovif*.XTt  uyicu  (rev^  xut  ^vtix,  kxi  cr^oo-i^o^os." 

In  the  hturgy  of  St.  James,  used  by  the  Jacobites  or  the  Syrian  Monophysites, 
in  common  with  the  Church  of  Jerusalem,  the  Priest  says  as  follows  ( Renaudot, 
t.  ii.  p.  30) : 

"  Deus  pater,  qui,  propter  araorcm  tuum  erga  homines  magnum  et  ineffabilem, 
misisti  filium  tuum  in  mundum,  ut  ovem  errantcm  reduceret,  ne  avertas  faciem  tu- 
Eun  a  nobis,  dum  sacrificium  hoc  spirituale  et  incruentum  celebramus :  non  cnim 
justitiae  nostrse  confidimus,  sed  misericordise  tuae.  Deprecamur  ergo  et  obsecramus 
clementiam  tuam,  nc  in  judicium  sit  populo  tuo  mysterium  hoc,  quod  institutum  no- 
bis est  ad  salutem;  sed  ad  veniam  peccatorum,  remissionem  insipientiarum,  et  ad 
gratlas  tibi  referendas,  per  gratiam,  inisericordiam  et  amoreni  erga  homines  unigeniti 
Filii  tui,  per  quem  et  cum  quo  te  decet  gloria." 

Further  below  (p.  32)  the  priest  continues  : — 

"  Memoriam  igitur  agimus,  Domine,  mortis,  et  resurrectionis  tuae  e  sepulchro  post 
triduum,  et  ascenslonis  tuae  in  ccelum,  et  sessionis  tuas  ad  dexteram  Dei  patris :  rur- 
sumque  adventus  tui  sccundi,  terribilis  et  gloriosi,  quo  judicaturus  es  orbem  in  jus- 
titia,  cum  unuraquemque  remuneraturus  es  secundum  opera  sua.  OfFcrimus  tibi 
hoc  sacrificium  terribile  et  incruentum,  ut  non  secundum  peccata  nostra  agas  nobis- 
cum,  Domine,  neque  secundum  iniquitates  nostras  retribuas  nobis;  sed,  secundum 
mansuetudinem  tuam  et  amorem  tuum  erga  homines  magnum  et  ineffabilem,  dele 
peccata  nostra,  servorum  nempe  tuorum  tibi  supplicantium.  Populus  enim  tuus  et 
haereditas  tua  deprecatur  te  et  per  te  et  tecum  patrem  tuum,  dicens,"  etc. 

In  the  Gothic  Missal  (in  Mabillon  de  Liturg.  Gallic.  Paris,  1729)  we  read,  among 
other  things,  at  p.  210  : — 

"  Sacrificiis  prsesentibus  Domine  quaesumus  intende  placatus  ;  quibus  non  jam 
aurum  thus  et  myrrha  profertur,  sed  quod  iisdem  muneribus  declaratur,  ofFertur, 
immolatur,  sumiture  (scil.  Christus.") 

In  the  Missal  of  the  Franks,  lib.  cit.  p.  38 — 

"  Sacrificium,  Domine,  quod  desideranter  offerimus,  etc. — P.  319.  Hanc  igitur 
oblationem  servitutis  noslrae,  sedet  cunctae  famihse  tuae,  quam  tibi  offerimus,"  etc. 

In  the  old  Gallican  Missal,  (Ub.  cit.  p.  334,)  we  read  the  following  prayers  : — 

"  Sacrificium  tibi  Domine  celebrandum  placatus  intende ;  quod  et  nos  a  vitiis 
nostrae  conditionis  emundet,  et  tuo  nomini  reddat  acceptos  :  et  communicatio  prse- 
sentis  oscuU  perpetuae  proficiat  charitati. — P.   385.    Descendat,  precamur,  onmipo- 


568  APPENDIX. 

tens  Dcus,  super  hwc  qute  tibi  offcrimus,  vcrbum  tuum  sanctum  ;  dcscendat  inaes- 
timabilis  glorias  tiuB  S])iritus;  dcscendat  antiqiia;  indulgcnlise  tuae  doniim  ;  ut  fiat 
oblatio  liaBC  Hostia  spiritualis  in  odorrm  suavitatis  accopta  :  ctiam  nos  famulos  tuos 
per  sanguincni  Chiisti  tua  manus  invicta  custodiat.  Libera  nos  ab  omni  malo,  om- 
nipotcns,  ffitcrne  Dcus:  et  quia  tibi  soli  est  praestandi  potcstas,  tiibue,  ut  hoc  so- 
lemne  sacrificium  sanctificet  corda  nostra,  dum  creditor;  dcleat  peccata,  dum  su- 
mitur." 

Decorum  requires  us  now  to  cite  some  forms  of  prayer  from  the  Roman  Liturgy  : — 

"  Suscipc,  sance  Pater,  omnipotens  seternc  Deus,  hanc  immaculatamhostiam,quam 
ego,  indignus  famulus  tuus,  offero  tibi  Deo  meo  vivo  et  vero,  pro  innumerabilibus 
pcccatis  et  offensionibus  et  negligentiis  meis,  et  pro  omnibus  circumstantibus,  sed  et 
pro  omnibus  fidelibus  Christianis,  vivis  atque  defunctis ;  ut  mihi  et  illis  proficiat  at 
salutcrn  in  vitam  ieternam. 

"  Offciiiuus  tibi  Domine  caliccm  salutis,  tuam  deprecantes  clementiam ;  ut  in 
conspectu  divinae  majcstatis  tua;  pro  nostra  et  totius  mundi  salute  cum  odore  suavi- 
tatis ascendat. 

"  In  spiritu  humililatis  et  in  animo  contrito  suscipiamur  a  te  Domine  :  et  sic  fiat 
sacrificium  nostrum  in  conspectu  tuo  hodie  utplaceat  tibi  Domine  Deos. 

"  Suscipc,  sancta  Trinitas,  hanc  oblationcm,  quam  tibi  offerimus  ob  memoriam 
passionis,  resurrcctionls  et  asccnsionis  Jesu  Cliribti  Domini  nostri,  etc.  Suscipiat 
Dominus  hoc  sacrificium  de  manibus  tuis  ad  laudem  et  gloriarn  nominis  sui,  ad 
utilitatem  quoque  nostram,  totiusque  ecclesiffi  suae  sanctae. 

"  Te  igitur,  clernentist^ime  Pater,  per  Jcsum  Christum  filium  tuum  Dominum 
nostrum,  supplices  rogamus  ac  petimus  uti  accepta  habeas  et  benedicas  ha;c  dona, 
haec  munera,  htec  sancta  sacrificia  illibata,  imprimis  quae  tibi  offerimus  pro  ccclesia 
tua  sancta  catholica,  quam  pacificare,  custodire,  adunare,  et  regere  digneris  toto  or- 
be  terrarum,  etc.  [This  prayer  occurs  in  all  the  Liturgies.]  Memento,  Domine, 
famulorum  famularumque  tuarum  et  omnium  circumstantium,  quorum  tibi  fides  cog- 
nita  est  et  nota  devotio,  pro  quibus  tibi  ofTerimus,  vel  qui  tibi  offcrunt,  hoc  sacrifi- 
cium laudis  pro  se  suisque  omnibus,  pro  redemptione  animarum  suarum,  pro  spe  sa- 
lutis et  incolumitatis  suae  ;   tibique  reddunt  vota  sua  aBterno  Deo,  vivo  et  vero." 

More  or  less  detailed  representutions  of  the  principal  actions  in  the  life  of  Christ, 
prayers  for  the  living  and  the  dead,  and  the  mention  of  saints,  occur  in  every  Litur- 
gy from  the  earliest  ages  of  the  Church.  But  want  of  space  prevents  us  from  cit- 
ing, in  proof  of  this,  any  longer  passages. 


Translation  of  the  Extracts  from  the  Greeh  Liturgies. 

In  the  liturgy  of  St.  Chrysostom  (in  Gear's  Euehologium  sive  Ritualc  Graeco- 
nim,  p.  70.  Par.  1647,)  the  first  prayer  of  the  faithful  in  the  Missa  fidelium  runs 
thus: 

"  We  give  thee  thanks,  O  Lord  God  of  Hosts,  who  hast  judged  us  worthy  both 
to  assist  now  at  thy  holy  altar,  and  to  supplicate  thy  mercy  on  account  of  our  own 
sins,  and  of  the  errors  of  thy  people.  Receive,  O  God,  our  prayer,  make  us  worthy 
to  offer  unto  thee  prayers  and  supplications  and  unbloody  sacrifices  in  behalf  of  all 


APPENDIX.  569 

thy  people,  and  make  us,  whom  thou  hast  ordained  for  this  tliy  holy  ministry,  wor- 
thy to  invoke  thee,  in  all  places,  and  at  all  times,  by  the  power  of  thy  Holy  Spirit, 
without  blame  and  without  offence,  and  according  to  the  pure  testimony  of  our 
conscience,  that  thou  maycst  hear  us,  and  be  propitious  unto  us,  according  to  the 
multitude  of  thy  mercies." 

While  the  seraphic  hymn  of  the  sanctus  is  being  uttered,  the  priest,  among  other 
things,  says  as  follows  (p.  72)  :  "  Thou  art,  O  Christ  our  God,  the  offerer  and  the 
offered,  the  receiver  and  the  distributed,  and  we  render  glory  to  thee  together  with 
thy  eternal  Father,  and  with  thy  most  holy  and  righteous  and  life-giving  Spirit, 
now  and  for  ever,  and  for  ages  of  ages.      Amen." 

Further  on,  p.  75. 

The  Priest  saith  :  "  Let  us  stand  up  in  holiness ;  let  us  stand  up  with  awe  ;  let 
us  endeavour  to  offer  up  in  peace  the  holy  oblation." 

The  Choir.      "  The  victim  of  peace,  the  sacrifice  of  praise." 

The  Priest.  "  May  the  grace  of  our  Lord  Jesus  Christ,  and  the  charity  of  God 
the  Father,  and  the  communion  of  the  Holy  Ghost,  be  with  you  all." 

Choir.      "  And  with  thy  spirit." 

Priest.      "  Let  us  raise  up  our  hearts." 

Choir.      "We  have  raised  them  up  to  the  Lord." 

Priest.      "  Let  us  give  thanks  to  the  Lord." 

Choir.  *'  It  is  most  meet  and  just  to  worship  the  Father,  the  Son,  and  the  Holy 
Ghost,  one  consubstantial  and  undivided  Trinity." 

Priest.  "  It  is  meet  and  just  to  celebrate  thee,  to  bless  thee,  to  praise  thee,  to 
give  thee  thanks,  to  worship  thee  in  every  place  of  thy  dominion  ;  for  thou  art  a 
God  ineffable,  imperceptible,  invisible,  incomprehensible,  everlasting,  and  always  the 
same,"  etc. 

In  the  liturgy  of  St.  Basil,  in  Gear's  Euchologium,  (p.  162,)  the  first  prayer  of 
the  faithful  runs  thus  :  "  Thou,  O  Lord,  hast  revealed  to  us  this  great  mystery  of 
salvation ;  thou  hast  vouchsafed  to  make  us,  humble  and  unworthy  servants  as  we 
are,  ministers  of  thy  holy  altar.  Make  us,  by  the  power  of  thy  Holy  Spirit,  worthy 
of  this  ministry,  that,  standing  without  condemnation  in  the  presence  of  thy  divine 
glory,  we  may  offer  unto  thee  the  sacrifice  of  praise.  Thou  art  who  in  all  things 
workest  all.  Grant,  O  Lord,  that,  on  account  both  of  our  sins,  and  of  the  errors 
of  thy  people,  our  sacrifice  may  be  received,  and  become  well-pleasing  in  thy  sight." 

The  prayer  at  the  Offertory,  p.    164. 

"  O  Lord,  our  God,  who  hast  created  us,  and  hast  brought  us  into  this  life,  who 
hast  shown  us  the  path  to  salvation,  who  hast  vouchsafed  to  us  the  revelation  of 
celestial  mysteries  ;  it  is  thou  who,  by  the  power  of  the  Holy  Spirit,  hast  ordained 
us  for  this  ministry.  Be  pleased,  O  Lord,  that  we  may  become  ministers  of  thy 
New  Testament,  and  dispensers  of  thy  holy  mysteries.  Receive  us,  O  Lord,  ap- 
proaching to  thy  holy  altar,  according  to  the  multitude  of  thy  mercies,  that  we  be- 
come worthy  to  offer  unto  thee  this  reasonable  and  unbloody  sacrifice  in  behalf  of 
our  own  sins,  and  the  errors  of  thy  people.  Receive  this  sacrifice  upon  thy  holy 
and  reasonable  altar,  for  a  sweet-smelling  fragrance,  and  send  us  down  in  return  the 
grace  of  tliy  Holy  Spirit.  Look  down  upon  us,  O  Lord,  and  regard  this  our  wor- 
ship, and  accept  it,  as  thou  didst  accept  the  gifts  of  Abel,  the  sacrifices  of  Noah,  the 


570  APPENDIX. 

holocausts  of  Abraliara,  the  sacred  oblations  of  Moses  and  Aaron,  and  the  peace- 
offerings  of  Samuel.  As  thou  didst  receive  from  thy  holy  apostles  this  true  sacri- 
fice, so  also  in  thy  benignity  accept.  Lord,  from  our  sinful  hands  these  gifts ;  in  or- 
der that,  being  found  worthy  to  minister  without  offence  at  thy  holy  altar,  we  may 
meet  with  the  reward  of  faithful  and  prudent  stewards  in  the  tremendous  day  of  thy 
just  retribution." 

In  the  Alexandrine  liturgy  of  St.  Mark  (Renaudot  Litnrg.  orient,  coll.  t.  i.  p. 
145),  the  priest  saith  in  the  offertory :  "  Thou  hast  created  all  things  by  thy  wis- 
dom, the  true  hght,  thy  only-begotten  Son,  our  Lord  and  God  and  Saviour  Jesus 
Christ ;  through  whom  rendering  thanks  unto  Thee,  together  with  him  and  the 
Holy  Ghost,  we  offer  up  this  reasonable  and  unbloody  sacrifice,  which  all  the  na- 
tions ofl'er  up  to  thee,  O  Lord,  from  the  rising  of  the  sun  unto  the  going  down  there- 
of, from  the  North  and  from  the  South ;  for  thy  name  is  great  among  all  the  na- 
tions, and  in  every  place  incense  and  sacrifice  and  oblation  are  put  up  to  thy  holy 
name." 


TABLE  OF  CONTENTS. 


Page 
Introductory  Notices  by  the  Translator    ....--  v. 

Author's  Prefaces  ......••--      ix. 

Memoir  of  Dr.  Moehler        ......--      xxiii. 

INTRODUCTION. 

Nature,  extent,  and  sources  of  Symbolism  ....  -  93 

SYMBOLICAL    WRITINGS    OF    CATHOLICS    AND    PROTESTANTS. 

The  Catholic  formularies         -  -  -  -  -  .  -  -103 

The  Lutheran  formularies   ....-.--  106 

The  Calvinistic  and  Zwinghan  formularies  .....     108 

BOOK   I. 
PART  I. 

DIFFERENCES   L\    DOCTRINE    RESPECTING    THE    PRIMITIVE    STATE    OF    MAN 
AND    THE    ORIGIN   OF    EVIL. 

Sect.  i.   Primitive  state  of  man,  according  to  the  Catholic  doctrine        -  113 

II.   The  Lutheran  doctrine  on  man's  original  state              ...  119 

III.  The  Calvinistic  doctrine  on  the  primitive  state  of  man     -          -  123 

rv.  On  the  cause  of  moral  evil .------  126 

CHAPTER  II. 

ON    ORIGINAL    SIN    AND    ITS    CONSEQUENCES. 

V.  TheX^atholic  doctrine  of  original  sin  -          -           -          -          .  134 

VI.  Doctrine  of  the  Lutherans  respecting  original  sin        -          -          -  142 
VII.   Considerations  on  Heathenism,  in  reference  to  the  doctrines  contro- 
verted between  the  two  Churches             -           -           -           -  154 

VIII.    Doctrine  of  the  Calvinists  on  original  sin  .  -  -  159 

IX.  Zwingle's  view  of  original  sin  .  .  •     ,     •  .  -  165 

CHAPTER  III. 

OPPOSITE    VIEWS    ON    THE    DOCTRINE     OF   JUSTIFICATION. 

X.  General  statement  of  the  mode  in  which,  according  to  the  diflFerent 

confessions,  man  becomes  justified      -  -  -  -  -        163 

XI.  Of  the  relation  of  the  operation  of  God  to  that  of  man,  in  the  work 
of  regeneration,  according  to  the  Catholic  and  the  Lutheran  sys- 
tems  ..........     172 


572  TABLE    OF    CONTENTS. 

Sect.  Page 

XII.   Doctrine  of  the  Calvinists  on  the  relation  of  grace  to  freedom,  and 

human  co-operation. — Predestination  ....        181 

xiii.   Of  the  Catholic  notion  of  justification       .  .  .  -  .   186 

XIV.  Doctrine  of  the  Protestants  on  justification  and  sanctification        .        194 

ON    JUSTIFYING    FAITH, 

XV.   Catholic  view  of  this  subject  ..-.:-  201 

XVI.    Lutheran  and  Calvinistic  view  of  faith  ....        207 

APPRECIATION    OF  THE  THEORETIC    AND  PRACTICAL   GROUNDS,  WHICH   THE   PROTESTANTS 
ALLEGE    FOR    THEIR   VIEW    OF   FAITH. 

XVII.  Appreciation  of  the  theoretic  grounds        .....  214 

XVIII.  Appreciation  of  the  practical  grounds    .....        220 

XIX.  Survey  of  the  differences  in  the  doctrine  of  faith  -  -  -  230 

XX.  On  the  assurance  of  justification  and  eternal  felicity  .  -        233 

OF   GOOD    WORKS. 

XXI.  Doctrine  of  Catholics  respecting  good  works     ....  238 

XXII.   Doctrine  of  the  Protestants  respecting  good  works    ...        242 
XXIII.   The  doctrine  of  purgatory  in  its  connexion  with  the  Catholic  doc 

trine  of  justification  .......  249 

xxrv.   Opposition  between  the   communions  in  their  general   conception  of 

Christianity         ........        254 

XXV.  The    culminating   point    of  inquiry. — Luther  maintains  an  inward 

and  essential  opposition  between  religion  and  morality,  and  assigns 

to  the  former  an  eternal,  to  the  latter  a  mere  temporal,  value      .   262 

XXVI.  Analysis  of  the  elements  of  truth  and  of  error  in  the  Protestant  doc. 

trine  of  faith,  as  hitherto  stated        .....        269 
XXVII.   Affinity  of  Protestantism    with  Gnosticism,  and    some  Pantheistic 
systems  of  the  Middle  Age.      More  accurate  determination  of  the 
difference  between  Zwingle's  and  Luther's  principles  -  -   272 

CHAPTER  IV. 

DIFFERENCES    IN    THE    DOCTRINE    OF    THE    SACRAMENTS. 

XXVIII.   Doctrine  of   Catholics  on  the  sacraments  in  general         -  -        279 

XXIX.   Lutheran  doctrine  of  the  sacraments  in  general.       Consequences  of 

this  doctrine  .  .......  282 

XXX.   Further  consequences  of  the  original  Lutheran  view  of  the  essence 

of  a  sacrament  ........        290 

XXXI.   Zwinglius  and  Calvin  on  the  sacraments  ....   292 

xxxn.   Baptism  and  penance        .......        295 

Continuation  of  the  doctrine  of  penance  .....   299 

xxxrv.   Doctrine  of  the  Catholics  on  the  most  holy  sacrament  of  the  Altar, 

and  on  the  Mass 310 

XXXV.   Doctrine  of  the  Lutherans,  Zwinglians,  and  Calvinists,  on  the  Eu- 
charist   323 


TABLE    OF    CONTENTS.  573 

CHAPTER  V. 

DIFFERENCES    IN    RESPECT   TO    THE    DOCTRINE    ON    THE    CHURCH. 
Sect.  Page 

XXXVI.  Notion   of  the  Church.     Combination    of  Divine  and  human  ele- 

ments  in  her.     Infallibility  of  the  Church  .  -  .        330 

xxxvii.   More  detailed  exposition  of  the  Catholic  view  of  the  Church  -  .   334 

XXXVIII.   The  Church  as  teacher  and  instructress.     Tradition.     The  Church 

as  judge  in  matters  of  faith  ...  ...      349 

XXXIX.   The  Church  as  interpreter  of  Holy  Writ,  and  the  doctrine  on  tra- 
dition continued  .......         354 

XL.   Formal  distinction  between  scriptural  and  ecclesiastical  doctrine      -   360 
xu.   Tradition  in  a  more  limited  sense.     The  canon  of  the  Scriptures  .         364 
xui.   On  the  relation  of  the  ecclesiastical  interpretation  of  Holy  VV^rit  to 
the  learned  and  scientific  exegesis.     Patristic  authority  and  free 
investigation  •.-.....   366 

XLiii.  The  Hierarchy       ........        375 

LUTHERAN  DOCTRINE  ON  THE  CHURCH. 

XLFV.   The  Bible  the  only  source  and  arbitress  in  matters  of  faith     -           .  380 
XLV.   Continuation.     Internal  ordination.     Every  Christian  a    priest  and 
teacher,  and  consequently  independent  of  all  ecclesiastical  com. 

munion.      Notion  of  ecclesiastical  freedom            .           -           .  387 

XLVi.    Continuation.      Invisible  Church      ......  392 

XLVii.   Continuation.      Rise    of  the   visible  Church   according  to    Luther. 

Ultimate  reasons  for  the  truth  of  an  article  of  faith         .           .  395 
XLViii.   Continuation.      Divergences   in  the  doctrine  on  the  Church,  shortly 

expressed      -----....  393 

xLix.   The  truth  and  the  falsehood  in  Luther's  doctrine  on  the  Church    .  402 

L.   Negative  doctrines  of  the  Lutherans  in  regard  to  the  Church  -           .  405 

LI.   Doctrine  of  the  Calvinists  on  the  Church          ....  407 

CHAPTER  VL 

THE    CHURCH   IN    THE    NEXT   WORLD,    AVD    ITS    CONNEXION   WITH   THE    CHURCH 

MILITANT. 

Lii.   Doctrine  of  Catholics  on  this  matter  .  -  .       ,   .  .  417 

Liii.   Doctrine  of  Protestants  on  this  subject  -  .  .  .        421 


PART  n. 

THE    SMALLER    PROTESTANT    SECTS. 

Liv.   Introduction       .........  435 

CHAPTER  I. 

THE    ANABAPTISTS    OR    MENNONITES. 
FIRST    PERIOD    OF   THE    ANABAPTISTS. 

LV.   Fundamental  principle  of  the  Anabaptists        ....        439 
Lvi.   Initiation  into  the  sect.      Signs  and  confirmation  of  covenant  .  433 


S74 


Sect; 

LVII. 

LVIII. 

LIX. 


LXI, 
LXH. 
LXIJI. 


TABLE    or*    CONTENTS. 

fagt 
These  sectaries  assail  the  Protestant  doctrine  of  justification  -  435 
Continuation.  Concurrence  of  the  most  various  errors  in  the  sect  437 
Continuation.       Relation  of  Scripture  to  the   inward  spirit.     The 

Church 440 

Hatred  against  all  outward  institutions  for  promoting   edification. 

.  Ecclesiastical  discipline.      Manners  and  customs  .  .        443 

The  Anabaptists  in  the  form  of  Mennonites  ;  their  second  period  -  444 
Peculiar  doctrines  of  the  Mennonites.  Their  Church. discipline  ^  446 
Conclusion.     Special  controversies  ...  -  ^  -  449 


CHAPTER  II. 

THE    QUAKERS. 

Lxiv.  Some  historical  preliminary  remarks      .  i  .  .  i        452 

UlV.   Religious  system  of  the  Quakers.     The  inward   light  i  .  .   455 

Lxvi.  Continuation  of  the  same  subject.     Effects  of  the  inward  light  -        458 
Lxvii.   Continuation  of  the  same   subject.     Of  justification  and  sanctifica- 

tion-    Perfect  fulfilment  of  the  law         .....  460 
t.xviii.  Continuation  of  the  same  subject.     Doctrine  on  the  sacraments   .        464 
Lxix.   Continuation  of  the  same  subject.     Rejection  of  a  distinct  order  of 

ministry.     Preaching.      Public  worship  .....  465 

Lxx.   Peculiar  manners  and  customs  of  the  Quakers        ...        469 
Lxxi.  Remarks  on  the  doctrinal  peculiarities  of  the  Quakers  .  i  .  471 

CHAPTER  III. 

THE  HERRNHUTTER9,  OR  THE  COMMUNITY  OF  BROTHERS,  AND  THE  METHODISTS. 

I.XXII.  Historical  remarks.      The  Moravian  brethren  ...        485 

Lxxiii.  Continuation  of  the  same  subject.     Spener  and  the  Pietists  .  488 

Lxxiv.  Combination  of  the  doctrinal  peculiarities  of  the  Moravians  and  the 

Pietists 493 

Lxxv.  The  Methodists.      Religious  state  of  England  at  the  beginning  of 
the  eighteenth  century.      Profound  degradation  of  public  morals. 
The  Methodists  wish  to   bring  about  a  reform.      Comparison  be- 
tween the   reforming    efforts  of  Catholics   and  Protestants,    at 
similar  epochs  .  -  -  -  -  -  -496 

Lxxvi.  Peculiar  doctrines  of  the  Methodists.  Marks  of  distinction  between 
them  and  the  Hermhutters.  Division  of  the  sect  into  Wesleyans 
and  Whltfieldites  ^  .-*...•         499 


CHAPTER  IV. 

THE   DOCTRINE    OF   SWEDENBORO. 

txxvit.  Some  preliminary  historical  remarks  .  -  -  .  .   506 

Lxxviii.  Practical  tendency  of  Swedenborg.      His  judgment  on  the  Reform. 

ers,  and  his  account  of  their  destiny  in  the  next  life  .        508 

ijcxix.   Swedenborg's  doctrine  on  the  Trinity.      His  motive  for  assaihng  that 

tof  the  Church         *  ^  *  »  .  ^  *  .  611 


TABLE    OF   CONTENTS. 
Ssct.  Page. 

Lxxx.   Swedcnborg  denies  the  fall  of  man  in  Adam.      Contradictions  in  his 

theory  on  this  matter  -  -  -  -  -  -  -514 

Lxxxi.   Incarnation  of  the  Divinity.      Objects  of  the  incarnation.     Relation 

between  grace  and  free-will        -  -  -  -  -  -516 

Lxxxii.  Swcdenborg's  doctrine  relative  to  the  sacraments    -         *-  -        521 

Lxxxiii.  Swcdenborg's  revelations  from  the  other  world  -  -  .  523 

Lxxxiv.  Biblical  canon  of  Swedenborg.     Allegorico*mystical  exegesis       -       525 
Lxxxv.   Swcdenborg's  place  in  history  -.--..  528 

Lxxxvi.  Concluding  remarks         -  -  -  ^  >  »  -        534 

CHAPTER    V. 

THE    SOCINIANS. 

txxxvii.  Relation  of  the  Socinians  to  the  Reformers.     Historical  remarks      -   536 
Lxxxviii.  Principles  of  the  Socinians,  as  to  the  relation  between  reason  and 
revelation,  and  the  functions  of  the  former  in  the  interpretation  of 

Holy  Writ -  -       540 

Lxxxiz.   Doctrine  of  the  Socinians  respecting  God,  and   the  person  of  Christ  542 
xc.  On  the  fall  and  the  regeneration  of  man  ...  -  547 

xci.   On  the  sacraments  ---..-.        552 

CHAPTER  VI. 

THE   AKMINIANS,    OR   REMONSTRANTS. 

xcii.    Some  historical  preliminary  remarks        -  -  .  ^  -  554 

xcm.   Doctrine  of  the  Arminians  .-...,.        555 

xciv.    Doctrine  of  the  Arminians  on  the  sacraments     ....  560 

APPENDIX. 

Note  A,  referred  to  at  page   307     .  -  -  i  -  .  .        563 

Note  B,  referred  to  at  page  312         .''    -j      ■   4.    ■   :  i  »  ,  ,  564 


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